RE: If value is just perception, then there must be some value in a piece of paper

I agree with you whileoutsanch, but it's just a case of these folks having been brainwashed through the ages. I know that in India for example, people with fairer skins are indeed perceived as being of a higher class within that society. It is really stupid if you ask me, but I am not from a culture with that "problem" so my opinion won't really count.
In fact, the only way you will get a real answer to your question is to ask someone who lives and breathes in a culture with those perceptions...