What does it mean by the virgin was "extremely fair and white" in 1 Nephi 11:13?

What does it mean by the virgin was "extremely fair and white" in 1 Nephi 11:13?

In Czech, the word they use is "bělostná" which apparently means snow-white, lily-white, pure white, alabaster.

Going from the Czech meaning, I think it's pretty obvious to say that Mary, the mother of God, was white more of a symbolic way than a literal way. I guess she could have been albino. Huh.

As Semites, neither Mary nor Jesus were probably very white-skinned, despite what millennia of western art might have you think. But then again, they didn't wear Renaissance-era clothing, either. I guess artists typically personalize their versions of Jesus. And I guess that makes sense, even though it's really annoying.

This is the kind of question which I have less than zero interest researching online. It is like, pure fodder for anti literature. I really like Hugh Nibley (and by the way, according to my brother, Nibley's interpretation of the word "white" in the Book of Mormon is that it has little to nothing to do with race or skin), but I'm not an apologist. I hate conflict. It is kind of...hard enough to write any of this at all.

I think in order to study this in any amount of satisfaction, I would want to search the scriptures - mostly the Book of Mormon - for instances of the use of the word "white." I would want to see how often they definitely refer to skin color or race, how often they refer to "the mark", how often they refer to something else.

But that does not sound like a particularly instructive, useful way to spend my time, and a really great way to invite critics of the Book of Mormon to do their thing.

I have no personal problem with believing or accepting that the Nephites might have been racist. I think racism is terrible. I don't want to be racist.

Answer:
Mary was definitely a really righteous woman who was foreordained to be the mother of Jesus Christ. It seems she may have had remarkably pale skin, but maybe that is just a reference to her personal purity. Basically, I don't know and I don't think it's super important.