eli5: Do people with darker skin have to wear sunscreen?

Question

I heard the UV cause skin cancer, I’m a brown guy and never wear sunscreen, does that mean I have a higher likelihood of getting skin cancer?

In: 159

Answer 1

I’m brown and never wore sunscreen unless there was a high probability that I would fall asleep on a beach. A few years back I had a melanoma removed from my arm (it was a pea-sized mole I had since I was a kid, never thought anything of it). Now I am forever at-risk for skin cancer and get a head-to-toe inspection from a dermatologist every six months.

So yeah… sunscreen up, brownness be damned.