African Americans have a higher prevalence of elevated blood pressure and a higher prevalence of increased intraocular pressure (IOP). The blood pressure of African Americans has been found to be related to skin color. This study evaluated whether IOP was related to skin color. We measured IOP using a Tonopen and skin darkness using a spectrocolorimeter in 213 African Americans. Seventy patients were identified as systemic hypertensives. Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated to compare IOP and skin darkness. Mean IOP among hypertensives was 17.7 +/- 3.6 mmHg and among normotensives was 17.7 +/- 3.8 mmHg. Mean IOP for the whole sample was 17.7 +/- 3.7 mmHg. No significant correlations were found between skin darkness and IOP among the normotensive and hypertensive groups (p = 0.52 and 0.44) nor for the sample as a whole (p = 0.33). Skin darkness as a measure of skin color in this sample population did not predict those subjects with higher IOPs.