Brown Nephites & White Lamanites? Ancient Symbolism Of Skin Color In The Book of Mormon

Were the Nephites brown-skinned? When the Book of Mormon speaks of skin color, is it literal or a metaphor? Actual or symbolism? Ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians used skin color as a metaphor. Jeremiah and Daniel, contemporaries of Lehi and Nephi, used skin color as a metaphor. Could the Lamanites and the Nephites have had the same skin color while using black and white, dark and fair as a metaphor to distinguish between righteous and wicked, industrious and idle? It looks that way.