By Tracey Wallace of NaturallyCurly.com
Hair is simply amazing. The human body and the mechanisms by which it adapts to its environment are mind boggling, and our hair color, texture, porosity and everything else plays a massive part in how well we succeed in a particular environment (or at least it did before we started living in these air conditioned covered boxes).
We all love and nourish our hair, but it’s so easy to forget just how magical these dead cells growing from out of our scalp really are.
Enter the Melanesians, a native group of people living on the Soloman Islands northeast of Australia famous for their beautiful dark skin and naturally blonde hair. Yep, that’s right. They don’t sport weaves, wigs, extensions, permanent dye, temporary dye, some weird henna reaction, or whatever else anyone uses to get the blonde look that’s so typical of the caucasian persuasion. Ten percent of these islanders actually come by it naturally.
The odd combination has got scientists wondering about how such a color combo develops over time. According to the Global Financial Newswires, many scientists have long thought that their blonde hair was a result of a diet high in fish, perhaps bleaching by the sun and salt water, or a reminder of the island’s historic relations with people of European descent.
In fact, the blonde Melanesians have blonde that is unique solely to them. According to the study in which scientists compared 43 blonde hair islanders to 42 dark hair islanders, blonde Melanesians have a variant of a native gene called TYRP1 that plays an important role in the melanin biosynthetic pathway. This variant is completely separate from what causes blonde hair in Europeans, and doesn’t even exist in the European genetic set.
What’s truly beautiful in this fascinating discovery, as so perfectly stated by the study author Sean Myles, a geneticist at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, is that “it’s a great example of convergent evolution, where the same outcome is brought about by completely different means.”
And that makes hair of all textures, types and colors absolutely unique and absolutely beautiful.
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Original man began in Africa. A small group left and traveled to Europe (Caucus Mountains) and Asia and interbred with Neanderthals (not human) and Whites were originated — Neanderthals. No Africans from the indigenous Sub-Saharan have no Neanderthals DNA in their bloods. So the monkey gene started in the White race and Asian race who have that in their DNA more than Africans.
Yes! Always lumping “black” people together. Even in freaking Africa, there are many ethnic groups that look completely different from each other and have completely different cultures. I’m surprised they don’t call Indians and other South Asians “black” by this definition.
So everybody is “black”, “African”, and came from monkeys right? That’s what the WM told you???.
Y’all need to stop!!!
Their of African so their African.Asians,Austrailians,South Americans etc we are all apart of the African people.I am a latina but i am also native and african but at the end of the day i am African does’nt matter where i go i will remain
Actually we (melanisians) are not black, we’re australoids. Honestly, majority of active mela accounts disagree with being lumped into all the other groups because we’re not african. By lumping us in, you’re doing the exact same thing white people used to do. We might suffer the same racial consequences and we might be the same hue and color but they are not the same race.
While I agree that our bodies are simply amazing, I have to disagree with one big point.
Scientists have since discovered that these black people actually have their own distinct “blond hair gene”, one which is distinct from the one found in Europeans. Thus, these black people have a blonde hair gene that they did receive from any interactions with Europeans.
It’s ironic because this scientific discovery was published May 4, 2012, which is just days before this BGLH article was published (May 10, 2012):
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2139462/Riddle-Solomon-solved-Scientists-South-Sea-islanders-blond-hair-didnt-come-Europeans-evolved-separately.html
As a believer in God, it’s amazing that they were created & designed that way!
Best regards,
C
Even believers in God can recognize and appreciate the realities of science and evolution.
I want to know why the color “black” is continuously used instead of the correct term “ethnicity? When did the color black start to determine one’s ethnicity or place of origin. All of you sound ignorant. I read a comment were somebody mentioned the term purebreds…what in the world. Are you breading dogs?? As far as I am concerned people have a little bit of all ethnicities mixed within them. It is the year 2015. Back in the days of Adam and Eve yeah I can see that, but now…yeah good luck with that.
I am really thankfull of your answer…:-) I am sharing your opinion. Describing people from the level of melanin on their skin is like erasing all the cultural background they have…Pacific Islanders can be black with blonde hair and their specific cultures…and they do not share at all their cultural and historical heritage with some ethnic groups in Africa or with black American people…We name a blonde guy from Germany, a German,we name a blonde guy from France,a French,we name a Pacific Islander with dark skin a “black” and we name a Malian, a “black”…
Yep. It’s pretty stupid. It’s stupid when people refer to all people from Europe as “White” when that encompasses Germanics, Scandinavians, Anglos, and Slavs, when all of them are basically different, especially when you go eastwards with Slavs like me because we’re basically a mixed bag of European, Asian, and Middle Eastern genes because, like you said, a LOT of shit happened in the last few thousand years. And with Southern Slavs you even get genes from North Africans. Hell, people who look at race as a Dog Breeding program consider us mongrels.
And as stupid as it is to use White in a generic term it’s even stupider when people use Black, because, when someone says someone is black, that doesn’t tell you a damn thing about where they’re from. At least all the people covered by “White” are from the same region. The people who are labeled “Black” is an entirely different story Is their ethnic heritage African? Australian? Pacific Islander? Caribbean? Indonesian? Because they all have dark skin. And that’s the only thing they have in common. They’re all entirely different, with entirely different cultures, entirely different beliefs, entirely different features, and some lazy, ignorant asshat just goes ahead and says “Yeah but they’re all black though.”
“Enter the Melanesians, a native group of people living on the Soloman Islands”
I do not agree with this statement as Melanesians are not limited to the Solomon Islands. Papua New Guineans, vanuatuans, and Fijians are ALSO Melanesians. Being Papua New Guinean, I know that dark skinned people with blonde hair are also natives of Papua New Guinea, take the New Ireland province and its inhabitants as an example.
LOoool relax, Im also from papua new guinea also, it’s okay if not ALL melanesians are mentionned here….. this isnt the ONLY article out here about melanesians having blonde hair….stap isi tsol
That girl is an Aborigine of Australia
No she’s not, she looks like she’s from the Solomon Islands.
Bibita your statement is incorrect.
Is that all you got MR. Edward…If you know the truth then you can say it…WE WOULD WANT TO KNOW YOUR VIEW REGARDING THIS ARTICLE…
Ive lived in the Fiji islands or Fiji which is a Melanesian country and they can pass for an African American in the USA because of their skin colour and hair type but Fijians have facial features that are different from African Americans and even from other Melanesians like Solomon islands or Papuans and its easier to recognise that a person is Fijian because of it but you can only tell if your familiar with Fijian people and how they look for a better example anyone should feel free to search up Fijian rugby players and NBA players since its an easy way to have the men orderly for comparison and look closely at the differences the Fijians and African Americans look from each other then you can see why melanesian are uniquely there own people
Blacks are not just found in Africa. There are blacks originally in Asia, in Australia and in the Americas. Black/brown skinnned people are generally referred to as black.
You are right…Black people are the original inhabitants of the tropical and subtropical regions of the world..that is why you can see indigenous native black population right from Africa, southern Arabia, Indian ocean, India, South east Asia (Negrito), Australia (aborigines) and Melanesia..Even i read in a recent article that Black people are the first to settle the American Continent before the arival of native americans….
Why is everyone saying that they’re not black? No, they’re not from Africa, but somewhere down the line, they were, just like the rest of us! Besides, it doesn’t really matter, anyways. There are only three major race groups, and they probably fit into black more than any other one. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
THREE Major Race Groups went out with the OLD BIASED RACIST Anthropologist..
Everyone is trying to be technically correct. We are all one people or race or species or derivative or mixture.
All conversation of race by color is ignorance. If it wasn’t for the sun not one person in history would know color. The color of anything has no basis on what is worth considering, simply a treat for the eyes. Admire the spectrum of the work of the unseen and unknown and cut out the foolishness. True races are tiers of consciousness; the differences in the rulers from the ruled, not petty colors.
Tell that to the countless Blacks across the Globe that are treated unfairly because of?. You got it that special TREAT for the EYES aye..
These people have black skin but they’re not black (from Africa) they’re from Asia. Don’t claim that they are something that they’re not it’s very disrespectful. All I’m saying is do your research
You are the one who should be doing your research….Melanesians never say that they are from Africa….Melanesians are not from Asia either….They are from MELANESIA….OK…and they have been settling in the Region of Melanesia since the unknown past…But that is out from context… the point is that Melanenesians are unique coz without being interracial they can have blond hair
Your correct in that they are a unique and a very beautiful people. They are really a key to a unique isolated and probably the purest and closes to a people of evolution untouched. Australia is down under and marsupials and very unique animals also. The kid are born with blonde hair and later in some cases change to a darker pigment. You are part of your environment and the only way you can survive is to adapt to it. Or move. Well Australia is not a easy move like other continents. SO THEY ARE UNTOUCHED AND VERY GODLY PURE GROUP AS CLOSE TO GOD’S OR A MAKERS OF A HIGHER POWER AS genitics ARE GOING TO GET. THEY ARE A KEY TO EVOLUTION UNTOUCHED AND VERY beautiful and unfortunately shone down on because of the unique and unexplained characteristics. You can sum them up. Unexplained and none needed. But a key to evolution both worlds color texture unmatched. A mix match beautifully blended. SO so hated just Because. And almost extinct TRUTH lies within their genetics. Trust me.
So you have to be from africa to be african
What are you STUPID. They migrated out of AFRIKA, as did, the WHOLE of the PLANET EARTH – – -Deal with it.
Im black with natural blonde hair and im not mixed..
Yeah…Because u are not pure blood from africa but an interracial…Otherwise, can u trace your ancestry back 30 generations to africa and prove to us that you don’t have any white blood in you…
Probably no one is 100% one race. The chances of someone being 100% black are very slim, as with any other race.
Actually this concept that NO ONE is 100% needs to stop. Go to Africa and you’ll meet people with 0% of mongoloid and/or caucasoid, go to eastern Europe and you will meet people with 0% mongoloid and/or negroid, go to an Asian country like North Korea and you’ll meet people with 0% caucasoid and/or negroid (basically I’m talking about people who’ve been in their place of origin for all their generations, putting aside the whole “we are all from Africa” ideology). There are PLENTY people who AREN’T mixed.
you are talking about pure Africans in Africa and pure Europeans in Europe…which may be true that they could be 100% pure in regard to their colour…But what bothers me in these posts is that some black people who have been staying in the Americas since the 17th century have been denying the Melanesians as black people…when they themselves are not pure black if traced back but interracial instead…
Well I’m not one of those people so I’m not sure why you are directing this post at me.
Sorry if I sound bitter or angry (I’m simply a bit annoyed) because I’m just over these generalisations and misconceptions.
Actually it was proven a few years back that they don’t look that way because of interracial factors either. It’s just nature working it’s magic
Both my parents are Africans( from Africa) and because of that I am African. But down the line the colonized from Portugal came and mated with people so I am part Portuguese. Just like most people from my country so just stop. I hate when African Americans think they know everything about Africa. It awfully annoying.
“I hate when African Americans think they know everything about Africa”
Who exactly said I was AfrAm? Nothing from my previous post even insinuated that, yet you were so quick to jump and label me when you don’t even know me.
Hey, I agree But please don’t forget that the people discussed above aren’t african but are part of the islands on the other side of Australia.
Tell them again ROE..
I am sorry,in Africa we have more than 2000 ethic groups whom a vast majority are not black.Africa is a dynamic continent past centuries…people were travelling to…we had ethnic groups with blue eyes and blonde hair…We had the presence of the Arabs on the north during 7 centuries,we had the presence of the Romans,the Grecs…those people mixed with local ethnic groups…but also we had also nomads who were travelling between Africa and Asia during centuries…Africa as other continent is the result of ethnic groups mixtures over centuries…this idea that there are only “black” people is purely issued from colonization times…believe me as Africa,in Asia there are a lot of Black people from Pakistan to South of Asia…but the marketing of today is based on a racial view of the continent…Asia is yellow,Europe is white, Africa is black and south America is brown…lol
point is they have dark skin and naturally blonde hair….it doesnt matter if the dark skin makes them black,or the blonde hair makes them white….its jus that its something unique…something beautiful
Technically if you look at genetics for ‘race’, there are Khoisans, also known as Bushmen, Africans and everybody else including dark skinned Melanesians.
Melanesians, Papauns, Solomon Islanders, Aborigines etc are dark as they are because they’ve been where they are a very long time. Longer than Indonesians or even Polynesians. They moved probably 50,000 years ago probably along with the Andaman Islanders. They are African in the sense that everybody is African from Swedish people to Amazonian people but they are dark skinned and have been treated terribly and in a racist way by European colonisers. They get the same anti-black treatment.
African Americans are not Pacific Islanders, their genetics comes from Africa.
The funny thing is the Aboriginal people in Australia consider themselves black, and have voiced it proudly when the Olympics where in Australia. They spoke out on the struggle and racism they experienced in Australia being black. I was very eye opening. So while some may question or struggle with what race they are, they don’t, because they proud to be black. Jesus love you!
Im sorry. I mean blonde hair.
They’re not black! They are Melanesians! Yes, they have similar skin tones to black people, but it makes as much sense as calling a dark skinned Indian person black! Makes no sense! Melanesians are more closely related to Asians than they are to Black Africans! They migrated from Asia to the islands….I suppose their skin tone is an adaptation to the sun…Genetically they are very few links to Africans, so you should change the title! It’s like comparing oranges and apples!
I don’t know why you people are so concerned about whether Melanesians are Black or not??? Like i said before that the black identity is not an issue among Melanesians…They hardly talked about it…In Melanesia a persons identity is not determined by skin colour but by his or her relationship to a particular tribe and language. By the way there are few thing you need to know about melanesians – The term Melanesia was coined by french explorer Jules Dumont d’Urville in 1832 to distinguish the dark skinned people who inhabits the islands of the South West Pacific from the yellow skinned Mongoloid people (polynesians and Micronesians) of the North and central Pacific. The Term Melanesia is derived from the greek word -Mela (Black) and Nesi (islands) which means Black Islands….
You’re absolutely spot on when saying we don’t identify ourselves according to our skin tone. I as a Papua New Guinean know that we are not fully exposed to the Western culture and media, due to our developing third world country we miss out on everyday basics such as internet. Therefore our ideas of beauty are primitive and natural. We our proud and comfortable in our skin, whether it’s black, brown, or yellow. We also embrace our natural frizzy hair, whether it’s black, light brown, or blonde. I grew up around children with dark skin and blonde frizzy hair, children with light (yellow) skin and long dark wavy hair, and children with brown/black skin and black frizzy hair. I always associated them with where they came from, e.g. the dark skin blonde haired ones are (Tolai) people from the West New Britain, New Ireland, and East New Britain provinces.
This is simply conjecture. You have no scientific basis for your opinion, it’s simply your own misguided opinion. It is a genetic fact that these people are black. Whether it fits in with your own narrow minded views of what black people are “supposed” to look like doesn’t change that. What amazes me is the how adamant whites become in regards to subjects such as this, as though you all have something to lose by it! Frankly I find it somewhat racist to believe that whites come in different varieties yet in the minds of many whites, blacks are confined to being view as ape like caricatures from the 18th century. We’ll get over yourself. Why don’t you do some real research in anthropology, and no, Wikipedia doesn’t count.
By the way, Melanesian is not a race, it is a nationality. Neither is French, Italian,Greek etc. Scientifically speaking, there are only three races. All others are simply mixtures of the three.
3 races??? Really??? Human is a race, animal another one and??? Aliens E.T.???
Yes 3 races, and no “human” isn’t one of them. The term “human race” is a bit of a misnomer in the sense that “human” isn’t a race, it is a species. Simply google ‘human race classification’ and learn for yourself instead of putting your ignorance of basic anthropology on display. All of this business about one human race is New Age psycho babble. I only wish the “one race” crowd had been this progressive during the civil rights movement or in the days of slavery. But I suppose back then it wasn’t a convenient belief to have.
My ignorance of anthropology whose well-minded ppl stuffed you, Right? blinded by dogma. Keep rocking on your definition of it. You kind of itinerant stupidity!!
Actually, science has proven that genetically humans are a single race and there isn’t significant genetic variation between us. Also, genetically, you can be more similar to someone of a different ‘race’ than someone of the same race as you. These are facts. Considering race really doesn’t exist and is just a way to categorize humans based on appearance… when you phrase it like that the whole three races thing sounds like pseudo-science. And honestly, the terms “mongoloid” and “negroid” are considered outdated and derogatory… so like… I mean honestly I think racial classification is steeped in racism anyway. Black and white aren’t so much real things as aspects of a social structure and people threw in geographic origins to make it sound better. To be white, you need only look white to other people who also look white. It’s what color their skin is and their facial features based on a racist system. Also, would it have mattered if there were people saying humans were all one race during civil rights and slavery? They knew they were dealing with other human beings which is why they told themselves lies to get rid of their cognitive dissonance.
Everyone is to be technically correct. We are all one people, so whether it’s race or species or tribe or mixed or derivative.
I am African and we do not need ”apology” Africans. If you do not identify with Africa, that’s fine. Africa has 1.3 Billion proud people irrespective of how international mainstream medias seeks to present them. Africans do not consider Indians or other “Brown” people to belong to Africa. The surprising thing is that most Arabs are considered to be Africans, contrary to what Black people of the Diaspora think. Many were born of Black (many Africans are not even Black in colour…we are brown!) African women. Unlike AAs who dislike an African as soon as they hear their accent, Arabs do not dislike us. We are indifferent to what outsiders think because Africa is still the envy of the world. The Eden still going strong while America and Europe are concrete jungles, Asia with its scary overpopulation. Africans are not materialistic. Call them poor, but they are million times happier than most humans on this planet. We do not need anyone else to be forced to accept to be one of us…….we are strong, healthy, beautiful and we will keep on increasing in numbers. We owe no one an apology. Everyone who does not like Africa can call themselves Americans, Afropeans and Blasians and Africans will not even notice. We have UBUNTU….human. There was never a more used word like people in Africa. Keep on measuring yourselves against white standards if that makes you feel better. We Africans do not.
Thank you.
exactly
Sorry, have known far too many Arabs who despise Black Africans and consider them nothing more than an Abd (i.e. slave) race for me to take your opinion as factual. Perhaps that’s been your experience, but right now in places like Mali, Sudan and Mauritania the Arab enslavement (and extermination) of Black Africans is rampant. And on your assertion that Africans aren’t materialistic, you must not know very many Ghanaians or Nigerians.
This is true!!! They are considered Asian not of African descent. Just because of the skin pigment does not mean you should claim them to something they are not
Melanesians are NOT Asians or Africans…They are a race of their own…Asians settled the Asia continent and Africans settle the Africa Continent…Melanesians are the people who settled the islands of the Southwest Pacific for the past 50,000 years…However, interestingly Asians and white people often refer to the Melanesians as Black people and even the Africans who visited the Melanesian countries refer to them as black people and called the brothers….
If that is a fact then you won’t mind citing your source? Tell me where I can read than they are considered Asian or a separate race unto themselves. The fact is that your “source” is your own imagination, as I am willing to wager that you cannot find any legitimate literature that claims such nonsense.
This is NOT my own Imagination….I am commenting on what i know too well as a Melanesian myself….We are NOT Asian…Mind your Written record is a western concept in this place…and is NOT valid for us here in Melanesia…Written Source is VALID to you westerners…For Melanesians Oral Stories and ancestral worship passed down through generations is what is VALID…And plizzzz don’t be soooooo envyyy of Melanesians…They have done not wrong to you…
Indians are black they are a sub-race under negroid
lol stop wishing
Black is visually denoted. Any Melanesian or Polynesian passing down the street will be identified as black. Because the skin is black. There is no race called black. It is just visual identification of skin colour.
Calm down, Ann! Your rant is senseless.
Black isn’t a race its a color. There is only one race the human race. They are simply a different nationality.
Their African who went to Asia so their still african
To clear up the confusion on this blog. In biology class or young people who have yet to make it there you will learn about mutation. Overtime when people have been adapted to a new area their genetic makeup is conform to that environment. Africa may be the original place of humans but due to genetic mutation most people do not carry the African trait which hints all the other ethnic groups, Caucasians, Puerto Ricans, Asians, Native Americans etc. Even or ethnic groups that do carry African traits it has been conform to their unique environment such as Latinas, Capea Verdean, African American, Filipino, Jamaican,etc.
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Picture2685.jpg[/img]
If the Black Features of Melanesians were a result of their adaptation to the Sun then Can you explain why the Indonesians, Malaysians, Thais, Filipinos, Polynesians and Micronesians don’t have the same Black Skin tone like the Melanesians??? Ms Ann if you don’t know then let me remind you that the Filipinos, Indonesians and Thais also have the same exposure to the sun just like the Melanesians for thousands of years but they still have a Mongoloid skin tone in contrast to their Melanesian Neighbours who have Black Skin tones. And by the way i don’t think that “Black” is a Race..But if you think that Black is a Race then i suppose that you are someone who is lost (No Affiliation to any Native Tribe or Native Language) and consequently tends to forge an ethnic identity based on skin colour…
Oh and because YOU don’t consider black a “race” that means its not? It is a colloquial term, like “white” means Caucasian. There can be no meaningful debate with one who chooses to discard elementary definitions simply because they don’t fit in with your false paradigm.
There are basically only 3 main Races in the World
1. Negroid races (African, Hottentots, Melanesians/Papua, “Negrito”, Australian Aborigine, Dravidians, Sinhalese)
2. Caucasian races (Aryans, Hamites, Semites)
3. Mongolian races (northern Mongolian, Chinese and Indo-Chinese, Japanese and Korean, Tibetan, Malayan, Polynesian, Maori, Micronesian, Eskimo, American Indian),
Melaniseans are full australoid. southeast asians and polynesians are austroneasian a mix between australoid and mongoloid.australoids are very diverse and are NOT related to negroids.
You are incorrect there is only ONE race and that is the HUMAN race what you are describing are the the three ethnic groups. But good try…
The theory being that Asians went through Europe before migrating and settling in Southern Asia and Pacific Islands. The native Australians are believed to have avoided the European detour and stayed south landing in Australia before the people that took the scenic route.
I know a girl with naturally blonde hair. Nethier of her parents are white. But her parents are light skinned so is she. She is very pretty and her name is Serena. Her hair is slowly turning brown though.
This conversation really bothers me. Why are we so concerned of color, hair? I like the concept of Bibita’s culture. It is knowing where you belong. So? many of us don’t know our roots but we know our ancestors originated from Africa and other countries for we are a mixture of many. Were we in control of it? No. But we are in control NOW. We should present ourselves to the world as people who have accepted self. We are a mixture of it all. Let’s love each other no matter the skin we are in. Whether you know it or not, these sort of conversations are very degrading. We should pick up and go on; get over this color barrier and look into the hearts of our people. We don’t need other races to accept us. We must accept our self and then the healing will begin and our people will flourish from it.
I gotta disagree…there’s nothing wrong with paying attention to one another’s differences, because individuality itself is worth celebrating. Turning a blind eye to our differences sounds to me like an ignorant stance to take. I’m willing to argue that the vast majority of conversations arising from our differences are good natured. You have a positive message, but reducing the uniqueness of our physical attributes to just a roadblock or a barrier to acceptance is just propagating the idea that we aren’t capable of anything more than that. And I’m one to argue that, too. Lastly, and this is just my observation, but you seem to hold pessimistic views toward human nature for someone that hopes for so much of us all.
Speke the truth!
Emmeaki..You’re right Black is used to refer to people of African descent in America….Can you prove to us if you are a pure blood by tracing your ancestry back to Africa and tell us if there is no white DNA or Native American DNA passed on to you during the many years your forefathers have been staying in American…
Did I say that I was “pure blood?” My father is from Sierra Leone, so on his side, yes I am “pure”! I know that my great-grandparents on my mother’s side are Caucasian and Native American. What the hell does this have to do with my comment?
Thanks Emmeaki for Clearing the air…You have given the answer i was expected to hear from you..”Multi-racial” You asked if your ethnic background has anything to do with your comment..Yes it does”..Just look at your comments..you have been so concern and want to restrict the the word “Black” to only people with African Ancestry (African Americans)…Please understand that the Aborigines and Melanesians are also called “Black Man” by the other Race which you just confirmed to be related to them (white people)…Aborigines and Melanesian are pure blooded and refer to themselves as Black in their own right..and it is not right for someone who is of Mixed ancestry to say that they are not Black…let us now put this discussion to rest since i now know that you are not pure let alone your father (a pure Blood from Sierra Leone)..BUT for you, please stop saying that Aborigines and Melanesians are not Black since any Multi-Racial person has not right to say that to Pure Blooded Black people…And by the way don’t be so bother about the Pure Black melanesians with Blonde hair as any of you r children or grand children down the line may also have blonde hair as you also have Caucasian gene in you..
The title of this article should be “Brown People With Naturally Blond Hair”. We all know that “black” is a political term with no real relation to ethnic backgrounds.
“Brown People with Natural Blond hair” whatever!!Yes it is a political term to those people who can’t trace their ancestry to any particular native tribe and ethnic group and consequently resorting to forge an identity based on skin colour..By the way “black” is a political term in your part of the world may be to define the African Americans..But here in Melanesia it goes beyond politics and include cultural traditions, languages, genealogy and tribal affiliation..Here in Melanesia when any dark skinned people who politically are categorized as Melanesians but don’t practice their cultural traditions, does not know their tribal language, can’t trace their genealogy to the next 60 generations and don’t even know what tribe they belong to..this people are called MORONS…They are like white man in Black mans’ skin..
Brown, black or whatever…what’s the difference? Brown is still a colour!
MISS3V3LYN, you’re right, brown is still a color, but “black” is used to refer to people of African descent. These people are of a different ethnic group. Indians are also brown and would it make sense to put them on this blog and ooh and aah over their hair hair?
“Black is used to refer to people of African descent.” Oh really? When I did my Criminology, Ethnology and Sociology, ALL people who were not ” Caucasians” and not from “Europe” excluding China and Japan were classified as “BLACK”, unless the people who did this classified have now changed their minds, which tells you a lot about this silly classification business and the people who are behind it!
Emmeaki..You’re right Black is used to refer to people of African descent in America….Can you prove to us if you are a pure blood by tracing your ancestry back to Africa and tell us if there is no white DNA or Native American DNA passed on to you during the many years your forefathers have been staying in American
Some Indians are brown, some Nepalese people are brown, etc. Are we going to start calling them black now?
Some “Africans” are brown, some are as white ( so-called Albinos ) as the so-called Caucasians but they are still called black, only because of their geography? Amongst Africans we have different tones of black from deep black to blue black, dark brown, light brown, very light brown and very light skinned. I am NOT talking about mixed races here I am talking about REAL “AFRICANS” IN AFRICA. They are still called black regardless. Somebody somewhere is making all these classification folks, let’s not fight over this senseless and degrading issue. We are all brothers and sisters regardless of skin tones. My sister is darker than I am. I am lighter and my brother even lighter than I am. Are we going to fight over this? Can you imagine?
Melanesians are Aborigines not black. Just because they have dark skin tones doesn’t make them black people.
Hi Chiku..Like i say before, here in the western pacific (Melanesian region) being Aborigine or Melanesian is not an issue…People in here affiliate more with their tribal and language groups other than what the white man called Melanesian…a persons’ skin colour just means nothing in here..what is important is a person’s relation to a tribe and language group…for instance a white skinned person can be part of a native tribe if he can trace his his line on the male side to that tribe..By the way…On the question of Black..How do you define a Black person?? If you are a real african then you should know well that tribal and language grouping is more important than colour affiliation..Since you don’t know this things then i suppose that you are a black american or Caribbean black…by the way i’m a dark skinned person and i can trace my descent up to 60 generations and am proud to tell you that in that 60 generations there is no single drop of white sperm in my blood…Hope that you can trace your descent to 60 generations both on your mother’s side and father’s side and you can tell us if you pure blooded..and hope that you are not a black guy in skin but white man inside..and you must be practicing real African culture other than an amalgamated culture!!
Ciku, what you have just said is an oxymoron. Ofcourse people should not be classified, and that by colour. We are all human species with a lot of variations, which again brings us to classification (dah!), which is to simply acknowledge that people do differ in appearance etc. Black skinned but not black? What are you trying to say? Africa is a continent where everybody originated, whether we like it or not. Being African does not only mean from Africa or living in Africa. It is a geographic term used to divide people. Europeans, Chinese, Americans, Indians, Caribeans are called that due to the geography they find themselves in. The word ABORIGINE was coined by the British colonisers when they found INDEGENOUS people in Australia. “The category “Aboriginal Australians” was coined by the British after they began colonising Australia in 1788, to refer collectively to all people they found already inhabiting the continent, and later to the descendants of any of those people. Until the 1980s, the sole legal and administrative criterion for inclusion in this category was race.” Check WIKIPEDIA. These people ORIGINALLY came from Africa, but for the sake of DIVIDE AND RULE, the British coined the name Aborigines to keep and maintain the division of black( whatever term you want to use )folks. Today because of that British-made divisions, we do not acknowledge that Black folk in India, the Carribean, the South Pacific Islands, Jamaican, etc, are all one people! There is no such as Melanesians either. Every person on earth is( MELANATED ) endowed with MELANIN, and that for a reason. The Melanin varies in degrees and is more prominent in dark skinned ( black? ) people. People need to read a wide variety of history and science books, discern the truth and make their own well informed decisions. One thing that destroys us as Black(?)folk is we do not know our history, well, most of us. I agree with tire’s comments above.
This is ridiculous! Melanesians? Who does not have Melanin? All peoples on earth are melanated and therefore Melanesians by definition! if Melanesians are Aborigines and not black, who then is black? Which peoples are you designating as black? Only from Africa? People in Africa are Aborigines as well because that’s where “white nations” found most of them when they “returned home”. The coloniser when they “went back home” without knowing that they were returning home (Africa), they found all these Aborigines there (and these so-called Aborigines were all over the world for that matter!). Remember the word Aborigines was coined by the very colonisers, but only designated a certain people in a certain geographic area as Aborigines because they already had an agenda of divide and rule! THIS ARGUMENT HERE ABOUT BLACK AND NOT BLACK, MELANESIANS AND NOT BLACK, BROWN NOT BLACK ETC, IS THE VERY THING THAT THE WHITE FOLK WANTS, SO THAT INSTEAD OF RESEARCHING AND FINDING TRUTH ABOUT OURSELVES AND OUR HISTORY, WE ARE KEPT BUSY BICKERING ABOUT BEING DARK AND NOT BLACK, MELANESIANS AND NOT BLACK ETC ETC ETC. Some of these people are even as black as night but they claim they are not black!!!WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!
it amazes me how ppl forget that ppl migrate… There is a piece of every nationality all over the world.. you’ll see africans all over the world… you’ll see asians all over the world an so on.. the battle is still going to be the same if you have dark skin your seen as black an if you have light skin your seen as white… If the united states went back to slavery they wouldn’t say africans over here african americans over there an melanesians over here etc no they will say (n-word) get all yo asses in line we would all be the same in the white mans eyes… so truthfully all the africans jamaicans etc that say o no i don’t affiliate with them african americans whelp guess what we call came from one place and got ship or migrated to the next… we just look different speak different and live in different places but that is not going to stop the white man from calling u a black african….. Asians too HELLLLOOOOOOO they go thru the same bullshit white man looks at them an think there all chinese… an for some reason some ppl think italians an mexicans are the same… its called ignorance ppl you can’t run from it all you can do is hope an pray these ppl fall face down in a book or wake the fuck up
Hello Tired…The Migration of nationalities all over the world is just a recent one…from 1600s and later…when we are talking about Melanesian migration to the pacific then it is a ground for debate among the scholars..there is little or never a research done on that…Why i said earlier that Melanesian don’t know when and where they originally migrated from is bcos that story was never passed down or told to us in our custom stories or tales…the only thing i can say is that our custom stories just told us that more than 60 generations ago our ancestors arrive in boats and settled in the islands..where they came from was never been told..our story of origin just begin with the arrival of the boats…But i do believe that they must have migrated from Africa
Hello Guys..as a person from this region (Melanesia) i’d also want to comment on this article. specifically on some things which i think you guys should know…First of all the term melanesia was coined by early european explorers to distinguise the dark skinned people in these islands in contrast to the mongoloid or asiatic (yellow skin) people who inhabits the eastern pacific…In reality there is nothing such as a melanesian identity or melanesian race…what is more important in here is a persons’ tribal ancestry…I have a blonde hair..BUT that doesn’t mean anything or makes me better than anyone coz it is hardly and never discussed in this region…On the question of where the dark skinned people in this region originated from..i’d say we don’t know the only thing we know is that we have been living in this islands for some unknown period (only God knows)..we have been here and even can tell the time when the asiatic people started migrating into this region…I have researched and found that the dark skinned people are the original inhabitants in the region from Afica, south asia, southeast asia, australia and the Pacific and it was just lately that the mongoloid or asiatic people moved in and stated displacing the dark skinned people in south and southeast asia..Once again i’d want to stress that here in Region which the europeans call Melanesia there is never any discussion about blondism…
Amazing how such a beautiful picture sparked so many ignorant comments. I’m a black woman and proud of my ancestry. The people who are on here degrading my race are completely racist and ignorance with get you nowhere, but where you are now. Which as I stated before, that place is nowhere.
Hello Guys..as a person from this region (Melanesia) i’d also want to comment on this article. specifically on some things which i think you guys should know…First of all the term melanesia was coined by early european explorers to distinguise the dark skinned people in these islands in contrast to the mongoloid or asiatic (yellow skin) people who inhabits the eastern pacific…In reality there is nothing such as a melanesian identity or melanesian race…what is more important in here is a persons’ tribal ancestry…I have a blonde hair..BUT that doesn’t mean anything or makes me better than anyone coz it is hardly and never discussed in this region…On the question of where the dark skinned people in this region originated from..i’d say we don’t know the only thing we know is that we have been living in this islands for some unknown period (only God knows)..we have been here and even can tell the time when the asiatic people started migrating into this region…I have researched and found that the dark skinned people are the original inhabitants in the region from Afica, south asia, southeast asia, australia and the Pacific and it was just lately that the mongoloid or asiatic people moved in and stated displacing the dark skinned people in south and southeast asia..Once again i’d want to stress that here in Region which the europeans call Melanesia there is never any discussion about blondism…
Melanesians are black with dark skin, they are not African. They are from the Pacific. To the person who said Africans travelled on the slave ships to the Caribbean, this is true, but that’s not the reason why Melanesians are dark. They are dark because they’ve always been dark. they are part of the first wave out of Africa thousands of years ago.
I have noticed that some black women look beautiful with blonde (probably not platinum) hair. There are so many different (Af. Amer.) skin shades, I imagine it is because some skin colors work better with blonde hair. Perhaps Beyoncé is an example, not that she looks “better” as a blonde but that she looks “good”. IMO, this has nothing to do with trying to look European, just whatever looks good.
Although an interesting phenomenon, it is nothing to exalt over. I feel like some Black women are going to use the excuse of “Well there are SOME Black people with blond hair so that means I can have blond hair as well!” to mask their insecurities and continue appealing to a European standard of beauty. I feel like it’s an excuse to not accept yourself but that’s just me. And don’t come at my neck for me opinion because subconsciously that is how some Black women think.
My soon is very blonde.. I’m Carmel with reg brown hair and dad is dark skin black hair. So he is def a surprise.
Common in the South Pacific islands, Melanesia and some Micronesian islands.So Tyrp1 it is, eh?
Hi Cook..Actually blond hair is not common in the south Pacific and you will never see a pure blooded Micronesian with blond hair. The prevalence of blond hair is not even high in all the five Melanesian countries in the pacific except for Solomon islands where in the island of Malaita with a population of 300,000 people about half of the population are blonde…
That is so cool! Genetics is so fascinating…
You know, I never understood the purpose of these post about black people having european features. Its like screaming ” Hey I’m black but i can be beautiful too bc I have blond hair”. Its one think to say that these people are beautiful because they just are; its another to classify them by the color of their hair. I get it, “its rare to see people with deep complexions with blonde hair”, but lets not be mistaken, Melanesians are not “African” people by today’s term. Lets just be honest. And having blonde hair does not make them beautiful. The total package does. There is more to beauty than one physical characteristics.
Thank you!
This article is screaming: Look we can be blond (read beautiful) too!It is not just white people.
Be you,be happy!
It’s interesting. I recently visited the Solomon Islands last year December 2013 for a mission trip. When I first saw the people of different tribes, some light skinned, some dark skinned, I smiled because of how beautiful they were in their diversity. At first when I saw some of the adults with blonde hair, I thought it was dyed or they used hydrogen peroxide to bleach it. But then I saw the children and wondered in amazement if it was part of their culture, but soon realized that it was natural. Some had all blonde hair while some had highlights of blonde. Sometimes, when things seem to be out of the norm for us we find everything to debunk the truth. Just as our characters vary all people vary, they are unique and have a natural beauty.
Good griefs!! All that negativity!! And the funny thing is that I’m not being referred as african bu my african friends. My roots are just not from there. Born in Suriname SOME genetics came from there hence the skin colour, but that doesn’t mean that my roots are african.
I suppose your roots are Asian!
Girl please you are BLACKKKKKK! Silly chicks.
cookeie – Exactly! We sure can be pathetic; claim EVERYTHING except who and what we are. For those ‘confused’ chicks, call yourselves what you please, but the world sees only your African roots. You should be as strong and proud as other folk are, sad…
I want to know what the deal is with calling people of non-african origin “Black”. These people are of an entirely separate ethnic origin. Of course their genetics will show some difference in appearance.
SO TRUE!!!Thx U.
Del…What you called “Black” only meant something for you and your folks in America or in the latin countries…It is an identity forged by people like you who can’t trace your ancestry to any particular native tribe in africa..People in africa don’t affiliate with Colour but they affiliate with their ethnic groups based on tribes and languages.
EVERYONE IS AT LEAST PART AFRICAN!!! srry if I seem mean! But go look it up!
If anyone would bother giving God his glory and read the Old Testament they would find white people originally come from people of a dark skin. They were called Lepers! Also in 2nd Kings chapter 5 a servant by the name of Gehazi was turned white for taking money and goods from a great soldier named Naaman. After He was healed of leprosy by God when Elisha told him to dip himself in the river Jordan 7 times. Elisha told him that he and all of his seed (ie) descendants would forever be white for taking those things. Read it! It’s history! You wrote it! King James Version. How are you gonna contradict that?
This is not history, this is myth.
LMFAO!!!!
Oh shut up. No one said anything about your fake GOD.
Blonde Melanesians u are special u are unique, be proud.
These blond Melanesians carrying that special TYRP1 gene should really preserve it, it’s special don’t mix with those black africans who are probably foaming in the mouth right now.
Y’all idiots wtf is so special abt hair colt? Will it make them live longer, richer? Self hating bitches
you sound very racist and ignorant Melanesians are African too. and i’m an African american that has no problem with their blonde hair its beautiful and fascinating.
How on EARTH are Melanesians supposed to be African? LOOK AT A WORLD MAP.
People disliking my comment clearly haven’t looked at a map.
I like your comment!
True, black does not automatically equal African! However, I have not done any research, so they could be of African decent.
Just so everybody knows everybody originated from Africa Black, White, Asian I dont care you all came from there. Thats where the first two humans were. After they traveled through Europ, then Asia Then North America to South America. How do I know this when I’m only in 6th grade!
Del – Look at a map? Are you serious? ALL Black folks originate from Africa. What are you talking about? African slaves had the ‘pleasure’ of ‘free trips’ all across the world, running the gamut of many islands. Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican, just to name a few. Why do you think the folks in many of those areas are so dark? Pick up a history book, please. The Melanesians natural hair color is different, but no more beautiful than the rest of our Black sisters and brothers. I agree with ‘part’ of what ‘Ree’ says basically, the ‘fascination’ comes from “self hatred.”
People from Cuba are Cubans. People from Puerto Rico are Puerto Rican…and so on. Africans definetly contributed to this race so according to your logic they should be called African? I live around a large African population and they don’t refer to everyone with dark skin as Africans. Why do some get some upset if a culture refers to themselves from their individual origin and not as African when native Africans don’t even agree to this labeling?
@felicia
I definitely get what you’re saying but she’s not saying that you automatically refer to them as black, or African. She’s just saying that it is indeed apart of their ancestry.
Not all black people originate from Africa silly. East Indians can be as dark a they come, I have met East Indians and some Asians who are as dark skinned as this little girl featured.
These people are black, but they may not originate from Africa.
They are not Africans. The fact that they are darker skinned does not make them Africans and the fact that Africans went to many parts of the world as slaves- though mainly to the Caribbean and the Americas, does not make them African. The article clearly states that they are “native” people. I am sure you know what that means. Del is right.
Clearly, people are having a hard time distinguishing between the terms “African” and “African descent”. Seems we always want to get jump on the defense when it is pointed out that the African diaspora can be seen around the world.
The word “Melanesia” comes from the Greek “melanos” meaning black or dark, and “nestos” meaning island. Melanesia literally means “island inhabited by the blacks”. They’ve inhabited the Solomon Islands long before the slave trade and are indeed of Africans descent. Though I doubt any of these facts will change your position, it may surprise you to note that there is nothing novel about independent, free, pre-slavery black civilizations from the Solomon Islands to the tip of South America and beyond. This has been extensively written about by “white” researchers such as Higgins, Volney, Heeren, Frobenius, and Strabo just to name a few. Seeing that the Melanesians call themselves black, as did the Moors(from moros meaning black), as did the Egyptians (called Egypt khemet meaning “land of the blacks”…it was the Greeks who called the land “Aegyptos” meaning “burnt faces”), who’s are you to claim otherwise?
Melanesians Are Not Africans! Argh! What is wrong with people! Genetically there isn’t even a link between them and Africans,they are more closely related to Asians than they are to Africans! They skin tone is an adaptation to the sun! How and When did Africans ever get all the way to the Solomon Islands? I am an African person, so I’m not some racists dissing Africans, I just go by facts. Solomon Islanders do not even resemble any African tribes! How the heck did these so called Africans get all the way there? Did they build a ship….as they were discovering Australasia, somehow settle in the Solomon Islands? Come on? They are actually probably people from PNG, or Indonesians or Malay people who settled there, and happen to have a lovely tan! Do we call dark skinned Indians black? No. Then it makes no sense to called Solomon Islanders Africans!
You Internet people are so foolhardy it always amazes me. Of course they got there on a boat of some kind! It is an island for God sake! Do you think they sprouted from the land like grass? Africans have built sea worthy vessels for thousands of years! Are you not aware there were many African civilizations capable of doing so? Lest you doubt it, google who is said to be the richest man that ever lived and you will know he was a Wedt African King named Mansa Musa. There is archeological evidence that proves Africans sailed to the Americas long before Colombus.
I don’t get why you people care if Melanesian’s are black or not (technically speaking everyone is)all the post was trying to say was they look pretty with their long hair.
Melanesians are not Africans…They are are a race of their own…
Melanesians ARE NOT……Not! Africans! In no way are they related to Africans! Wow! Americans need to fix their education system! Melanesians are from Australasia! They are closely linked to Asians than they are to Africans! Dark ski does not make a person African. It is just a genetic adaptation to the sun! Are dark skinned Indians Africans? No. Neither are Melanesians Africans! They are not even from the same continent! Would you call a Chinese person European because their skin colour is the same? Neither would you call a Melanesian an African!
You could sit in the Sun for a thousand years and you’ll never turn black. Fact. Melanesians have no genetic relation to Asians. Fact. Dark skinned Indians as you called them, got their color from the indigenous blacks who inhabited that area around 1000bc during the “aAryan” invasion. Fact. There is still a race of dark skinned blacks living in India called Dravidians. Fact. So to answer your rhetorical question yes there are Indians of African descent and the “Aryan” contingent are in in fact mixed race peoples. African is a RACE not a Continent. For some reason this simple fact escapes most people. To say someone is African is the same as saying they are black, just as saying someone is of European descent is to say they are white, and so for Asian also. It’s fascinating that you could look at a photo of what is obviously a black girl but somehow deny what your own eyes are seeing! I don’t really understand your animosity nor do I care to, but it doesn’t advance your false argument one bit. If you care to site your sources we can debate the facts but I suppose you’ll simple just babble more nonsense.
Ignorance Abounds!!!
You are trash…may you be put in a room full of African Americans n see how brave you are… better yet I hope they drop you on your back while your old and in diapers again. Cuz we both know those “foaming” afrcans are taking over the nursing program.
Why the heck as an African would I want blonde hair? It wouldn’t even look decent or natural on me? Don’t get Africans confused with the mass white population that is forever dying their natural brown locks to blonde in attempt to fit in with Hitlers distorted idea of beauty!
I think it looks stunning.
Well my daugter is quater native american indian ,quater african american and half czech is nice brown and pale blond almost like kid on this picture genetic is like lottery u never know what combination win
it doesnt even matter, the point is i know africans, dark skinned born with different color hair , blond, white and so forth. so the can deny being black wateva who cares. the fact still remains. aborigen or no aborigen, blacks carry divers DNA and yes some africans hv different texture hair and color. ive never hear a white person deny they white. ridiculous,regardless where they migrated from. my black is beautiful
Melanesians are australoids. They aren’t black African or black. Yes everyone has origins in Africa but if you’re gonna say that then there’s no reason in pointing out that Melanesians are black at all. Because if everyone is African then the racial categories are irrelevant
How come their eyebrows are black?
Oh my God, give it a rest already! Instead of slamming other black people, slam the Asians or the Europeans for not owning up to “descending from Africa.” It’s always Africa this and Africa that. Guess what, not all black people are from, or descended from, Africa! Hell, while you’re preaching about Africa so damn much, learn what else is in your blood and rep that! Because we’re all mixed up. And FYI, its a THEORY that people originated in Africa, not a fact. The people of India have skin every color of brown same as we do, and there is a theory that India is the cradle of life, too. The Aboriginal people believe they are the first of mankind. My point is, if you love Africa so damn much, then go live there. Just because a certain people in another fucking country or continent choose not to identify with another people in another country or continent doesn’t make them ashamed of who they are. That would be like me trying to identify with Indians when I’m not fucking Indian! Even better, trying to identify with Africans when I’m not fucking African! Stop being ignorant by calling other people out for being ignorant. You just make yourself look like an asshole.
Really thot we were supposed to be admiring this beautiful distinction among humans; not debating about race – who’s black or not.
Black is beautiful, so is Caucasian. God made us all beautiful. It’s not in our place to defend the color of our skin. Let our perfect & all-knowing Creator do that for us, if there’s any need to.
I love the smile of that pretty child, btw. Thanks for sharing, Tracey. The information is enlightening.
Aaaaahhh why are people so fqing negative about everything! Can’t we enjoy something and go “amazing” for once!
Beautiful. Incredibly breathtaking. The human body is an amazing machine to be applauded; not debated over like a piece of meat. Genetics are what they are. I am just happy to be human and able to appricate the complexity of the human body that was made to serve such simple needs. The picture of this child and the knowledge/wonder they inspire is just beautiful.
I like how there are people out there that like to state that the concept of “race” is completely idiotic. The concept of race is most certainly not idiotic. Let’s just say that people did indeed originate from africa….. if that is so, then why are the Europeans the most powerful on this planet whereas the Africans the least powerful? Using the logic of Africans starting out Humanity is completely idiotic otherwise we wouldn’t be speaking and writing with European languages *cough* English *cough*. I admit a lot of people do not use a European language but it must be noted that languages such as English, Spanish, and French have a lot of people using them (in the billions). The concept of race is most certainly accurate due to that fact that not all humans are equal. The fact that the tiny bit of land known as europe has had the largest influence on the world proves that race is very accurate in that people do have differences thus it makes sense to separate people into groups of Light Skinned, Medium tone of skin, and Dark skinned. Isn’t it funny how the vast majority of the world uses Indo-European Languages and not African ones?
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/indoeuropean-languages.png[/img]
Everything in the Universe, and the Universe itself, is dynamic and therefore everything is cyclical. Everything in nature is cyclical and therefore what goes round eventually comes around again. There was a time when the people of the world spoke one language and as they moved on to different geographic regions and locations their languages also gradually changed and became what it is today. This is the dynamics of change and evolution. There was a time when Black people ruled the world and as people evolved and their thinking also evolved, this caused great differences in thought and way of doing things and therefore conflicts began to be the order of the day. Nations began fighting with other nations and eventually the one that was powerful declined and other nations took over the power ( the Law of Cycles!). There is also the question of imperialism and colonialism where other nations defeated and ruled over others, so much so that the defeated nations’ languages had to give way to the master’s language, that is why for example in some African countries they speak French, Portuguese etc. Egypt (Ancient Black civilization) with it’s great teachings was once great for thousands of years and guess what, it is being revived at the moment and less than two hundred years from now that civilization will be back in power again. Also of note is that the minority of people (Caucasians) who are ruling the world today are controlled by the left brain thinking hence they are extroverted and less spiritual, and are more inclined to wars ( which they falsely justify!), and destruction. The left brainer concentrates on people to PRODUCE great THINGS (MATERIALISM) whereas the right brainer seeks to BRING OUT the best (SPITITUALITY) in people BEFORE they can be able to get great things out of people (that’s why it looks like the Egyptians were not interested in the technology we see today). These characteristics of the left brainers make them bad CUSTODIANS of planet earth, whereas on the other hand Egyptians or Black nations are more spiritual, introverted, less destructive due to the fact that they are controlled by the right brain hence their ability to rule with Maat. There are a lot of factors that contribute to the way things are today in the world eg genes, mans’ greed etc but I have mentioned a few obvious ones. As they say, every dog has its day! Every nation had to have a chance but the one that will endure longer than others is the one that will rule with the principles of Maat!The Caucasian has thus far only ruled for a few thousand years compared to Ancient Egypt. And this present order of the world is crumbling down!
I’m a psychotherapist with a masters and ba in psychology and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that left or right brain-oriented individuals have NOTHING to do with race. Uh-oh, your biases are showing.
Power? John is seems you misinterpret power for greed. The Euros cultivated and Americans conformed. Their rapacity constituted the depletion of our natural resources an endangerment and extinction several species of animals. Why greedy, selfish people thought best to hunt an entire species for furs, feathers, eggs and ivory I still cannot fathom. That same greedy mentality embezzled and nearly annihilated a plethora of races for personal gain… African, Native American, Indian, Russian, Irish, Jews… the list goes on. How is it you say we are not created equally? We all have a brain, heart and blood that flows thru our bodies. We need intake of food and other means of nourishment to live and we will all have an expiration date. Because we are culturally and ethically diverse makes one specific supreme? How shallow and small minded of you. You should really consider reading your history with clarity and discernment. Apparently you missed that lecture in grade school about Pangaea, you know when all the continents were whole. We all came from the same place,environment and adaptation is what created our physical distinctions. It has nothing to do with one being any better than the other. Euros were further from the equator so they lack melanin, Africans needed darker skin for protection against the sun. God created us in the likeness of him, whether we be black, white, plaid or speckled. We are all human. Why not try and embrace the blessings and wonders that life brings as this life is a very short one. Love God, Love and treat others well, put positive attitude into the universe. Leave the negativity where it belongs, behind you.
Dudes, its so fustrating. JUST because youre dark as night with pudgy noses and round faces, doesnt mean you automatically have african roots.
Not all black people in america have african roots. Having african roots doesnt make you black. I think that especially if your skin is as dark as these autralians, you are black. Same as dark indians. Black doesnt mean african or nappy hair. If someone is black and latino, they are not afro latino unless they truly have recent african roots. The typical hispanics are mestizo. If you are white with light hair or light eyes (not spaniards) and latino, you are euro latino. But sadly its a double standard, no one says euro latino because being white and latino is pride for them i guess.
Ive read that these autralians have mostly euro roots. Even if it was manly asian, it doesnt explain the light hair and eyes. Asians dont have that feature (rarely). When i first heard of these people ans saw pictures inwas honestly terried. It looked so freaky. But im not used to it.
They are black. They are NOT african.
No one is ashes of their african roots either. If someone black claims they are not african american that african americans get mad. Maybe they really dont. I feel you guys are jealous they dont have african heritage. Its a lie that life started in africa. If it did, what did every one first look like? Black africans today or whites? Or asians?
I feel someone claimed life started there to ease the butthurt african americans. (OPINION)
If its climate that really did change appearances, howcome caribean people dont look like africans if they truly came from them? The climate hot there too. What about parts of south america or central america? Also smack on the equator like africa.
There were already people living in jamaica, haiti, and DR before africans came. They were black but not african. Trinidad and barbadians are african oriented but have inidan influences, like Ghana.
That is also the reason why when hatians came to america during slave times, they werent working the field. They werent free but since their appearence was different and had lighter skin, they were often house worked. Read the book “Ruined” by Paula Morris, its fictional but based off of true history.
So bottom line, you dont need to have african roots to have this look but you do need to have euro roots to have light eyes since that gene is strictly european. Every other race has brown eyes of different shades and brown to black hair. Ok? Bye.
Sndbd, I suggest you leave fictional books alone and read REAL books with REAL history.Get yourself some books by Cheikh Anta Diop,Ivan van Sertima,Yosef Ben-Jochannan,Gerald Massey,Ra Un Nefer Amen and thousands of other scholars and historians. There are links as well that you can check and do your research. Here is just a few examples:
http://www.nbufront.org/MastersMuseums/LenJeffries/BirthplaceOfHumanity.html
http://www.panafricanperspective.com/origins/
I would also implore you to study this extensively researched historical facts on this following website:
http://realhistoryww.com/ where you will learn the diversity of the black man’s DNA,and discover where the rest of humanity and all their diversity came about.In my previous comment I did mention that blond hair or blue eyes are also found throughout Africa. My son has a friend whose child’s eyes are blue.The child and his parents’ skin is as black as night!I have a cousin who has Chinese eyes and this is not uncommon in Africa.In South Africa alone,you can find black people,and I mean the so called Negroes,with:- Asian,Caucasian,Japanese etc features(especially facial), but they DO NOT have Asian/Caucasian/Japanese etc ancestry.The fact is it is the other way round, i.e the Asians/Caucasians/Japanese etc all share black ancestry,whether they believe it or not.
Thank you so much for your post. I greatly appreciate your common sense comments.
Black People are Black People. Africa is just a continent.
Post above was intended for Sndbd.
What on earth are you talking about–Haitians had lighter skin? I’m hatian and just as toned as any other black person. As with any race there are rainbows of shades. Oh- and Haiti fought/won independence in the early 1800s-so they were free…not sure what you were trying to convey there…
My darling,caribbean people did not remain isolated from others.There was a lot of mixing going on there.Natives,europeans and african slaves ended up mixing with each other.That`s why caribbean people might look different then african people.
Natural black people with blond hair = MIND BLOWN.
It really does not matter to me, we are beautiful because of the different skin colors
Also, when you’re mixed race, here in europe, you are called “mixed”. Not black or white. See the diffrence?
You don’t need to choose sides, nor deny your mixed roots.
Thank you Marcela for truly getting it and putting it so simply and succinctly. I believe thats how it should be. I can claim to be mixed and go by that with the government and when asked by others in general. I am personally thrilled and fascinated by all that is part of my heritage (including black) not just a part. Why do others have to make how I feel about denial or an affront to them? Just because I dont choose sides doesnt make me any less proud of the African ancestry that I carry.
You call my country backwards while your own country, america, is the most racist country in the history of mankind. americans screwed over the Native Americans, enslaved Africans, had conflict with Mexicans, ect… and now you try to school me? This is most laughable!
Can’t you just accept that europeans have totally diffrent views on race, politics ect.?? I just explained how we europeans see it. To break it down:
Europeans only call africans, black. It has not much to do with color here, but with the place of origin.
And we call Aboriginals and such, pacific islanders, even if they have just as dark skin as a indiginous africans.
We look at genetics. Not color. Get it? And we all know Aboriginals have african roots. But there genetics show more than that. They have this blonde (unique to them!) gene, that indigious africans don’t have. They have asian in them, they even have interbred with, not only neanderthals, but with another kind.
So genetically speaking, they are diffrent from indiginous(and non mixed)africans.
that’s all… Noone is denying the african roots, noone is ashemed to be called african, oke? Don’t put other people on blast.
I don’t know why this comes up time and time again as though this statement is logical. The path goes from Africa to Asia, not from Asia to Africa if I’m not mistaken. If there was any migration at some point back into Africa from Asia, it is probably of little significance. So I would have to disagree that Aborigines have Asian in them. It has been said that African genes are the most diverse from that of any other of the human race so rather you should say that the black gene offers up a lot of diversity and perhaps develops a closeness as Asia is approached leading one to say that maybe it should be rephrased to say Asians are more closely related to Aborigines. Also I would add that blonde hair in Aborigines is just the hidden diversity found in the black gene adapting in different environments outside of arid conditions found in Africa. I put it this way because studies have said that Aborigines have remained rather isolated and untouched by the outside world for centuries since they left out of Africa. Also I want to mention note the facial similarity of a large number of Africans throughout the continent to Asians, particularly those in the south. That is not just coincidence. I would like to consider your mixture claim. Feel free to provide any support to your Aborigine/Neanderthal/Asian mixture.
Marcela
I think you’ve got the statement “They have Asian in them, they even have interbred with, not only Neanderthals, but with another kind” incorrect. Aborigines have been in pretty much complete isolation since they arrived to the Australian continent from the continent known as Africa with little to no migration or mixture from the outside. As for Neanderthal, have they ever really been able to extract any Neanderthal DNA? It’s important to remember that inherently, Black People are the most diverse in terms of gene pool in our human family. Given an extended period of time from the motherland, separate sets of genes develop independently of their brothers and sisters with no influence or interference from the outside due to environment etc. showcasing the secrets already found in and which lie dormant for a ready response in Black People resulting in the entire human race – really the one only race that really exists.
Dave the ancestry of all HUMANS originates in Africa.. Yes you may have more “Asian” decendants however the first HUMANS where in African they then traveled throughout the world were their bodies adjusted to their environments throughout genetic mutations .. Regardless of what colour or race you choose to call yourself we ALL come from the same place .. And Dave to be called “black” is a ignorant reference that the world has for all people with more pigmentation the a caucasion person so essentially everyone who doesn’t have pale skin is refered to by our ignorant world as “black”
if you guys would read you would know those pacific islanders have significant amount of African ancestry in their dna. Though they are not technically “Africans”, like American black people, they originated in Africa.
Everybody originated in Africa.
Denying being black doesn’t make u white n btw its only in Africa wea we dont care bawt skin colour,,,,and we are not insecure of our race,,,like how cool is it 4 one to stay under the sun 4 long hrs without gettin sunburns,,,,wat makes culture is knowing ur ancestry if u dont have one then u dont belong$,,,, proudly Kenyan,africa my home,,,, 🙂
These people are Australian Aborigines. They are not black. I am half Australian Aborigine. And DNA testing shows that we are more asian than anything. In fact if you were to go to australia and call one of us black you would get some negative feed back. Black people need to stop being to insecure about their own race.
You can call them Aborigines or Asiatics, whether they are in Australia, India, Japan, China…everywhere in the world, the fact of the matter is they are black and their ancestors originated in Africa, therefore are Africans by ancestry. If they deny this, they deny their ancestry and their history! Do some research and find out where your forefathers, before they went to Australia, India etc originated from.
I’m European and Native American and my ancestors all originated in Africa (as did everyone’s) I love knowing that.
Miss3v3lyn You need to calm down. Aborigen are first souls of Australia such as Natives in america…But Dave please cmon boy: black is black
When will u ever learn pple will never see u as an aborigine or wa’eva ur dna says if u’ve got a drop of dark blood in ya n ur skin shows u’ll pass 4 a black dont bother stressin tryn 2 explain “m an aboriginal m more asiatic than african,,,they judge by skin colour not by anythn else.
so…if there is no reason to be insecure as YOU put it,….why would one get such negative feedback>???? you can merely make the distinction and move on.
*rolls eyes*….black skinned non african people need to Get the F over their damned selves. no one is trying to make you claim the mother land. but black is black. bawling and wailing how asian u are doesnt make you any less “black”
ALL life began in Africa the True Motherland! The State of Origin. Truesay black is black, and there’s nothing wrong with it. This article has just reinforced my opinion of black/kinky hair, it is extremely UNIQUE … no other groups of people in the world possesses hair like black people do e.g. 2 different lengths of hair, when in resting state and when stretched out. I for one think relaxer is the devil,(caused enough damage in my life) and so glad I went back to my roots so to speak and transitioned. I don’t remember having this much fun with kinky hair when I was young, it was always such a pain and chore, and almost always ended with tears, lol. But thanks to social media, black people all over the world are able to share their kinky hair experiences and are taking pride in their ‘crowning glory’. Your kinky hair is your crown, never let another make you feel like its ‘unruly’ or ‘unmanagable’ after all nothing good comes easy. Worn in an afro, it is reminiscent of a halo …I could go on about how uniquely beautiful black/kinky hair is, but you all already know that. I’d like to add that in eastern parts of Nigeria, you do have black people with naturally occurring RED hair (the Ibos), even black people with albinism have a range of red, to gold to blonde to platinum blonde hair… so people need to stop buying into the ‘mis-hype’ and myth that black/kinky hair comes naturally in one colour, is unmanageable (put some time and effort into it, after all it is your hair), and looks better, dare I say it, relaxed. Black hair rules …Power to the Afro! P.S. ever noticed how very kinky hair is so curly and coils it forms a fist?Each does this individualy, as well as all the strands collectively – Black Power!
Sorry to burst your bubble Dave, but if you really are classified as ‘Asian’ then you are also classified as Black. There are only two major races according to geographical historian books, all based on the shaping of the Earth originally before it broke up. And Asians were also classified as Blacks. You were either Caucasion or black. So either way, my friend- you are either black….or black.
EVERYONE is descended from Africa. Even Europeans. if you trace your ancestry far enough you will find that everyone’s leads back to Africa because scientifically that is where the human race began. Respect your roots.
Funny how people don’t want to be identified with “Africa” and their origins. Are they ashamed? It is even more ludicrous when they are pitch black, whether with blue eyes, blond hair or straight hair, and still do not want to be identified with Africa, or called black. By the way there are black people with blue eyes and blond hair in Africa too, not just in Australia! Also remember that the black man is capable of producing different skin toned people for example blue-black to dark brown to light brown to lighter skin and pale skin (so called Albinos). Let us all remember that blacks were the first people on planet earth and they roamed the whole planet and left their offspring everywhere they were and these adapted to the different environments they found themselves in, whether in India or anywhere on the planet.
Majority of the people this world are confused about RACE. Mankind created the types, but there is ONLY (1) the HUMAN race. People settled in countries, the didn’t grow out of a tree or out of the ground and appear. The DNA tells you where your history started from, not where your parents ancestors were born. I gave bever seen no BLACK, WHITE, ITALIAN, FRENCH blood. It’s all the SAME COLOR. DARK RED. Put 1 million humans blood in the clear tube your doctor uses when you get a physical and put them on the table and mix them up. Now try to find yours? Guess what? You cannot. I give blood and, I’m if you want to call it Black, and with my blood type, guess how many people of different so called RACES use my blood when needed, exactly, ALL. We all have 10 fingers, 10 toes, teeth to eat with , lips, 2 ears. All HUMAN females have the same parts of the body as well as the men, and that goes for ALL so called RACES. Yeah, I thought so. I also thought GOD created ADAM & EVE. One MAN & one WOMAN. I don’t remember him creating all the so called RACES people assume their are. HUMANS originated from AFRICA, wgere how many dialects derived from. Over 1000. I’m 40 years old and history has never changed. I read the A Encyclopedia when I was in grade school and it specifically states that 1000 languages came from AFRICA. So no one in this world reads and if you do, you’re in denial that we are all RELATED through DNA. Go to DNA AFRICA in You Tube and see an Austrailian and Chinese geaneologist scientist state they new their history/blood line derived from their countries they were born in, but when the checked their DNA, guess what? Their blood line runs deep into AFRICA. The first Chinese that settled in China was African and the scientist found the location where the first Chinese settled and the area where they live have the most beautiful DARKEST SKIN of the AFRICAN descent. Wow this world is so caught up on lighter is better, that’s why the world is screwed up in the head, because assumptions create controversy and wars and hatred. When war stops in the Middle East it will stop around the world. No one is different than anyone else except the color of the skin. Remember, their are the so called BLACK AFRICANS & WHITE AFRICANS.
African is a nationality, not a race. All you have to do is be born there and that’s makes you African
Sorry, Africa is a continent made up of different countries, cultures, and customs. Very simple fact.
Dogs, cats and pigs have red blood too so what’s your point?
Again, aborigen are from Australia not Africa.
Kiluua
We know that Aborigines are from Australia. And as you point out yes they are Black, thank you. What is being pointed out here is that they have their origin in Africa as do all people; that’s where they ultimately migrated from, one of the first, earliest migrations to leave that continent to come to Australia making them the original inhabitants of the continent Australia; hence making Africa the motherland. But yes they migrated from Africa to Australia and have been there for some time. They are from Australia via Africa. We get it.
This sort of argument doesn’t work. That just makes everyone African by default.
The point is, they were on these islands for as long as it took other ethnic groups to develop. Therefore they are their own unique ethnic group, culture, etc.
“Life started in Africa and therefore everyone is black” just doesn’t work.
Yes, life started in Africa, and yes they are their own ethnic group. They are also part of a wider known group known as Black People, with their own distinct set of characteristics due to isolation + time + conditions. Even on the continent of Africa Black People are of different ethnicities. Often certain semblances in physical characteristics are what’s referred to when noting Black People and the wide variety that make up Black People. So yes in the case of Australian Aborigines it does work as with many other Black People found across the globe world wide.
I don’t mind being called a black man. I would even call a white man black if he had black hairs. But Im not african. Im a Melanesian. Most Melanesians are brown.
The latest clash occurred in Hotan Prefecture, in the southern part of Xinjiang, whose population is predominantly Uighur. The Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking group sharing many affinities with people across Central Asia, and most follow relatively moderate forms of Sunni Islam. Many Uighurs resent the growing number of Han Chinese people, who have been attracted to Xinjiang by jobs in farming, energy production and mining.
Xinjiang shares borders with Central Asian countries as well as Pakistan and a sliver of Afghanistan. It came under the control of Chinese Communist forces in 1949, and swaths are still controlled by quasi-military production organizations, which run huge farms for cotton, tomatoes and other crops.
get arrested and see if the police care what “specific” ethnicity you call yourself.. I work for a police dept and you are either black or white depending on what you look like for most of their stats..if the color of your skin in dark you are black, if white or light you are labeled white…those other designations are very rearly used. There are black and white Hispanics..and they are usually identified by the color of their skins.. they also may not like to identified as “black” but that is what they are!!!!!
Black is a way to identify, and a way to associate one or some people. Yes we all have some black in us, and yes its in different levels. But i think at that point common sense and simple observation should take over and make a decision for you. We evolve, nature gives us more tools than we could ever invent
I love how everyone is like “we’re not black….” like it’s the most toxic and shameful thing to be. LOLz! I bet if the world were flipped over and Black skin colour was the most powerful and most coveted feature to have then these people would be like: “Oh YES!!! WE ARE BLACK!! Blackness doesn’t only come from Africa! We’re definitely Black too!” Haha OK whatever, if you don’t want to be known as “black” then ok. But that skin colour is DEFINITELY Black, and if they go to any part of the world where apartheid exists, the reality will hit that they closely resemble Blacks [sub-Saharan whatever] My eyes definitely see black skin, and the original poster sees black skin….NO ONE is calling them African. Are we seriously trying to say that skin colour isn’t DARK? Almost Black even? Right so that makes them a race of dark-skinned [aka BLACK] raced people. End of.
Live each day to the fullest. Don’t let anyone put a label on you that you don’t believe is correct. Be proud of who you are.
It is correct that not all blacks are African. African-Americans are not African. Most African-Americans can trace their ancestry back for several generations in America, and most of them are a mixture of races. Then you have people in South America, Central America Europe, the Caribbean Islands, etc. that identify as black. These people do not identify as Africans, they identify with their cultural heritage and native country. The same as Melanesians do.
In America, the term “black” it is not out of ignorance. It is more political than racial identification.
South Africa gave to the world: former President Nelson Mandela, an African.
The United States gave to the world: President Barack Obama, a light skinned man that is right now, the most powerful man in the world. His Mother is White American and his Father is Kenyan, yet he identifies as black. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (a light skinned man that identified as black whose birthday is celebrated in several countries around the world) for his progress in civil and human rights that continues to benefit people all over the world. Mrs. Rosa Parks, a light skinned woman identified as black that sparked the civil and human rights struggle in the United States which spread across the world, and the list goes on.
There are people that identify as black that look white, and until they tell you they are black, you would never guess. There are people all over the world that are mixed with a very small amount of some kind of black and other races, but choose to identify as black, and become angry if someone says that they don’t look black, or if they think that blacks do not accept them 100%.
As for Melanesians, in the U.S. they may identify as “Pacific Islanders” or “other”. Whatever they choose.
You have to keep in mind that racism and skin color are a large part of the western world. Identifying as black is a statement that says, “I am proud of who I am”.
There have been a lot of people with very dark skin from foreign countries that came to the U.S. They would tell the Americans that they are not black. However, when the racism starts, the first thing that they do is run to the African-Americans for support.
Btw that girl in the pic is gorg…. That smile is soo beautiful… I bet she wouldn’t give a damn about this whole discussion we are having lol…
It’s so funny to me how other people get to be called Indian or Egyptian but I am just black. people don’t call me black because I come from a region of Africa they call me black because of my skin color so I don’t understand how people can say I’m black but someone who looks just like me isn’t. Black is a color and not a place of origin. I mean what if I did my research and I dont come from Africa? Would I no longer be black? I would still consider myself black either way because that label is more physical, at least that’s what I always thought. And people at the top are getting so offended yet these are the same people who would see me and prob say I’m black… Like wtf how? How do you know where I “come from” but I don’t?
Marcela and Cupcake, the both of you are complete hypocrites. Keep talking about how ignorant people are for generalizing black and white while BOTH OF YOU GENERALIZED AMERICANS as IGNORANT and assumed all Americans think that the color of your skin defines you instead of your ethnic background. What world do you two live in? America is naturally a 1st world, educated country. Something so obvious as the difference between color and ethnicity is well known as the difference between apples and oranges. Americans do not label people the way you both assumed. INDIVIDUALS may do this, and even those individuals often realize the difference, they just choose to generalize due to the nature of what is being discussed or possibly because they are simply talking about skin color and not race/ethnicity.
SHAME ON BOTH OF YOU IGNORANT WOMEN!!! Whatever countries you are from are probably a little behind in the common sense category. Also you may want to consider that insulting Americans just because it is the current “Thing” is just sad and ignorant. People around the world judge Americans based on Foreign Policy which is controlled by a tiny amount of crooked political and corporate figures. This is common and embarrassing for these non Americans that they assume we are all of the same views and beliefs when in fact the vast majority of Americans agree that our Foreign Policy is a disgrace, like i do. BYE BYE
Black comes in all shades and colors
Maybe African Americans know something some of us do not
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/05/17199580-african-americans-y-chromosome-sparks-shift-in-evolutionary-timetable?lite
I am Melanesian (Papua New Guinean) and i have had black people from other cultures make interesting comments about the blonde hair and how we’re ‘just mixed with white’. I found that pretty ignorant and felt that completely disregarded my Melanesian culture and heritage. No, the blonde hair does not come from being ‘mixed’. Melanesians don’t feel they have a link to Africa but I still consider myself black. My father is from Bougainville, the North Solomons province of PNG, and is charcoal black so i’m always confused when people from other countries tell me otherwise. Not all black people are of direct African descent and when I describe myself as black, it is because I see black skin.
That is so true. There are some black people that think everybody is mixed if they have blonde hair or straight hair (especially if it is long) and that is not true. I know black people with naturally long straight hair and they are not mixed. I do think that the girl in the picture is really pretty. Dark skinned people come in different shades of skin and hair from different places on the planet. We should celebrate each other instead of criticizing each other.
I need a chick
They have black skin & features, and blonde/red hair not genetically related to the white people blonde/red hair. They also have denisovans/neanderthal genes. I think is marvelous ! It shows the beauty of diversity!
I honestly always thought black means african, in like, black african. It’s the first time i heard people saying black is just a color.
But since black african and sub saharan is seen as a racist slur *sigh* what should we call dark africans then?
Remember that north-africans are not black… So you can’t call black africans “the african race” since africa concists of a lot of races.
You can’t do any right with this situation.
I think melanesians are not black as in, black africans. They are mixed over time, with asians, probably taiwanese Aboriginals ect; so they are not the same as black africans.
The blonde hair is pretty though. I think its a nice contrast.
I know what you mean.
Just keepin’ it real, but when people are saying black, they are referring to sub-saharan-africans.
So for example; indians are not black, but people who are brainwashed into this social construct of “black or white” makes indians black in their eyes.
Throw that “black or white” social construct out of the window and start seeing people for what they are. This construct actually divides us humans -based on our color- into “black or white” and throws out all diversity of colors, cultures, “races”, and ethnicity’s.
What a small minded people i accounter on the net.
Like marcela said, they did not go from africa straight to melanesia, thus staying the same or having the same culture or language. if that’s what ya’ll think, think again. And concidering black is meant Sub-Saharan-african, we cannot say these melanesian people, who lived for all those decades in isolation, developing their own unique appearance due mixing and adaptation to environment, language, lifestyle and culture, are black…
srlsy, people are trippin’ these days.
I agree with you. In the past most people believed that melanesians were the mixture of blacks and dutch sailors. Probably, because, most children of mixed black/white ancestry look like these melanesians childrens. However, genetically, they are not related to either the white or black races. In additon, they have denisovan and neanderthal blood. Very interesting.
Ok, as a Melanesian, that is offensive. The majority of Melanesians are not dying to be categorized with Africans. So don’t make it seem like we are desperate to fit into that group. Its good to be different. I had a darker shade of blonde hair as a kid, and I lost that blondness when I shaved by head. I am related to many blonde people, and red heads to, it happens to people from where I’m from(PNG). So take your categorizing to people who have an identity crises, and have no culture. I’m defined by Melanesian culture, and its nothing like African culture.
I don’t get why Melanesians should say they’re African yet Arabs and Europeans don’t and they are actually genetically linked.
Melanesians are not African and it’s an insult to Melanesian culture (which developed over thousands of years) just for them to be seen as Africans as it shows a complete disregard for the unique Melanesian cultures.
Papua New Guinea is an extremely heterogenous nation and you’ll find that each tribe has its own distinct culture, traditions and values. A lot of those afrocentrists love to bring up the Fijian tale but every tribe has their own tale of their origins. Im from the highlands and my tribe was said to have been descended from a crater lake in simbu, whereas my cousins claim to be descended from an ancestral bird. Culturally speaking I do think Melanesians are similar to south east Asians and even native south Americans in terms of the costumes, elaborate carvings and even some of the architecture I.e the Sepik spirit houses resemble south east Asian style buildings as opposed to anything African, where they tend to primarily construct mud or brick buildings whether they’re in the desert, highlands, coastal areas or rainforests.
Physically the only thing that links them would be the dark skin and the hair type but genetic makeup indicates little to no links between the two groups. Science tends to not agree with afrocentrists and there’s probably a reason for that….besides not all Melanesians have Afro hair, some have wavy or even Asian-like straight. This classmate of mine was from Bougainville province and she was dark as coal but her hair was naturally straight… Probably due to Polynesian admixture tho. Not all Africans have the tightly curled Afro hair too, east Africans and some western black Africans have wavy hair. The point is both regions are very diverse… In fact most African Americans tend to think that all Africans look alike and have big wide and flat noses, nappy hair but that’s not entirely true. There are major differences between different nationalities, whilst most will be able to spot the difference between a light ethiopian and a ibo from Nigeria a lot probably can’t tell the difference between a Zulu and a Yoruba man.
Anyway the point I’m trying to make is afrocentrists need to stop trying to generalize and claiming everyone…. I mean red heads from Scotland being black? O_o
Melanesians have been in their neck of the world for longer than others have so let them be melanesians and not link them to being African because they’re far from it geographically, culturally and racially. They have their own cultures which are unique to them so lets keep it melanesian.
Afrocentrists aren’t trying to claim everyone. Its called science …. no matter how you twist it and no matter how you feel about it. Africa is where ALL life came from. This is a FACT. Today there are many different cultures which we acknowledge but the FACT remains the same. Also most of the information you have written is grossly incorrect especially in regards to African infrastructure. Africa does not mainly have mud huts and buildings – the pyramids in Egypt for example are not simply mud huts or buildings. The great mosque of Mali and the wood houses found in South Africa are not simply mud huts and buildings. This argument comes down to your ignorance, it is very clear your lack of knowledge about Africa but you are pretending as though the information you are spewing is FACT. everybody is african … get over it. The Igbo culture made elaborate bronze carvings during the Viking Era? which are FAR more elaborate than Melanasian carvings. No afrocentrist is trying to claim you, the article simply says Melanasians have descendants from Africa. Whether or not you like it, its a fact.
It’s the last thing i will say about this.
The girl in de picture and the people where this article is about are Melanesian.
Melanesian people are Australoid people.
And since they are australoid, they are not African.
Black people are decendant from the continent of Africa and black is the name people give to Sub-saharan people.
If you want to know what sub-saharan means and how far this region streches look at a map in google.
There are Non-black people in africa too.
Egyptian, Lybian, Morroccan people are not black for example.
So calling this girl and her melanesian brothers and sisters black is ignorant and generalizing!
You cannot call someone black just by observing their skin color.
Ultra dark skin color exists all over the world. In africa, asia, south-america ect.
Would you call a very dark skinned cambodian girl black? No. Because she is asian.
Would you call an Indian girl black? No. But they still got very dark skin. get it?
So i guess we can finally leave it at this.
All people have their beauty, it’s ignorance and generalization that is ugly.
Actually, “cupcakepink”, I would call them black. Reading is fundamental and so is researching. Africa is the land from which all human life descends. This has been scientifically proven time and time again, which is why “ultra dark skin color exists all over the world.” The Melanesian people may not have been born on the continent of Africa, but that is non-responsive to their blackness. We are all black in some capacity – some more than others. Aside from all of that, why shouldn’t they be black? Your adamance at denying what is obvious is unsettling to say the least. Black is beautiful. Peace.
Jayy, you saying “We are all black in some capacity – some more than others.” is just plain ignorant.
Nobody is denying all human life came from africa and nobody is saying that black isn’t beautiful, hun.
However, you have some flaws in your logic.
I’m gonna start by saying that my mom what white and my dad was spanish. So if someone asks me what my ethnicity or race i am, then i should say black now? Because according to your logic, everyone is black somehow.
So the palest, blond-blue-eyed, north-european should call themselves black instead of caucasian now? Ha, i think i’ve proven your point wrong.
So if everyone is black anyway, why call a white person bad names like whitey, pasty, ugly, when they are black too? Why not call a japanese girl black? Then racism should not exist in this world when we were all the same. But it unfortunatly does.
“I would call them black.” you say, and you can call them so, but melanesians do not call themselves black.
“why shouldn’t they be black?” because, as stated so many times here, they are not black. They did not go from africa, straight to melanesia. They have more connections to asians (taiwanese Aboriginals) and so on. They heve their own melanesian dna, culture, language and ancestry. You should visit the website of a a wonderful lady jane resture: http://www.janeresture.com/melhome/index.htm
You can read about the origins of melanesian people.
We all know that the human race came from africa, but saying everyone is therefore black is wrong.
Stop claiming dark skinned people as black. They have their own people and culture to be indentified with.
Love,
xx
technically race is socially defined and there is NO biological difference between races and therefor the definition of “white” “black” “yellow” and “red” races will always be changing due to the fact that there is no way to tell where a person is from because of their skin tone.
I dunno if you are replying to me or someone else… But your definition of races are really outdated. I mean, who still says “yellow” and “red” ect anyway?! What the hell. I hope you don’t call an asian person “yellow” or a native american “red”.. because, wow, your just ignorant.
And what in heavens name do you mean by “race is socially defined”? Ehm. It’s not. If you are Japanese, you are asian, wherever you walk on this earth. Japanese people don’t turn white(caucasian) when they are somwhere else. I can’t believe you just said that haha.
And then you turn around and say “there is no way to tell where a person is from because of their skin tone” which is pretty much exactly what some peeps here are trying to say. it’s not because melanesians are dark skinned or like y’all say “black”, that she’s african. Melanesians had a large genetical drift, they are mixed with denisova hominin and neanderthalers.. The african blood is kind of far away now… And since their climate did not pressure them to changing their skincolor, they stayed dark.
Oh BTW, for all you americans out there, stop being ignorant and stop catigorizing people in the “black or white” social construct cuz it’s not doing any good. Start realizing people are diverse and stop saying every light skinned person is white and every dark skinned person is black. Don’t be a hypocrite by calling someone black when they are not even african. Not all dark skinned people are african and not all light skinned people are caucasian. look at the melanesians on your comments below and you’ll see not many of them count themselfves as black african.
Good day.x
I’m not going to agree or disagree with any of you, however, i just want to clarify something for those of you who seem a bit confused. Please, just read the first 5-6 paragraphs from this website… http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-melanesian-africans-of-solomon.html
Your argument makes no sense Cupcakepink.
It’s not too hard to understand, girl.
I bet you don’t know what australoid is anyway.
Melanesians (and oceanian people in general) are a very special kind of people.
They, unlike black (african) people, have neanderthal and Denisova hominin blood in them.
Plus decades of isolation has made them who they are.
Just stop claiming all dark skinned people as african. Stop saying black is just a color. If *white* is a race, *black* is a race too. It must be an american thing, but where i come from, we don’t call every dark skinned person black because not every dark skinned person is african. Like i said, indians(from india) can be black of color, but why call them black like they are africans?
Calling everyone who has dark skin black is actually racist because that is EXACTLY what a white racist would do!
The article here is called: “black people with naturally blonde hair”.
Black is used wrongly here, because these people are melanesian.
Why is calling dark skin black being racist. Is black negative? One day everybody will be claiming the black that is in all of us.
Actually, i think it’s also funny how expecially americans seem to have this social construct of “black or white”…
In my country, black means african. But in america, black means “the color of one’s skin” without going into the “racial” background of the person. Maybe americans should start calling people as they are: indian, caucasian, italian, melanesian, polyneasian, japanese… instead of choosing between “black or white”. Stop putting people into boxes.
But if you are not down on that, there is no arguing left to do.
You can’t fix stubborn-ness.
Well, see yah.
Peace.
Cupcakepink, In America, people are grouped as: Asian (Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hmong, Thai, ect.); African-American; black (African-American and black people that are not African-American such as black Brazilians, blacks from the Caribbean Islands, black europeans, etc); Caucasian/white (european, white Africans, Russians, etc); Hispanic (Mexico, Central American, most South Americans, Cubans, etc) Native Americans (Cherokee, Apache, Black Creek, etc); and Pacific Islanders (Malaysian, Polynesian, Filipinos, etc.; and Indians from India. There are smaller groups that don’t fit into any of these.
The hypocritical comments on this board are baffling. First off here’s a quick anthropology lesson: Not all Africans are “black” – there is a wide range of people and colors – from blue eyed, pale skinned Algerians, to long-hair brown skinned Ethiopians to the black as blue and regal Masai people. Many people are getting offended for being called “African” or feel the black race is trying to consume their identity. No you are just incredibly stupid and need to put more time into educating yourself rather that defining a racial identity bereft of African ties. Many people make it seem that any connection to Africa mean blackness. No you are just an idiot! Also “black” is just an adjective, any meaning you get from the word is informed by YOUR OWN PREJUDICES.
And what are races? physical appearances!
Skin color, eyecolor, hair texture, bonestructure, skullstructure ect…
Since melanesians are from the austrialoid stock, having australianoid/melanesian “body’s” they are not black.
a link for the people who want to read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australoid_race
it clearly stated melanesians are australoid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_people
Black people obviously not.
And whatever right? It does not matter who is who. Every race has beauty! Just can’t stand people who spuw lies over the internet.
Peace y’all!!!
xxxx
Melanesians root word is melanos which translate to black in Greek…Sorta like melanin
Todd Smith, could be but it’s been outdated.
This scientist thought these people were black because they “looked that way”…. so he called them melanesian.
is this stuff still going? jeez.
Is it so weird to call someone a race? It’s not a bad thing as it’s the truth.
The major races in this world are: white(caucasian), black(negroid), asian(mongoloid) and australian(australianoid).
There is more…in between of course. For example moroccan people. You can’t call ‘m black(negroid) but they are somewhere in between as humans mixed alot.
This girl belongs to australianoid i guess and is not Black(negroid). Her ancestors from far back came from (black/subsaharian)africa. Of course no one is “black” colored. It are indeed manmade names. Black means “Negroid”.
If you want to believe science, you can go as far as saying everyone is black or negroid because the first humans were. But we all moved out of africa and it divided us all. We all had to adapt to the places we lived, the food, the sun/lack thereof…So races were born.
“This girl belongs to australianoid “i guess” and is not Black(negroid). Her ancestors from far back came from (black/subsaharian)africa”
But then you turn around and say everyone is black(negroid)
Cupcake you’re neither here nor their
Todd Smith, where did i say everyone was black? Learn to read fella!! I said you could go as far as saying everyone is black because in the beginning everyone was.. according to the evolutiontheory. So who is being an ignorant fool now? Learn to read people.
Just checking, i want to clarify something, i found these classifications on the net, so don’t schoot me if they are not accurate anymore, cuacasoid, negroid and mongoloid are terms which are fallen out of favor these days… but you can catch my drift, right?
peace.xx
How can anything made by God be considered “ugly”? The Melanesians are a uniquely beautiful set of people and to think that some people would make negative comments about them just reeks of racial prejudice and hate smh
Look I’m sick of the stupid debates about race black is a color not a race last time I check no omegas black skin just brown. Now I think this is a beautiful child and her blonde hair is wonderful. Being different is beautiful, repetition is not, its boring. I wish I had beautiful blonde hair like hers, she is gorgeous, and that is the purpose if this article. Showing us a little beauty in this ugly world, like the first few messages. The first line should say “genes are amazing” not just hair is.
Jae… If being Black isn’t a racial term in the United States than please give an example of a racial term? Last time I checked… “Brown” wasn’t on the Census under race or ethnicity… Of course no one is black.. No one is white, red, or yellow either.. But these are the man made terms that have been used in the USA to describe various people (I.e., Caucasians, Native Americans, Asian Americans). So please give me an example of race if black is not one.. And just a hint.. African American is not a race.
Sorry… African American IS considered a race. Based on our shared physical features… Including skin color
something i found:
Recent studies, which included DNA analysis of almost 700 samples from Aboriginal Australians and Melanesians, has confirmed the view that Aboriginal Australians are descended from the same small group of people who left Africa about 70,000 years ago. After arriving in Australia and New Guinea about 50,000 years ago, the settlers evolved in relative isolation, developing unique genetic characteristics and technology.
Interestingly, recent studies of DNA in Taiwan has provided some interesting conclusions about the origins of the Polynesian and Melanesian people.
DNA studies of the original group found three mutations shared by Taiwanese, Polynesians and Melanesians, who also speak Austronesian. These mutations are not found in other Asians and hence suggest that the Polynesians and Melanesians have their origins in the original inhabitants of Taiwan.
So indeed, they might have been from african decent. But they are diffrent now. So they’re not Black.
The term “black people” is deceptively used in this article. Yes, they have black skin and blond hair. However, black is used in a way that implies “African.” They are not. Melonisians are not African and are related distantly to Africans. So, it’s not surprising that their hair can turn out much differently.
Wow, my post got so down rated and QML said just the same thing and he/she gets good rates. Weird.
I just said (to people here who claim that africans where the first blondes) that you can’t know that. Blonde occured everywhere, in north europe the most. But saying all blonde comes from africa is ignorant. Blonde was a mutation a long time ago (after /before ice age?) “Natural lighter hair colors occur most often in Europe and less frequently in other areas.[25] In northern European populations, the occurrence of blond hair is very frequent. The hair color gene MC1R has at least seven variants in Europe giving the continent a wide range of hair and eye shades. Based on recent genetic research carried out at three Japanese universities, the date of the genetic mutation that resulted in blond hair in Europe has been isolated to about 11,000 years ago during the last ice age.[26]” So there.
And BLACK IS A RACE. Don’t get me started on this. Black people as we know them today are “sub-saharian-africans.” They have a typical dna just like every other race. You can’t just say a moroccan girls is black just because she’s african and dark skinned. No. She will be Arabian. So calling Oceanic people black is just not true. They might have been from black ancestry..yes. But you can’t call them black. They have their own DNA. Melanesian, polynesian, micronesian, aboriginal are not african-black/sub-saharian-africans anymore. Their facial fetures and their general DNA changed over the centuries of isolation. And therefore their hair can mutate, in this case, into blonde.
This child is very beautiful btw! It’s a cool look!
I totally agree. Race is NOT ethnicity. People do not understand these constructs. By their logic, because she has darker skin, she is black… And they equate that blackness to an ethnicity… Such as being from an African country… These people would probably see a “white ” South African and claim they weren’t African… Smh…
Phew, finally someone who agrees. I’m happy.
I think its so damn weird that people go around and call every very-dark-skinned person, black. So dark indians are black? are dark morrocan people black? Are dark phillipino’s black? No.
So if i would lay under a tanningbed and get ultra dark, am i black suddenly? Because i “look” black don’t i? haha.
Their are beautiful people everywhere! But the truth is the truth.
Qml a German Shepard born in Mexico is still a German Shepard . They are so easily distinguishable from the Chihuahuas
Black is not a race…. Black is an adjective that describes a race…”sub-saharan” African is a colonial construction used to divide and thus conquer
appearantly you just CAN’T read. If you want to give your oppinion while you can’t even read and understand the comments, you are ingnorant.
First you say black is NOT a race but then you say it’s an ajective to describe A RACE? HUH? So it IS a race after all then? LOL.
Sub saharan is a nice therm in my opinion as it describes the darkest people of the african continent.
Because, you might not know it but there is more to africa then black people. You have maroccans,… ect. And these people are not black. Or not sub-saharian. They are “arabian”…
Black is the same thing as calling a caucasian “white”.
Black people are not “black” of color. Nor are caucasians “white” in color. But it are just names.
So since black is not a race in your mind, what would you call a black person then? I hope you won’t call them negro’s because THAT IS offensive. “Black” is actually indroduced by black people who found the therm nergo offensive.
Beautiful little girl, look at that smile 🙂
I am amazed by of the hideous comments being made by some. First of all what difference does it matter genetically how the Aboriginal people obtained their blond hair? If someone has an issue w/ it, perhaps they should inquire about it w/ the good Lord up above. Second of all I’m just as intrigued that people are more up in arms about these beautiful ppl being called Black vs. the despicable racist comments that have been made. These ppl may not be considered technically as Black, but they are discriminated & even more oppressed than most African-Americans are currently. They may as well be called Black. And finally, I think that this angel faced child is perfect…her dark complexion, wide nose & kinky blond hair.
Wait… Why can’t we talk about how the genetics??? That’s science and it’s not rude or evil to discuss it, nor does it take away from her beauty and uniqueness. It’s an educated way to discuss this rare phenomenon. And to say that people are more in arms about her being called Black than the racist comments is a lie. I ignored the racist comments because a person who says things like that is not going to be swayed by me lashing back at them. They are ignorant. Fools don’t listen to the wise… That’s what makes them fools. I spoke about her being called Black because that is an error made by every day misinformed ppl who CAN change their language and thoughts. Race and ethnicity are very different. If this little girl is referred to as Black in HER culture… That’s one thing.. But we can’t force that on her…
Educate yourself people beyond your front door! There is a big world beyond your scope!
Wow… we have become so Westernized in our thinking. How DARE we associate a term “Black” to these individuals? Calling them “Black” and bringing them into our westernized ideology, completely strips them of their culture and heritage. They are more so associated with Polynesia and New Guinea. How do they fit our man made, culturally constructed,racial definition of Black. This shows how egocentric we tend to be. How can we “claim” these people as Black, therefore implying some cultural connatation that does not hold up. Just because someone has darker pigmentation DOES not mean they are “Black” (how we use the term). There are darker pigmented individuals in THOUSANDS of different cultures and peoples..do we get to “claim” them all? Come on guys… let’s think before we speak. Or at least understand the racial, ethnic, cutural, and heritage differences amongst people.
And what is even more disturbing is suggesting that they are “hideous” and “uncivilized.” This ideology is what has led to slavery, and emperialism around the world and throughout history.
And to the person who said, “you aboriginals are so ashamed to be equated with Black culture.” Don’t they have their OWN culture to be equated with? You obviously do not know what “culture” is. Living as an African American in the U.S., I would not expect a Nigerian in Great Britian to have the same CULTURE as I do, despite our shared ancestry, and possibly darker skin.
She is soooo pretty.
Isn’t she just? Lovely smile.
Who cares? Why can’t people with dark skin have light hair? I happen to think this little girl is beautiful. The only reason why you people think people with that kind of skin color shouldn’t have that kind of hair is because of society. Stop this. We are all beautiful.
In fact, the blonde Melanesians have blonde that is unique solely to them. According to the study in which scientists compared 43 blonde hair islanders to 42 dark hair islanders, blonde Melanesians have a variant of a native gene called TYRP1 that plays an important role in the melanin biosynthetic pathway. This variant is completely separate from what causes blonde hair in Europeans, and doesn’t even exist in the European genetic set.
What’s truly beautiful in this fascinating discovery, as so perfectly stated by the study author Sean Myles, a geneticist at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, is that “it’s a great example of convergent evolution, where the same outcome is brought about by completely different means.”
All of you need to realize that yes Aboriginals are Black and yes they are descendants of AFRICAN PEOPLE!!!!! YOU SO CALLED ABORIGINALS ARE ASHAMED TO BE EQUATED WITH THE BLACK CULTURE, the reason is, the little girl has facial features of a Black person,(African) just because you equate straight hair with non blacks is not so
Just because you have a problem with associating yourself with “BLACK PEOPLE”, IS YOUR DAMN BUSINESS, EITHER WAY,IT IS WHAT IT IS, SHE IS A BLACK LITTLE GIRL, AND YES IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT ABORIGINALS ARE AFRICAN DESCENDED, SO GET OVER IT AND BTW AFRICAN AMERICANS, YES, WE ARE THE JEWS FROM THE BIBLE, WE ARE ISRAEL, THE REAL ISRAEL, the children of Israel have hair of wool, were sent on slave ships,all of this is in Deuteronomy, ALL OF YOU SO CALLED PEOPLE LOOKING DOWN ON AFRICAN AMERICANS, THE LORD SPOKE OF THIS, FOR ALL THE NATIONS WILL HATE YOU, AND we GO THROUGH HARD Times, WHICH THE SO CALLED JEWS IN ISRAEL ARE NOT, HAVE RICHES ETC. Anyhow there is no such thing as the human race, its mankind. As far as genetics go, just because she does not have the exact genetic position as a African woman, since African Women carry the genetic gene for everyone, every race, this little girl has a branch declaring her of African origin.
You are so wrong on so many levels… “African Americans are the Jews from the Bible.” African AMERICANS??? are the JEWS from the Bible??
once again…that egocentric thnking…
when the tanning machine becomes your worst enemy
when the tanning machine becomes your enemy
I was blonde when i was a kid and now i am brown haha.
And saying black people gave the blonde to white people is a bit far fetched to me. They always said that blonde was a mutation long, long ago in white people. Before that, everyone was dark haired.
I don’t think that aboriginal or pacific people in general, are “Black”.
Black is a race. And as far as i learnt at school, black people are all coming from Africa.
But as stated in the comments, black people emigrated to other parts of the world like australia(aboriginals)and they started to get there own kind of unique dna so i would’nt call them black honestly.
And what does is matter anyway? So what if those people are blonde.
you have no idea what your talking about, ‘black’ is not a race, it is a color and African people are not black they are different shades of brown. there are a lot of blonde light skinned Africans, the word black only came from the colonization of Europeans,i come from africa but im light skined, not black
Stfu we’re all Brown no ones. Black. If we were black shit would be weird. Lol Imma stop trollin.
I saw someone very black one time.. no lie. His black eyebrows matched his black stretch marks, I mean blacker than black. None the less, people are all colors and are all beautiful in the LORDs eyes because He made them all. I’m tired of society trying to dictate what God has made good. Who is a human to judge someone elses looks, right? 🙂
Explain the difference between race and color…. I was always informed that race is a man made construct based off of skin color!!! So if black isn’t a racial descriptor than what Race is an African American?
Stop calling these people black, they are not black. Calling people black is from American culture. Japanese people have ultra white skin but they arnt considered white as well as Koreans. People don’t call Indian people black so just stop. They have no African blood in them whatsoever.
So there are “black” Cubans and “black” East-Indians so I disagree with your comment. I always have one simple question when determining if one is “black”: you just saw the little kid up top run out of a convenience store where they just stole something, the police roll up and ask you what color/ race was the person…..what do you say??
Well what country are we in… that would determine was societal construct I place on them. If we are in the United States.. I would say Black… If this scenario occurred somewhere else… I may say something else. Such as the kid is African. Or the kid is polynesian. Just depends on where we are.
Somew of these comments are ridiculous beyond belief. It shows the utter ignorance of those that have made them. Melanesians from Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to name only two places are dark skinned and yes horror of all horrors some have very blonde hair and yes some is straight and yes some have dark eye lashes too. This is how it is lets stop questioning why or if its true because it is and thats that. Beautiful places beautiful people and you people that doubt it get educated and get real.
im sorry but dark skin
light hair is hideous
i dont care if
you think im racist
I don’t think you are racist the girl looks like a friggin mutant.She needs a haircut and some dye plus a little civilization wouldn’t hurt her either.
smegma, your comments have been mean and just disheartening. It’s terrible to think somebody could be that cruel with their words. Maybe you need some ‘civilization’. I really hope you’re just trolling.
So does that mean light skin and dark hair is hideous as well ?
you’re not a racist, just a dumb ignorant asshole.
Mane, screw you and your rude ass comments, there isn’t any need to judge, based on their dark beautiful skin. Also, hair color.
Why do white people GET THERE HIPS AND BUTT DONE WHY DO THAT PUT IN HAIR CLIPS WHY DO THEY TAN OH BECAUSE THEY TRY TO LOOK LIKE BLACK GIRLS BUT YALL HATE US SO MUCH they tan so there skin can be darker ugh I hate white ppl so fake and yall,see why we act like this do yall know what yall white ass cracker did to our granparents thank about somebody beating ur grandmom to death till she bleeds thank about someone kicking her in her face because she did not pick up something right its a shame and yall wonder why we act the way we do u would do the same if someond did that to u or someone u love O WELL UR GOING TO HELL ANYWAY THIS US NOT WHAT GOD WANTS and therefor u will go to hell he made all us out of love yes we all have differnt skin but we where all made the same only if god was on this earth
Seriously, you monkey faced blackies are all the same. You cry and cry over something that happened a hell of a long time ago, and what exactly are you expecting? Should every single white person bow down and kiss your feet and give you reparations? Did you personally get whipped or had your face kicked in? No? You’re saying you just like stirring shit up? It’s people like you that make me feel horribly racist. And shit guy, who’s to say us white crackers are trying to look black? There are plenty of other naturally tan lovely ladies out there, like say the Latinos.
Dude that’s jst being plain racist…. bt why don’t u admit the truth …you all try to look like us… cause we got the body and the awsome skin…( may I say we don’t go all red with exposure to too much sun or when embarsed ) so if I were u i wuld just shut up..b cause u did’nt choose to be white… u culd hav been a black… then what wuld u hav done? ?
I knowthis asshole was racist but saying things like this: “( may I say we don’t go all red with exposure to too much sun or when embarsed )”
Is blushing something to be ashamed of now?
And since when do only white people burn in the sun.
Alot of my asian friends need sunscreen too.
What would you say about black albino’s. These peole burn too. They can’t help it.
“GET THERE HIPS AND BUTT DONE”
Not all africans/black people have big hips or butts.
Yelena, I’ve never met someone who appreciated their grandmother being beat. Seriously, “thank about” someone beating her? Be thankful about someone beating her? Because I might think about it, but I would never “thank” about it.
And I’m sooo sick of this “why do white girls tan” crap. Why? Because it shows they have time to sunbathe. Why do black people straighten their hair and dye it blonde? Oh, yeah. Because they want to look white. The argument is just as stupid and untrue both ways.
And slavery was abolished years ago. Why are you spending so much time talking about God loves and how people are going to hell if you have so much hatred in your heart for something you didn’t live through. What is in my family? White blood that lived through Nazi Germany and black that lived through segregation in the south. And she doesn’t whine about how hard life was, how the white people kept her down. She overcame it. And managed to get an education better than “there hair” and “thank about it”. White people or blacks aren’t the problem with America. It’s stupid ignorant bitches that spend more time hating than they do trying to better themselves. So “thank” about that.
No need to think you’re a racist because you are.
i am a mixed girl and i am scared it is going to come out ugly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UMM HELLO..THE LITTLE GIRL ISNT BLACK, SHE IS ABORIGNINAL (NATIVE AUSTRALIAN) MOST OF THEM LOOK LIKE THAT
Stupid black ISN’T an ethnicity such as Aboriginal or Nigerian or African American!! Black is the color of ones skin. Take your head out of your butt before you go attempting to prove people wrong. This child is a black Aboriginal. Not a black African. Black people exist all over the world even though they may not all be of African descent. Gosh. White people seem to have gotten it all messed up in terms of race vs ethnicity Ms Racsumberger. Melanesia (melanin?) means Black Skinned Island therefor they’re BLACK! They even refer to themselves black. NOT AFRICAN BUT BLACK!!
And FYI I have seen MANY PEOPLE OF AFICAN DESCENT with these same facial features minus the blonde hair!
Chelsea Thanks for your input that was very well said.
And certainly a great deal to think about.
I don’t think we are changing the world until God step in and does it.
But we certainly can focus on more positive things, until that time
arrives.
I don’t understand why this is such a big deal. I know people are probably going to be upset with me but I’m just going to say it anyway. If we spend more time trying to work towards global equality instead of proving that “black people can have blonde hair too” we would live in a better world. WHO CARES if they have blonde hair. We spend way too much time worried about skin color and hair texture…it’s 2012 can we please focus on something that matters? Also, for those of you talking about how beautiful this child is…how many of you walk past little black kids without blonde hair everyday and never stop to tell them they’re beautiful…just saying
Carrie no offense to you. Aborigines are not African Americans that’s
for sure. But you certainly do have black skin and broad features
regardless to what you are not. And so do some Indians have black skin it has nothing to do with race.
You are not above yourself, and you are still part of the human family.
Not all whites are Caucasians as in European whites. Yet there are
other races that have fair white skin and silky hair. No one argues
that these people are not white.
The word black means the color is black, extremely dark. Not all so called black people are black by any stretch of the imagination.
Some of us can nearly and have passed for white.
That’s why I no longer use the word black to apply to African Americans. Anyone of natural dark pigmentation can be black including
you. Did you mean to say, you are not of any African or any African
American descent. I hope that is what you meant. Because I have never
seen a fair skinned Aborigine at anytime. Of course that does not mean some do not exist.
Aborigines are NOT black, we sometimes say we are in Australia when we compare ourselves to white Australians but we are aborigine not black. No offense to anyone.
What a beautiful child! My God is amazing and how manifold are his works!
+
Thank you for a lovey, no drama, totally benign comment
Ppl say some crazy things sometimes…
Hi Tina, I am in agreement with both of your comments.
However the lady who is abusing herself is rather sad.
But this beautiful little girl is the way God intended to her be.
You are so right. Mankind is wonderfully made.
However I love the cover photo of the young child from the soloman islands! Although the color combination is striking it is not disturbing like the cyco lady. Its beautiful and awe inspiring! Why, because it the way Jehovah God created them that way naurally so it works together harmoniously. I hope on my travels I am able to meet one someday. I have also read about the naturally blonde blacks in Australia as well, some even with blue eyes. Tracey Wallace thank you for your article! It was truely informative! 🙂
Guys their is a very simple explanation for this. This crazy woman has said that she uses a combination of bronzing (spray tanning) and tanning beds. Her skin is so dark because she has been layering on spray tans. Her actual melanin(skin pigment) cannot get that dark no matter how much she goes to the beach or tanning bed. She is bacically painting herself black. It has NOTHING to do with having african genes. This woman is white painting herself dark skin. Anything else is physically impossible as she simply does not have the genetic makeup to get that dark without painting herself. Google her, you will also find photos of her with her natural skin. This is why her hair is strait, blonde and looks so unnatural with her skin color. If she were even 1/15 th black she would not look so set up. I think ppl need to embrace the way they are created, light, dark whatever. Nothing wrong with tweaking here or their but come on.
Um… most comments are in regards to the child. The picture of the women was put up as a joke.
Did not say she was mixed in any form. You need to read the comment again. Your interpretation is not quite accurate. And for the record
we are one family period. The human family. Mankind uses our differences to conquer and divide us. The Creator likes variety and all
humans are of one race. The Human Race, Peace.
This little girl is gorgeous. Regardless of what other ppl are commenting, just accept this little girl is precious. End of conversation.
Thanks Ray, Yes she is gorgeous. All of our children are Precious.
It really saddens me that we cannot simply take this article’s
explanation the way it was intended. There are so many things we do
not know about the human family. Have we been so brain washed by the
lighter persuasion that we fail to realize, we are part of the human
race as a family. Technically speaking there is only one race, the Human Race. It has nothing to do with white, black , brown or red. The bible says there is neither Greek nor Jew. We know there are Greeks and Jews but it means that all people are the same. One family the Human Family. Some of you need to aspire to do some traveling and researching.
You would be actually shock if you were to travel to some parts of Nigeria and Ghana as I have with my son in law who is from Ghana. I admit at the age I am now which is old enough for a lot of your moms.
To see people who were a lot more fair skinned than a lot of African Americans. And to see true blue eyes some green and no one claimed
mixing of European people. Of course like the blond hair of some of the aborigines, there was also an explanation of why one obvious
Nigerian child had large blue eyes like saucers. Some black people
took pictures with their cell phones.
But my adult children also informed me that there was an adorable
black child circulating on the internet with blue eyes. I was absolutely surprised to learn my surgeon was African. Not South African because of his features and straight black hair. He actually
looks Asian to me. He is from Nigeria and he told me black people living and born in the US need to wake up. Yes this was surprising to
me. And the photo of the beautiful black child does not look doctored
up.
Actually any person of color with dark skin is considered to be black.
And by most races of color. The lady I sit across from at work constantly refers to herself as black. But we all know she is from India. She speaks fluent English and it is so educational to hear her
speak on so many levels. Because her skin is very dark. In India she is referred as black and looked down on by fairer middle easterners.
She says the caste system is gone but not in the minds of the people.
She actually claims she is treated much better in America racially.
Because she is not African American black her words not mine. That should tell us something about our negative thinking as a group of people.
Well said! The human race is diverse, and let us not place stereotypes on people. We are all one big family spread all over the world. Lets celebrate our differences and learn to love each other as required by Christ. Without love we are nothing. Peace!
Dear Higher Learning! You said it even better So Sweet and to the
Point!!.
One of my best friends from Howard University has naturally blond hair. She was born and raised in West Virginia and so were her parents and her parents’ parents, and their parents…..
I am from Brazil and this is not new. I have cousins that are mixed race as I am and they have blonde hair. Why are so many people being hateful.The child in the picture is mixed race. I do not call myself purely black because I am mixed race. I am Moreno or parda( look it up). We all come from Africa anyhow.
she is not mixed. read the article. the result of her blonde does not come from white DNA…. therefore, it is safe to assume that she is pure black. black ppl are diverse and beautiful. thats it, we dont have to be mixed to be that way.
Pure Black? How about Pure Human. This is what I say when someone rudely asks me “what are you”.
In reply again. All of my cousins that have this blonde hair are very dark skinned. I am as well and this is why people ask the rude question. I do not believe anyone on this planet is pure anything except human.
…yet you initially said she’s mixed. There are still people on the planet, due to isolation, culture, etc, who are not what is considered mixed race. And in the article it clearly stated that her type of blonde does not come from the same type as people of European descent. It easy to see yourself and your experience in her, and that’s not a bad thing. But it’s better to expand your thinking (not just you but everyone) and see the amazing differences in Black people around the world. I see people in Papua New Guinea as no different than people in South Africa or people in Brazil. We are all Black, we are all beautiful, we are all unique for one reason or another.
I was completely unaware of this phenomenon. What a cutie. BTW regular some African Americans are also blonde haired. My cousin had blonde hair when she was a kid. Not sure why/how it darkened though. I think some people’s hair is reactive to the sun and lightens in summer. Hmmm.
In reading the comments here today, I’m amazed at the ignorance displayed in the comments.
Though this phenomena is not new to me, I always love seeing it. It’s so cool!
Of course, she is Australian or Aboriginal. Crazy, that someone posted that her coloring was faked. Just because so much in America is faked, sewed in or dyed, the Aboriginal coloring most certainly is not.
Well put, Cheryl. I’m simply amazed by the comments as well. Though I knew about this phenomena and actually wrote a blog post on it over a year ago on my blog: http://allthingsonatural.blogspot.com/2011/03/do-blacks-with-natural-blond-hair.html ..I too find it fascinating each time I hear or see an article of it. Again, well stated
>expect to see comments discussing how amazing and varied the genetics of our people are and how beautiful we are
>gets comments arguing about how they’re not really black and how this isn’t interesting and we should not be fascinated with things that are generally uncommon with the majority of our race
Genetics war 2012.
Seriously, ladies. Come on, now; this shit is embarrassing. Telling people they have no reason to think this is interesting, and saying they’re “not even black?” Why are we being so supremest and isolationist? You should seriously be ashamed of yourselves. I know I sure as hell am. I’m feeling a ton of Fremdschämen right now.
Her bone structure is not negroid.Her nose is also not typically a negroid nose and blond hair defiantly is not an African negroid feature.These island people are not Africans at all period.Do some Negros from Africa have blond hair I’m sure they do but %99.9999 don’t.I am more interested in intelligence and for some reason blacks can’t seem to produce much in that realm.I wonder what these blond darkies would score on an IQ test?It would have to be higher that Negros because they are the lowest on the IQ testing charts.
You speak about intelligence….yet you make comments like that. You are the ignorant one and there are just as many intelligent blacks are they are intelligent people of other races. I would love to know where you got your degree from…better yet…do you have a degree? You need to fall on your knees and pray…but someone so ignorant most likely doesn’t believe in God either. I’ll pray for you……
Okay, this is how i feel about it. Reading this article did not at all fascinate me. If you know that black people are the most diverse of people, then it shoundn’t be mind blowing. Black people are the original people of this planet, everybody els came after that.This to me just proves once again that as black people we aren’t and never were inferior to the whites. They came from us. We had blonde hair before they did. There are black people who have naturally eurocentric or typically “white” features. Because again, we are diverse. Black doesn’t have one particular look. I think people are fascinated by it because its unusual to see someone with that skin tone and that color hair here in america. But lets not forget, the world doesn’t stop in america. Theres a whole world out there full of unusual things. Just because YOU never seen it, doesn’t mean it should be on the six o’clock news.
I actually believe this article stemmed from a Natural Hair Icon feature from a few weeks ago. The Icon had naturally textured hair which was dyed blonde. From there a commenter began a debate because she stated emphatically that there are no blonde black women and that the featured Icon was not natural because blonde is not the natural color of a black woman’s hair. I have known about this particular group of people from the Soloman Islands for a while now, so I can understand why this may not fascinate folks who were already aware.
I don’t have a scientific explanation. I just know that God is a MASTER of design and that little girl has the most beautiful smile!
Did y’all know that there are two types of black people? Those from Ham and those from Shem (2 out of 3 of Noah’s sons). Both are scattered throughout the world today.
Welp. I now see that it is possible to be driven away from a group after reading one post’s comments. Dear Lord. I’ve seen too much here. For those who posted about the scientific relevance of this, thank you. I learned something today. I wish we could have skipped the unnecessary drama.
Once again people flexing their “I’m smarter, more worldly, aware, intelligent, etc., etc., than you because I already knew this” muscles. Relax. Someone learned something new today. The pic of the beautiful kid made some of us happy. That’s it. Stay positive, folks.
That child is not beautiful she looks like a mutant from the x-men films.
I enjoyed reading some of the comments btw I had good laugh. 🙂
Cute kid.
Genetics can be complex and diverse so this really doesn’t surprise me nor fascinates me *shrugs*.
WOW……really surprised by the comments. Convergent evolution is a fascinating topic and this is why I found the article interesting-NOT the fact that Melanesians have blond hair, I thought this was well-known (along with Aborigines who are also known to posess this trait).
If anyone decides to read about these people, you will find that they do, along with many others such as the Papua New Guineaians, refer to themselves as “Black”. Race IS a social construct, but race has REAL social consequences, and all of these peoples have been marginalized and oppressed due to their “blackness”.
Furthermore, I’m schocked that people do not realize the expansiveness of the Slave Trade. Yes, Africans were sent to the Oceanic islands. People of the African diaspora are EVERYWHERE and we need to STOP this BS that so- called “black” only looks one particular way. We are the most genetically diverse humans on the planet, why are people surprised that Africoid peoples’ produce such variation, especially when one considers time and environmental pressures?
So, yes they are “Black” or Africoid Asians (if we are gonna play the ‘race’ game. Same thing goes for people of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Dalits of India….oh my the list could go on.
What worries me the most is that such science is often used to prop up ideas of black inferiority and white superiority (these people call themselves “race-realist” or “HBD” (human bio-diversity). Sounds harmless from the outset, but when you read the literature from these researchers it’s nothing but good old fashioned eugenics/social Darwinism.
I’m also shocked by some of the ignorance some people are revealing. It helps to educate yourself, you will learn so much about yourself and others. As AA you are so lucky to have countless Historians (past and present) at your fingertips who have done extensive research into people who have descended from Africa world wide. I’m not saying there aren’t such scholars in Europe but you seem to have the cream of the crop.
Perfectly noted!!
actually, black people in the pacific islands did not get there because of slavery. they are descendants of people who migrated from africa while humanity itself was in its teenage years. Yes they do consider themselves black and were oppressed by european settlers but sorry, no slave ships from africa were dropping people off in the pacific ocean. slavery is no always the explanation for african-looking people outside of africa. they are indigenous peoples who have been living there since before 2000 BC while europe has been a modern economic entity since only 1000 ad and and a global african slave trading entity since only the 1400s ad.
If we want to get to genetics and “race”, since they branched off so early, thus they have specific genes that are distinctly not found in any other human population group on the planet. they “look black” but they are more genetically distinct from modern africans than a blond haired blue eyed nordic or red haired green eyed celt. the real science of genetics works very different from our social understandings of race.
Then why are her eye lashes and eyebrows black/not blonde?
This seems fake to me… but she is a very beautiful little girl, I love her skin colour, it looks so soft and smooth.
If you look at her roots, her eyebrows and eyelashes match them.
actually her eyebrows are very near the color of her hair… I have never seen “blonde” eyelashes except on an albino… but i could be wrong… i am inclined to believe that this is a very real picture of a very real little girl.. who by the way is absolutely gorgeous!
Fake? I don’t mean to be rude, but you need to get out more, or at least use google a little more. Lots of Aboriginies are blond with dark eyebrows/lashes.
many ppl have eye lashes and eyebrows a different color or shade than their hair… and her roots are blonde.
That girls hair look sun bleached and possibly artificially lightened.I read the article about blond genes exclusive to that population but I read a lot on garbage on the web and I am still sceptically viewing this site.
You people need to go to school. this child is not black like african girls she is an Aborigines and Aborigines have got a lot of blonde hair!
a lot of australian aboriginals refer to themselves as black people.
did you know that?
i think you need to go to school…Black does not mean African or of African descent no one said she was of African descent but she is Black. In the world we live in there are only two races, either your black or your white. On the U.S. Census it clearly states this. Personally I believe there is only one race (the human race) but in terms of color this little girl is considered Black. And yes Aborigines, which are the natives of Australia before they were colonized by England, are known to have Blonde hair. If you read the article it clearly states that the people from this island have a special genetic trait the gives them blonde hair.
Actually, in the world we live in, there are more than one “race”, otherwise where do you put far east and middle east Asian people, Native american, South American people, etc…
But yeah, genetically, I’m pretty sure there is only one race.
Actually,people need to know the difference between Race, Ethnicity,and Nationality.Middle Eastern people are considered Asian. South American people can be black,white or Native American.People also need to look up the history of migration,because you will learn where certain people have migrated from. Such as Native Americans migrated from parts of Asia.
Middle Easterners are Semites, not Asians. Gi back to school!
Semitic is a language grouping and has zero to do with race.And no not all middle easterns are Semitic speaking million are not.Malta is part of the European union and Maltese is a Semitic language.Don’t confuse language with race.Middle easterners are many races from white to black and everything in between.The middle east is a very large region.
Middle easten people are multiracial some are white some are not in general the Levantine middle easterners are white.The grand mufti of Jerusalem was an Arab and had blond haired and blue eyed he was a SS general.Saying middle easterners are Asian is not at all accurate.There are millions of white Arabs and non arabs in Lebanon and Syria and Jordan.
Well, I suppose you’re one of those individuals who’d ALSO like to proclaim that East Africans aren’t REALLY “black” like the OTHER “black Africans” throughout the majority of the vast continent of Africa…for whatever twisted reasonings you can imagine. lol
Also, WE PEOPLE most likely would not have learned anything in school pertaining to the study above, as most U.S. school districts skirt away from (or sugar-coat) anything remotely similar to ethnic or cultural truths. It is our job to now deprogram and re-educate ourselves and next generations, which I believe is exactly what this study intends to do.
If the sperm that fertilised the egg is from a white man’s balls the child is not black but mixed raced. If a sperm leaves a black man’s ball and fertilises a white woman’s egg the child is also not black but also mixed raced. Such children can choose one or both races as their parents are from different races.
wth kind of comment is this?
+1
+2 WTH?
actually there is a blond gene that these ppl have that causes their blond hair that is not found in European dna. so it doesnt have anything to do with race mixing. sorry.
Did you even read the article?
I’m pretty sure that perception is well understood by most, as it is considered politically (even technically) correct…but I’m sure it falls upon deaf ears here, as you’d truly need to direct that comment toward the European-Americans who created, and helped to strictly facilitate and maintain the “one-drop” rule. It is ultimately up to the bi-racial or multi-racial individual to choose their self-identification, I totally agree, as long as they don’t totally denounce who they are. Most of them that I know of (regardless of which parent they were raised by, or what type of environmental demographic they grew up into) initially self-identify as “black/African-American”, but will also clearly identify their other parentage as well. No big deal. However, that has nothing to do with the culture of black people being showcased and studied for this article.
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Can someone please provide the scientific explanation behind this?
Happy Mother’s Day!
@Fe…I almost fell out my chair laughing!!! Thanks for making my Friday, Happy Mother’s Day to you too!!!!
LMAO ..
+ 100000!!! Thanks Fe for the gut laugh!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Thanks for the deep belly laugh.
No explanation!
too much tanning and way too much bleach
if you didn’t know that you are an idiot
This was tooo funny!! That lady is insane!
STUPIDITY!!!!
There are no words
You know what i find cool… Most of the times peoples eyebrow color matches their hair color along with their eye lashes and hers doesn’t. I think its really neat. I think the point of the artical was just to point out that its not something that we see everyday. I think its worth studying.
If they like it, you should love it. just because you don’t find it complimentary doesn’t mean no one else does—-your fact, your reality. i’m sure you don’t wake-up thinking i have to please everyone…and i’m pretty sure that you’ve made choices that were perceived as less than stellar. This child is beautiful mostly because this is what she looks like natural and natural is beautiful.It’s funny because not so long ago people said that dark skin people didn’t look that great being equal to whites….get my point? all it takes is time.
@tiffani
I’m sorry but I think it’s kind of sad and pathetic that the black world is amazed by things like this. It’s sort of like the uproar the media made about that dark skin baby born with blue eyes. It’s like we’re amazed and astonished that we can genetically look like the people our community spends millions of dollars trying to imitate. It’s sad.
And please stop with this it’s beautiful nonsense. Because generally speaking dark skin women don’t look nice blonde hair, it’s not complementary and that’s just a fact.
If you were raised around these people it’d be nothing but complementary to you, and you might even think dark skinned people with dark hair looks strange. Beauty is diverse.
+1
+1
THANK YOU…I was hoping someone would mention that kid. It was really embarrassing to see black folks going on about him like he was the Messiah or something. Sure, he’s cute, but “wonderful”? (search “black boy blue eyes” on YouTube) My eyes still ache from rolling so hard…
I’m also amazed at the amount of commentary on this news item. The main POINT is that there is a subset of Melanesians that come by their blonde hair naturally, not because they’re all descended from some European. That’s IT. Those of us who got a decent education as kids and/or are in any way curious about the world outside our little windows hopefully aren’t surprised by this.
Based on the commentary on here, I’m astonished that people STILL don’t understand that race as a BIOLOGICAL construct is bullshit and that skin and hair color is largely a function of genetics, NOT racial identity. The whole concept of race was created by Europeans to justify conquering the rest of the world! There are BOOKS on this, folks…and they’re in this place called a LIBRARY…
As soon as I saw this post and the amount of responses I just knew that there would be some controversy. People we are ALL HUMAN BEINGS. This is exactly what happens when you try to put people in a box and categorize them. Why is there such a need anyway to label human beings? We ALL come in different colours, shapes, sizes. Why not appreciate that. Isn’t variety the spice of life? Why is there even a problem as to what these people are. Is this really necessary? It’s at times like these that it really reinforces how messed up we all are.( just some of us more than others).
This has really been an interesting read for me!!!!! But my question right now is , Are they black or asian?
I was born and grew in Zimbabwe, I still remember growing up and especially in school we had some kids who had blonde Afro hair though. We used to call them ginger hair, so I guess there is a posibility they are black with no European traces. However, I still believe that the Europeans back in the days did some sort of experiment with these people and the result was this blend.
I think this is an informative article for those that were not in the know and those that just are intersted. That being said, I read the majority of comments on here and had to kind of (back-up) because ppl are arguing race and/ vs ethnicity. Black is not a race! It’s a color pretty much solely used by the Western World. Arguing black vs Asian vs Melanesians, etc.(sp?)is a moot point.
Umm I think you may want to recheck your definitions. Black is nothing more than a race. And race describes nothing more than what you see. If you want to argue that we shouldn’t discuss race in general and only culture that’s fine but when we create our own definitions we lose the ability to communicate.
guys, when u say someone is black dont it usually mean, that they are from african descent and not necessary that they have dark skin. for example indians are dark-skinned people with a different texture of hair. they are not described as black, cause they are not black jus dark-skinned. the point am tryin to make,is that these persons are not black, (goin with the definition that black persons are those from african descent) but just dark-skinned. therefore the title of the article and the use of the term “black” by fellow commentators to describe the subjects of the article is incorrect
Really, I don’t care what research/science is presented. Dark skin is heavy melanin, and with the first man being of African decent, any dark skin has had to have some African in the bloodline. I don’t give a hoot if you call em Asian, White or whatever. Dark skin is of African origin. Period! African’s traveled all over the globe, so to see darker skinned people anywhere doesn’t surprise me.
Agreed.
Just as several others have said, these people are not Black. Anyhow, it is cool to see the contrast between dark skin & light hair.
Well, I find it very good to know what I learned about this article even if I knew all of that.
documentaries in french television often picture a view of the culture of these islands. but yet, I think that albinos have their own genetics that make them stand out also, even if they don’t have a pigmented skin. And also, the redhead ladies of my family (with freakles and all) could be a mystery for a lot of people.
Should I ad that I’m a french girl from african descent (my family is from cameroon and none of them are mixed).
Even green eyes in general is a genetic variation that should be unique and do you know a lot of people that have a sort of brown-orange skin? We can go on…
I think all the people attacking Merry’s comment are just angry and bored. Interesting article. I love diversity.
This is a nice article and interesting. I also feel like the old adage if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything needs to be put here the admin felt like it was interesting so she posted it. If you find it not interesting don’t be negative.
amen! Dillxp. amen. if you don’t find the article interesting or have nothing to contribute other than your dislike/disdain….i mean – why bother??? it’s like wasted energy. simply go to the next article…
I think this is very interesting, mainly because its not something you see in black people, unless they are mixed, and even then they’re hair usually isn’t as blonde, nor that texture. The fact that they have a different gene, truely amazes.me. I think the people that are trying to down play the artice, or don’t see the interesting part of it, may just have a jealous bone in their body. They’re hair is amazing. So many people pay to TRY to get their hair like that.
There are native australians that also have natural blonde hair, which is the oddest yet beautiful thing I’ve personally seen. I realized this when I camped in the Outback of Australia and we had aboriginal tour guides, of whom called me “Sista” even though I am clearly African American. They were the most welcoming and beautiful people I’ve ever met!
reading thoroughly is truely a gift!
Why are there ignorant people commenting on this? it’s really pissing me off his article was for us to enjoy and find fascinating. These are dark skin people wit no white in their genes with blonde hair coming out their scalp. they are not light-skinned they are dark. that is amazing. an article like this has never come out before. So don’t try and put us down for showing some interest if you didn’t care why comment?
THERE ARE PLENTY OF CAUCASIONS TRYING TO CLAIM AFRICA NOW AND THIS IS WHY WE LET THEM. WE ARE TOO ASHAMED TO CLAIM OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE OBVIOUSLY BLACK. THERE ARE EAST AFRICANS WITH VERY DARK SKIN AND NATURALLY STRAIGHT HAIR. THEY ARE NOT CAUCASION, THEY ARE BLACK. BLACK PEOPLE COME IN DIFFERENT SHADES AND WITH DIFFERENT HAIR TEXTURES. THEY ARE ALL BLACK. WHITE PEOPLE TRY TO CLAIM OTHER RACES AS THEIR OWN. SOME LATINOS AND ASIANS CONSIDER THEMSELVES WHITE INSTEAD OF ANOTHER RACE. 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 THEY ARE WRONG. THEY ARE NOT WHITE EITHER. PLENTY OF OTHER RACES HAVE AFRICAN ANCESTRY. WE NEED TO CLAIM IT AND TAKE WHAT IS OURS. EVEN IF THEY DONT WANT TO BE BLACK, THEY ARE BLACK. I AM CLAIMING THIS CHILD AS BLACK. HE MAY BE PART ASIAN, PART WHATEVER, BUT DEFINATELY BLACK. BLACK NOSE, EYES AND HAIR.
more often than not phenotypic similarities between groups hint at a genetic relatinship…like the evolution of the island finches. The wide set noses are not something that you see often in asia(indians, japanese, chinese etc) or “whites”
MICHELE ANTOINETTE, WIDE SET NOSES ARE OFTEN SEEN IN AFRICAN PEOPLE. NOT WHITE. STOP TRYING TO PUT THEM IN THE MIX
what are you talking about, I clearly said that wide set noses are not something you often see in asians or whites!
This isn’t true at all. I’m Africa– West to be exact, I don’t have a wide set nose. I have many Korean friends with said “wide” set noses. It’s not a ‘Black’ trait. It’s a genetic trait. Please stop speaking on behalf of every race on this thread. It’s annoying.
Genetics determine looks, NOT race. To consider only the latter is simplifying things and ventures into racist caricaturing territory.
Beautiful. Why are most of the photos of children? Does they’re hair get darker when they grow up?
If you click on the first link, you’ll see the adults.
Melanesia is taken from the Greek words melas which means black and nesos which means island. Melanesia includes Papua, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji. The people are very dark skinned with Afro hair and are thought to have their origins in East Africa migrating by ways of Indonesia.
THANK YOU, perhaps a certain someone will see this comment.
I googled to find out more about the Solomon Islands to see more pics and came across this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaita
Malaita is the largest island of the Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands.
Malaitans are of a varying phenotype. The skin varies from rich chocolate to tawny, most clearly darker than Polynesians, but not generally as dark as the peoples of Bougainville or the western Solomons, who Malaitans refer to as “black men”.[12]
It’s not uncommon at all for other cultures to refer to darker skinned people as “black”. And as someone else pointed out, the term “black” is not referring to the person’s genetic makeup.
@Tanya,
Word!! Best comment so far. I don’t understand how the people in the picture are not Black, especially since the term Black is not scientific but based on a social construct.
ohh yeahh! these people are really Fascinating. i was actually lucky enough to take a genetics class where Sean Myles was the prof… and the way he spoke about this stuff, man… he had me ready to set up shop and do my own “black/blonde hair” research!!
it’s great though… just to appreciate all of our differences!!
Really? That’s so cool! I’d love to hear him lecture on it. He makes great points about the implications of convergent evolution. My mother and her sisters all have Fuch’s dystrophy and they’ve been studied for similar reasons. It kinda sucks having conditions that are rarely found in folks with your background, because it can take a lot longer for doctors to diagnose it. However, it does mean that you can sometimes get free healthcare, because lots of doctors and researchers want to study you. That helps when you live in the USA. 😀
“Bint Aishamsa” you really do have a lot of time on your hands, you are dominating the comment section of this article 🙂
Bottom line is that that kid is beautiful, that black people don’t all look a certain way…
no need argue with everyone with point of views that are different from yours! :p
You’re right! I do have a lot of time on my hands today. That’s the only time when I can post here. When I don’t have time on my hands, you don’t see me. 🙂
Seriously though, I think it’s rude for someone to say something to me and then have me completely ignore their remark. If a fellow woman of color takes the time to write something to me, I’m going to pay her the same respect by responding to it. I love conversing with the women here. I don’t even see it as an argument. It’s just hashing things out like we do whenever me and my girlfriends have a chance to spend some time together. I love all of the women here, even the ones who hate my guts. LOL
😀
Hey,
Much love to all the people who take the time to comment on this site, I enjoy your opinions a great deal! I have to say I think you are being a little unfair to bint alshamsa. Her responses are snooty but ultimately based in truth. I too am from a scientific background (no, seriously) and she is right in saying that the adorable child in the article is Asian. Black is a term that outside the western world subverts the very individual identities of dark skinned people all around the world! Whilst seeing a dark skinned person with natural blond hair is a visual phenomenon it does not directly correlate with the experiences we have as Afro Americans or Afro Carribeans (I’m a Londoner)and shouldn’t necessarily spark debates about trivialities such as whether it’s okay to have our hair blond or not. As much as I love this article I wish It had gone into more scientific depth. Instead it (in part) is still reinforcing those eurocentric ideals, especially with the comment “they don’t wear weaves or dye their hair.” Of course they don’t. They are rural indigenous people…
The children are beautiful, both of them (:
Great post! Convergent genetics is something that I am extremely interested in! And, this genetic trait is not linked to any Europeanized strain of genetics which is what makes it so significant and worthy of study. It’s new, a completely unique. It might be on many different sights, and this platform could very well have similar information to others….but it doesn’t change the fact that negativity, whether thought or spoken, is best neither. Rock on BGLH 🙂
This exact same thing was on curlynikki….yall should just merge and get it over with
LMAO!!
+1000
Lol! I didnt think anyone else noticed!
I dunno why my picture won’t upload >.< In any case, the author of this article alienated about a bajillion black people like myself with albinism….
Why doesn't anyone talk about our blonde/blond? Hmmm?
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That’s a great question. I would love to see how we all manage our textures of hair.
Unfortunately, I think that shadism and ableism may play a role in this. It’s even evident in this comment section. People perceived as outside of the enforced norms are mostly disregarded. I face it all of the time as a PWD.
Well, even if no one else says it:
My sister, in my eyes, you are a beautiful blonde Black woman. I have seen many other sisters like you in my years on this earth, but your smile definitely makes you one of the prettiest.
Thank you, beautiful woman.Why not indeed.
In Nigeria, most people I know with albinism have superhero 4c+++ hair and their hair is always thirsty.So I assume moisturizing is a top priority.
I have a lot of people in my sister’s family by marriage with reddish hair and lots of freckles all over their bodies.Ranging from light skinned to deep brown with red tones, with hair from strawberry blond to orange/red hair and light brown hair with red tones.My classmate,blended color 33 in weaves and wigs perfectly with her relaxed hair.
I sort of understand where you’re coming from although you seem to have misinterpreted the actual article…it literally states dark skin with blonde hair….most people are familiar with the albinism and what generally is associated with that. Once again I repeat, the article at no point says black or african with blond hair but rather dark skin with blond hair.
Love you and accept you as my sistah as you are so please be encouraged to know that all of us are not as ignorant as some you have already met. I think you bring up another great point about genetics, that the article was trying to make, that what we see (i.e. blond hair, fair skin, lighter eyes) all of it is based on genetics, by simply looking at a person you can not tell what that might be, whether due to albinism or the gene listed in the article, etc. It always saddens me to hear when people want to decide who gets to be a member of the group and they base it on characteristics like hair texture, skin color, etc. Have you noticed whether or not any of the unique concerns you might have or not have concerning hair care are covered in natural blogs?
Side Note – BLACK: interesting conversation about the word “Black”; I’ve always used African-American to talk about my nationality and black to talk about my race, which I’ve defined as being connected to all dark-skinned people around the world and/or peoples recently decently from Africa.
In that case, I would include the Aborigines as black. But I’m also educated enough to know that race is constructed and highly subjective.
It’s obvious that the aborigines have different traits and genes than other dark-skinned people around the world; very unique people who have experienced a lot of oppression like the natives in our country. I wish them peace and blessings.
aibridges, I’m with you on that. These people are still fighting to preserve their identity in their own lands. It’s not ethical for anyone to just erase that by deciding that they are not who they say they are. Black people in the USA are still dealing with that kind of oppressive attitude. Look at how people have tried to decide what folks like Mariah Carey and Tiger Woods have a right to call themselves. I think we should let folks be who they are without trying to apply our preferred labels to them.
I went to college with this kid who was from China. One day someone was talking about race and they asked him where he was from. Later on in the conversation someone asked him something about being Chinese. He adamantly made it clear that he was not “Chinese”; He’s Hmong. Just because we tend to group all people from China into one group, it doesn’t mean that they are all one group.
These issues are interesting and complex.
I think you bring an interesting perspective to the conversation! I believe that some commenters would rather focus on the enthralling aspect of blacks with naturally blonde hair, especially since many people would swear there wasn’t such a thing and that the combination is crazy. What I took from this is that no one is “required” to look a certain way based on their racial background; genetics is in a sense unpredictable, and the diversity that results is remarkable. I could be wrong. This whole conversation to me is very thought-provoking.
Or maybe that should read “dark-skinned people with naturally blonde hair.” Like you mentioned, dark skin doesn’t make someone black.
THESE PEOPLE ARE BLACK. OK, SO WHY DONT YOU GO ONTO A WHITE WEBSITE AND TELL THEM THAT THIS KID IS WHITE. I BET THEY ALL WOULD BE LIKE “HELL NO”
JUST BECAUSE A CERTAIN GROUP OF PEOPLE DECIDE THAT THEY DONT WANT TO BE BLACK, DOESNT MEAN THAT THEY ARE NOT. CREOLE PEOPLE ARE MIXED BUT DEFINATELY BLACK. THIS KID IN THE PIC MAY BE MIXED BUT IS DEFINATELY BLACK. NOT PURE ASIAN. I AM 100% SURE THAT THIS KID HAS AFRICAN ANCESTRY. I WOULD LOVE FOR THEM TO DO A DNA TEST. OUR SOCIETY HATES BLACK PEOPLE SO PEOPLE FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD HAVE THE SAME IGNORANT MIND-SETS AS CAUCASIONS. THEY WANT TO BE ANYTHING BUT BLACK, SO THEY HOLD ON TO NAMES AND CULTURE LIKE CREOLE, MELASIAN, BRAZILIAN, CUBAN, DOMINICAN… BUT GUESS WHAT…THEY ARE ALL BLACK. THEY SHOULD BE PROUD OF IT.
I’m creole, and proud of it. When I’m asked what I am, I say Creole, nectar that is what I an. I’m not ashamed that I’m black, but I’m also proud of the mixture that I am, which includes black, as well as other things. All of it is me. When someone asks what Creole is, I tell them. But me saying “black” and nothing else would be inaccurate, just as much as me saying”french” or “indian” and not acknowledging black would be inaccurate. If I were t say I was “french” u would have a problem with it, but if I say I’m “black” that’s ok. Well I’m CREOLE as close to 100% as u can get. & I’m proud
There is no race called “creole”. But whatever.LOL.
I could die happy, if I could study genetics for the rest of my life. That and linguistics are my favorite subjects. That’s probably because they’re kind of related.
The diversity really is remarkable to me, too! Being born and raised in a port city (New Orleans), I grew up around people with all kinds of backgrounds. I have seen some folks that I wouldn’t know how to even begin to figure out where they came from. I’ve met women down here who were Austrian-Egyptian, Black Japanese, Black Vietnamese, Cajun-Black Puerto Rican, and all kinds of other folks who identified as Black or of African descent. I think that they all have a right to be who they are. If they consider themselves Black, then that’s their right. If they don’t, then that’s up to them, too. Lord knows our Creole community sure hasn’t made up its mind about whether they are all Black or something separate entirely. *shrug*
I know what I am. 🙂
THE HMONG GUY IS CLEARLY CHINESE. JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT TO BE DIFFERENT DOESNT GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO DISRESPECT THEIR RACE. A LOT OF PEOPLE GET CULTURE CONFUSED WITH RACE. EVERYONE COMES FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF CULTURES HOWEVER, EVERYONE HAS A SPECIFIC RACE. WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS FROM JAMAICA, DOESNT MEAN THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR BLACK RACE. IT JUST MEANS THAT THIER CULTURE IS DIFFERENT. THEY ARE ALL DESCENDENTS FROM AFRICA. WE NEED TO GET IT THROUGH OUR HEADS. WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NO PROBLEM CLAIMING WHOEVER THEY WANT.
THE HMONG GUY IS CLEARLY CHINESE. JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT TO BE DIFFERENT DOESNT GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO DISRESPECT THEIR RACE. A LOT OF PEOPLE GET CULTURE CONFUSED WITH RACE. EVERYONE COMES FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF CULTURES HOWEVER, EVERYONE HAS A SPECIFIC RACE. WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS FROM JAMAICA, DOESNT MEAN THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR BLACK RACE. IT JUST MEANS THAT THIER CULTURE IS DIFFERENT. THEY ARE ALL DESCENDENTS FROM AFRICA. WE NEED TO GET IT THROUGH OUR HEADS. WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NO PROBLEM CLAIMING WHOEVER THEY WANT. PERIOD
THE HMONG GUY IS CLEARLY CHINESE. JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT TO BE DIFFERENT DOESNT GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO DISRESPECT THEIR RACE. A LOT OF PEOPLE GET CULTURE CONFUSED WITH RACE. EVERYONE COMES FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF CULTURES HOWEVER, EVERYONE HAS A SPECIFIC RACE. WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS FROM JAMAICA, DOESNT MEAN THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR BLACK RACE. IT JUST MEANS THAT THIER CULTURE IS DIFFERENT. THEY ARE ALL DESCENDENTS FROM AFRICA. WE NEED TO GET IT THROUGH OUR HEADS. WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NO PROBLEM CLAIMING WHOEVER THEY WANT….
I would call the malenesian child black because he or she has dark skin. I would call the light skinned cute kid with blond hair and green eyes white because he has white skin. It is rather ridiculous to call the lighter skinned boy black and the darker skinned child not black.
So, are people from India Black, too? Many of them are darker than the average Black person. Are you really going to claim that people who don’t have the traits you approve of aren’t Black? Really? This site tends to be far too savvy for shadism. The Melanesian child is Melanesian. Did you notice the ending on that term? Doesn’t it sound familiar?
Indian
Polynesian
Micronesian
What do all of these groups have in common? They’re Asian. Dark skin does not make one Black, just like light skin does not make one white. One would think that with the history we have in this country, folks would know that by now. You don’t get to decide what people are. If I decided to call you a ham sandwich, would that make you one? Everyone has the right to be self-defining.
This is why I hate when journalists/writers without an understanding of biology write about the subject. It just makes folks even more confused about the differences between race, ethnicity, and genetics. SMH
I also think you should look up mongoloids, negroids, and caucasoids….you will find it interesting where scientists have placed aboriginals and those alike.
Scientists long ago discovered that the racial groupings you mentioned (“mongoloids, negroids, and caucasoids”) do not describe any biological reality.
then why are these groups currently in books….
check the field of forensic science…theyy use these terms in the area of reconstruction! funny how this is the only one you chose to respond to!
If the sperm that fertilised the egg is from a white man’s balls the child is not black but mixed raced. If a sperm leaves a black man’s ball and fertilises a white woman’s egg the child is also not black but also mixed raced. Such children can choose one or both races as their parents are from different races.
If they are Asian, why are dark skin people called Black and not African. I though the continent was African never knew it was called Black.
There are just so many wonderful different people in the world! Just goes to show that we’re all just a few different mixtures of the same sorts of matter.
race is a marvellous thing isnt it?
Its worth knowing, that although these people notably from solomon islands and malenesia may appear to be similar to those from sub saharan africa, their genetic distance is the largest. Meaning, those who have ancestors from sub saharan africa, are more closely related to a caucasion than to a malenesian.
as I said, the human race is marvellous.
To me it.s nothing strange when my daughter was born she had blond hair along the hair line of her head she’s black but her skin is very light not brown like mine and when I was a child me and my little sister had that light dirty blond hair and as we got older it got darker and darker I also have other people in my family that was also born with blond hair and red hair too
Granted in America you wont see many dark skinned people with naturally light(blond)hair, if any. Yes you will find aborigines(Australasia’s native people) with blond hair. But its not limited to that. I’m not socked because I’ve seen it before. I think I am the only black person that i know with dark skinned(i mean darker than dark chocolate)relatives with blue eyes. Keep in mind Europeans have been screwing everyone every where. A person’s skin complexion shouldn’t makes it strange for someone’s hair or eye color to be different. Aborigines are not black, they simply have dark skin, same as East Indians.
You have a point!!! if you look it up on the net you could find pics of people living in Africa with blue eyes.
LoL, I have no clue why but “Europeans have been screwing everybody every where” made me giggle (maybe cause it’s true). But I agree with you and I know a few other black people with blue eyes (this one guy at my school had silver eyes and they were his eyes but that might have been a mutation.) I myself have fairly light hair, it’s not blonde, but before I started hennaing, a lot of people would ask me if I dyed my hair (they ask me that now, but the red is due to henna). But, I agree complexion is not an indication of hair color, eye color, or even hair texture.
@Jazelle:
What gives you the right to tell Aborigines that they are not Black? Are you the Black gatekeeper?
If you watch movies, i.e., Rabbit Proof Fence, you will see that they were called Black by White Australians. And treated in the same manner as African Americans — bigotry, oppression, forced segregation, etc.
If an Aborigines person wanted to identify as Black, he/she has every right to do so.
Guess you didn’t see the drama that ensued in the comments when this was posted on Curly Nikki. lol
Anyway, I think it’s great for people to see how varied human beings of any “race” can be as far as looks and that a lot of what our society wrongly tells us are “white” genetic traits only simply aren’t.
I have always knew that we existed in different shades and hair textures. That’s what make us so unique. I thank God he created all of us in he’s own uniqueness 🙂
Fascinating! I would love to see more pictures just to see the different shades of blonde they naturally have!
What the real point here is that it doesn’t necessarily matter what race or mix of races you are, genetics are completely underestimated and not even close to being understood. And hair types and colours, while they have been predominately assigned to certain races and peoples, they are not confined to these restraints.
And what the “big deal” is, while your nephew most likely has several variant mixes within his gene pool, which has resulted in his fair skin and hair. These people have an entirely different genes that creates this unique type of blonde hair.
Some people need to open there minds a little. It goes far beyond, black people can have blonde hair too. It’s more of, we as humans have the ability to evolve and transform into different forms beyond our understanding.
We all have several mixes in our gene pool. That’s what makes it a gene pool. These people don’t have entirely different genes. They simply have different genes for blond hair from the genes that most European blonds possess. That doesn’t make them Black. They are Asian. They share more genes in common with Asians than with Black people.
I wish people would open their minds a little, too. Instead of getting upset when someone explains the science behind the phenomena. Of course, Black people can have blond hair. That was the point of posting my nephew’s picture. “Black” is a term that has absolutely nothing to do with genetics. It’s a social construct. Trying to apply it to people in other parts of the world who already have their own identity is ethnocentrism.
I think that people are willing to open their minds hence the response that most of the commenters had to the article. I think it is great you have a background in genetics but everyone does not. It is also great that this isn’t surprising to you because of your education and the makeup of your family but I would contend that most Black people are not used to seeing people who have darker skin (that they describe as black) having naturally blonde hair. I don’t think it is a case that people don’t want to learn but your tone comes off very dismissive as if people are stupid because they didn’t know but you did. If you want people to learn then you may want to re-frame your assertion. I don’t think you are wrong but the way you express your self does come off as abrasive.
That’s why I asked why this was a big deal to others. I’m not sure why folks thought that I wasn’t seriously asking the question. I keep saying that my background probably plays a role in why I don’t see this as others do, but some folks seem to take that as calling them stupid. I have yet to refer to a single individual in that way and I won’t. I don’t talk to fellow women of color in that way.
However, I did think it was really abrasive for someone to try to dictate that my nephew is white simply because he has certain features. That’s some abrasive and disrespectful shadism crap, if I’ve ever seen any. Yet, nobody here had anything to say about that. Unfortunately, Black people aren’t at the point where that no longer occurs.
@bint alshamsa, I find it very odd with your background in genetics that you don’t find this interesting. It’s not the issue of them being black. It’s the unique combination of this particular phenotype produced by a different variant from that found in Europeans that results in what we perceive as a black person with blonde hair.
I study psychiatric genetics and happen to think it’s fascinating to see a phenomenon where two different combinations of genes produce the same phenotype. I mean some people know it happens; it’s just nice to see examples. Not to mention, nothing in your post indicated this was something you knew as a result of your being a “genetics researcher”, rather that ‘oh, so what, lots of people in my family look like that, big deal’…quite condescending. That’s all people are saying.
I don’t find the idea of black people having blond hair interesting. However, I do find the study VERY interesting. When I first saw the title of the post, I thought it was going to be about Black people. It was a bit deflating to find out that this had nothing to do with black people. I wish that it did. That could have led to a very interesting conversation about diversity among black folks and how hair color and other features have affected people’s self-identification as black.
I only mentioned my background in genetics when someone told me that I should learn about the subject. Been there. Done that. I’m in a different phase of my life now.
I see it as unethical to call these people Black when they don’t identify as that. It’s like telling an Italian that they are Irish, because they have red hair and freckles. Or telling a woman that she must be a man, because she doesn’t look how they think women are supposed to look.
It’s just as bad as when people tell an African immigrant to America that they aren’t what they say they are (e.g. Kenyan, Nigerian, Eritrean), because we think they should just call themselves black. THAT’S condescending. I mean aren’t these folks entitled to their identity?
Yes we all have different gene pools, but in this case they do have a different gene called TYRP1, that is unlike the gene causing blonde hair in europeans. It says in the article. And besides my education in biology in high school. I have never studied anything in genetics. And if I come off as abrasive, its only because I am upset that she didn’t seam to approach the article with an open mind. This was the first time I have read such an article on this topic, and my reaction like majority of the people on this site was intrigue and curiosity, not passive sarcasm.
They are not Asians they are Oceanians, if you look at a map it’s closer to Australia and New Zealand than the vast continent Asia. Oceania is a group of Islands Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia. So why you would want to call them Asian makes no sense, people with dark skin are called black in many different languages, it’s not just a social construct it’s also a tone used to describe.
Did you look at the link I posted? They are Asian. Micronesians, Polynesians, and Melanesians are all Asian. People with dark skin are called myriad different things in different languages; many of those words have nothing to do with their color. The use of the term “Black” as a reference to people is a social construct. It doesn’t matter what your skin color is. Did you see the sister in the thread with albinism who was talking about how alienating this article was because it denied her Blackness?
In the rush to call these Melanesians something other than what they call themselves, folks are engaging in some serious shadism towards Black folks who don’t look like them. Do you really think that’s right? I see something seriously messed up about wanting to force identities on others. I want to believe that most of the Black women who post here are not the kind of folks who would do that to other people of color.
Meet a molenisian or an aboriginal person they refer to themselves as black first in a non-derogatory way long before europeans decided to pull the racism card. And what you have stated here is that black is a social construct meaning that molenisians you are saying can be black…i don’t think anyone at any point referred to them as native to africa, i.e. african…as you’ve stated before being black and being african are very different things.
The lady who brought albinism made a very good point and I would love an article on that. But the difference is the gene TYRP1 also causes albinism but the interesting thing about this group of people is it only manifests in their hair. I’m a maths and figures girl and this fascinates me so I don’t get why you as a scientist cannot appreciate the significance.
This whole Asian thing is ridiculous not only do people use this broad statement to refer to Chinese, Indian and Filipino people, now you want to through Oceanians into the mix too. You are the one forcing this Asian identity on them something that if you get your map out isn’t even accurate, we might as well start calling Iranians Asian too, at least they’re on the continent. Do you know anything about Melanesia it is not even part of Asia look it up. I’m worried if you’re a scientist going around misleading people here’s a link to another article,
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/05/case-closed-blonde-melanesians-understood/
Here are more pics of Melanesians to show why they would be called black they are dark skinned people, black people with lighter skin would also be classified as Black because it’s their heritage. Just because they are not black African does not mean they cannot be black, white people in England, white people in Russia are both described as white why is this different?
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Melanesians.JPG[/img]
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Melanesiansfamily.jpg[/img]
Oh yeah and I’m not checking Wikipedia for facts, if you’ve really had any schooling you would know that it’s not an accurate source anyone can post lies on there.
With all do respect, seeing that you are an expert in genetics, I myself have traveled the world. I am not saying that I am an expert in sociology or anthropology or genetics but I can easily adapt to other cultures. Being very multiracial sometimes people cannot tell what I am. It has been assumed that I am Asian, Indian, Latina, etc. I have friends around the world of different races and religions. I have been able to hear people’s perspectives first hand. One thing I can tell you is that “black” people are most certainly recognized outside of Western society. The terminology may be different, the language may be different, but it all means the same thing. Every circle of people that I have encountered the topic of the “black” race has come up especially when those people do not realize I consider myself “black”. It may be as simple as a joke or a racial slur. Not always with the intent of being malicious, even though it makes me uncomfortable, but sometimes in a colloquial way, I guess. There are black people all over the world and in places that you would not suspect. There are cultures that would not be considered in our eyes “black” but they perceive the darker or tanner people in their cultural circles as “black”. There are books on the topic. However, it’s not something that you can learn in a lab. It’s not about genetics and biology it’s about how people perceive skin color and culture
Wait, are you just plain incapable of thought. YES THEY DO have a unique gene. Did you read any of the research. THAT IS WHAT A POLYMORPHISM IS…when a genetic mutation takes place in enough people for it to be recognized. HOW the hell did you get a degree in biology? I’m so confused right now.
This is so cool I never thought I would see a dark skinned black person with naturally blinded hair, so fascinating
A few years ago I was reading about the ‘phenomenon of black people with blonde hair or blue eyes. I read that the gene for skin colour, hair colour and eye colour are different, so we shouldn’t be surprised when we get uncommon combinations.
I’ve seen the Melanesians on TV before, but no one talked about the unique hair color. Some of them had big curly blonde or red afros. I also noticed in this picture at least 3 different hair textures. I think they’re beautiful people.
I enjoyed this post! God Bless you!
I ENJOYED READING THIS ARTICLE. Thanks for posting.
i would be so confused….if that was my hair….but its hers! who are her parents???
i think this is a boy??
Wow! This is so enthralling. Beauty truly is diverse and indivisible. This also makes me question the women who insist that black people “don’t look good” with blonde hair because it’s “unnatural” on them. Hm. The pic with this article is simply mezmerizing to me.
I was thinking about that too! I’ve been guilty of saying black women don’t look good with blonde hair. Maybe I have to check my own prejudices.
Hehe! We all do. We’re so accustomed to seeing black women with dark hair that it’s easy to label blonde hair on blacks “unnatural.” That’s why I don’t wanna hear anyone criticize a black woman for dyeing her hair blonde and using race insecurity as the basis…heck, we can rock it too (and in cases like this one, naturally).
I’m guilty as charged! It’s funny, I was taken aback at first glance of the posted picture. I was thinking,(who put that lace front on that baby?)lol. Hey we learn something new everyday. This was an informative piece. Just the other day, I was criticizing a certain R&B singer, because I wasn’t too impressed with the platinum blonde wig she was wearing for the cover of some magazine. Then I thought to each its own. I just don’t like the idea of my young nieces being influenced by these pop icons and what this society deems as beautiful in any way. I say this because most times our beauty is omitted. My reasons actually go a lot deeper as well, but to keep a long story short being a good example to my nieces is one of the reasons I went natural. I’m hoping that by them seeing me embrace my natural beauty, that they will embrace theirs as well.
I’m one of those people who says that blonde hair doesn’t look good on black women, however, when I am aware that many brown skinned people have blonde hair, but when brown people are born with blonde hair, their other features usually blend with their hair color well.
Co-sign. Mama Diddy still doesn’t get a pass from me, and Mary J. and NeNe are skirting the edge of losing theirs… 😉
I know people with naturally blonde hair who identify as black even though (LIKE MOST AFRICAN DIASPORANS) they’re mixed with European. In one friend’s case, they’ve been race-mixing for generations and that’s why her whole family looks like slightly suntanned Scandinavians with frizzy hair. But they’ll fight you if you suggest they’re not black. This gets back to how one chooses to identify…you can be half-white or even 15/16ths white (Google “Walter White NAACP”) and still identify as black.
this is so wonderful :)) wonderful thing called genes
This is an interesting read. I’m so interested to learn more about them! Beautiful child in the pic above 🙂
What’s the big deal? There are black people with naturally blonde hair all around the world. I could post several pictures of folks in my family who have it. What’s next? Articles about the fact that some Black people have naturally light skin, too?
The photo is of my nephew. Along with his blond hair, he also has green eyes.
[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/TheX-Man.jpg[/img]
@bint alshamsa
Cute nephew, but I think the interesting part (or the “big deal”) is that these black people have DARK SKIN AND naturally blonde hair. The fact that some black people have light skin is nothing close to this post, since definitely in north America (slave trade) seeing light skin black people is as old as time…even in certain parts of Africa there are naturally lighter skin black people.
If that is interesting to you, then you probably aren’t where I’m from. My brother is a dark caramel color like the kid in that photo. Yet, his son looks like that.
Furthermore, it’s a big stretch to call these people Black. Well, actually, it’s absolutely incorrect to call them Black. They are not. They are Melanesians. They are no more Black than the folks we call White.
Melanesians are an africanate peoples so actually you could call them “black”. They migrated from Africa to the South Pacific many years ago. Just Like aborigines are an africanate peoples.
Thoozile, in that case, you could call Europeans Africanate people, too. EVERYONE migrated from Africa.
Again it is interesting because it occurs a different gene than the people from european descent and black in america who are all mixed with white.
People who have black skin are black. I know in america, for some reasons, you guys use the word black for African American, but black just mean that you are from african descent. FYI, hispanics from the caribbean are blacks too – just with a higher degree of mix than most black american. And at the end of the day we are all human. Stop thinking that white and black are SO different. These are just things to divide people, and nothing else…
u speak the truth!
wow your comment is SO on point 🙂
u just being silly bint alshamsa… that is a black person… his skin is black making him black… I agree with what Mey and Thoozile r saying… it is a unique situation to see people like the little guy captioned in the article… he is different from ur nephew who, while he is very adorable, is a norm, i have cousins just like that, lite skin lite eyes lite hair and their parents are black people and no they are not albino, their parents are lite skinned as well, black people YES We come in all shades u know… NORMAL… nothing different about that!!! we rarely see people like that cute little dark skinned blonde dude… he too is super cute! appreciate the differences and stop trying to belittle beauty!
bint al shamsa, are u arab? Coz I realised ur names arabic. *IF* you are, it isn’t uncommon to find black arabs/arabs with blonde hair or green eyes etc etc, sometimes in the same family.
But not everyone is melinated, and yes, there are europeans with enough melanin to be considered black.
Whats black? A color not a people group.
we are all bLACK….we are all White We are ALLLLLLLL! don’t limit your self to skin, yes I love all races, but…dont forget where we all come from…where?….yes…we are all Africa! NO MORE HATE..ooooohhh I can’t wait! 2012!!! lets UNITE…our small differences are beautiful but, in the bIG
oh shut up
+1
Oh come on, there is no comparison between your nephew and the picture in this article. Of course it’s not uncommon to see fairer skinned black people with naturally blonde hair and green eyes, especially based on our admixture with Europeans. But, how often do you see someone who looks like the picture in the article with “beautiful dark skin and naturally blonde hair”? Not often at all, hence why scientist feel the need to study the genetics behind it.
Thank you ladies for clearing that up for the poster…LOL. I looked at the pic of her nephew and thought, “is she forreal?”
I mean REALLY…some people are so ignorant! Where did the correlation between “light skin” come into play. As KJ stated that is nothing new, but this is. And as the article states it has nothing to do with mixing of races it is caused by a specific gene known to only be found in this group of people. I am sure that your nephew and someone in your blood line have traces of European descent. Hence his hair and eye color.
You do know that blond hair and green eyes didn’t originate with Europeans, right? Almost all Black people in America have traces of European ancestry. However, that doesn’t mean that’s where they acquired the traits for these features.
why are you here again???go to Albasha!
I’m here because I’m a black girl with long hair. Why are YOU here?
Girl I feel you…in truth “lightskin” came into play because she is not a scientist and is playing like she is, so she sees a trait and goes into her simple minded explanation using western terms, NOT using scientific ones. This chick knows nothing about genetic expression because if she did she would not have even showed a picture of an American. Phenotypes are the outward characteristics of genetic makeup, but just because you see the same phenotype displayed, such as blond hair doesn’t mean that the same gene caused it which is what the article points out and she missed. The fact that she is arguing that these people aren’t black, but then put up a picture of a black child as proof as to why this wasn’t interesting boggles the damn mind. She can’t even follow her own logic. She put up the picture to show that there were black people with blond hair in the states, but why would that even matter if your argument is that these people aren’t BLACK! She keeps backtracking when people show her the ERRORS in her logic. A true scientist acknowledges their errors and moves the hell along, this chick is NOT a scientist!
Are y’all for real? Good grief! Did y’all even read the study? These are not Black people. Seeing as I actually HAVE been a genetic researcher, I don’t think you’re really in any position to tell me why scientists would be interested in it. It certainly isn’t because some folks think that there is something novel about Black people with blond hair.
Oh, stop hating.
Your nepehew is adorable! However, besides what has already been said the scientific interest comes from the fact that it is such a common trait in a very specific geographic area. Yet, outside of that region it is not so common on top of the fact that they actually found a gene unique to this group of people in this area and it is a completely different gene than would normally be responsible for such a trait. like it might be scientifically interesting to study if there was an island filled with white people with kinky/coily fluffy hair. Certainly, there are white people that have such hair, but I’m sure it would interest geneticist if they found such a specific trait to be common in such a specific/isolated group of people. The reason it’s a “big deal” on this site is because it’s a hair site. So we aren’t going to necessarily be reading about the multitude of other studies that are done on any number of physical traits/other topics because they aren’t relevant to this particular blog.
Honestly, that’s not what the research is about. I have no desire to play know-it-all, but seeing as I’ve gone to school for it and actually was a genetics researcher, I am more than happy to explain why that isn’t at all something that would interest geneticists.
It is absolutely common to see ethnic groups with traits that aren’t common in other groups. Any freshman biology student would know that. Hopefully, by the time they became a sophomore, they’d also be able to explain to you why geneticists would never call these folks Black. It would be far more correct to call these people Asians.
No matter how many folks believe otherwise, race is not a basis for biological scientific research. “Black” is a ridiculous term to apply to these folks. Maybe folks should take the time to read about Melanesians before they get mad about someone pointing out why blond haired folks like my nephew are far more “Black” than the Melanesians that folks are fawning over here.
I stand by my comment since they specifically mentioned a “gene”. Race may not be terribly important to genetics however genes are and that is what they were studying. How this trait was expressed through a different gene. I have a hard time believing that you are at all as well versed in biology/genetics whatever as you claim. I’m also not sure that you aren’t just an internet troll. Since you’ve said nothing constructive and appear to be more interested with getting someone worked up.
Right. The study mentioned a GENE. They didn’t mention anything about Melanesians being Black. I don’t come here to talk about my background. I mentioned it, because that’s how I learned this stuff. If think that it’s trolling to explain why calling Asians Black is problematic and breaking down what the study actually said, then that’s your right. I have my perspective and you have yours. I think that the science behind this happens to be rather interesting, especially when it’s understood correctly.
If someone gets worked up over something, that has nothing to do with me. I figure that we are all adults here and that makes us more than capable of controlling our emotions. We’ve all seen things on the internet that we disagree with. None of it is worth changing how I feel that day.
Well clearly bint alshasma, as much as you are calling out everyone and saying they are wrong for calling these people black, you referred to them as Asian which is also completely wrong, It clearly stated in the article that these people are from the Solomon islands which is located northeast of Australia so they fall in the continent of Oceania. But thats besides the point. Amd as far as black goes, thats difficult to define when most people that have dark skin are labeled as black. I think this was an overall interesting article.
Uh, sorry, but no. Here’s some info on them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian_peoples
You might not be able to open it, so here’s a quote:
“Genetic studies have been done on the people and related groups.[20] The Haplogroup O1 (Y-DNA)a-M119 genetic marker is frequently detected in Austronesians, as well as some ethnic minorities in China (southern non-Han Chinese).[21] Other genetic markers found in native Austronesian populations are Haplogroup C (Y-DNA) and Haplogroup O3 (Y-DNA).[citation needed]”
These people are indeed Asian. Unfortunately, many Black Americans do believe that most of the people in the world with dark skin are labeled Black. This is simply not the case. This is what Americans may call some of them, but it certainly isn’t how they refer to themselves. Ask a dark skinned person in or from India if they are Black or Asian.
wikipedia is not really the go-to place to show how smart you are, imo.
Why would I care whether you think I’m smart? The facts don’t depend on whether I’m smart. Either these folks are Asian or they aren’t. The facts show that they are.
LOL, anyone else think that “The lady doth protest too much”!!! SMDH, you are not a geneticist, you may have worked in the lab but based on the faulty logic you are using I am certain you didn’t complete a PhD. Your bringing up your degree without specific details concerning this example(Fallacy 1-appeal to authority), the fact that you posted a picture of a child that shares one one of the phenotypes described in the article especially when the phenotype results from a specific gene anomaly which is specific to this group( Fallacy 2,association fallacy) proves enough to make me doubt your occupation was anything other than perhaps the person to got through one freshman class of biology or volunteered to clean the cages in a genetics lab. First of all to say that this is of no importance to science is completely asinine, anytime you have a genetic anomalies it is of scientific interest, but only to those who have the ability to understand that phenotypes do not tell you what the genetic makeup that created it, which is the point of the article, that the gene that causes blond hair in this group is distinct from others that are found in European cultures!!!!
Ok you are not a geneticist, lets get that straight. No damn scientist goes to wikipedia when you have access to SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS!!!!! Are freaking kidding me, if you were a scientist, thank the damn universe that you are no longer in the field. A very quick journal search lead me to the following article. If you read the entire article you will see that your logic has been dis-proven. The Polynesian share traits with these people, not because they are descended from them, but because on their way through this country, they interacted and intermingled romantically and this lead to the sharing of the polymorphisms that they share. The Melanesian(spelling) didn’t evolve from the Polynesian, genetic prototyping using polymorphisms shows they were distinct groups.
Melanesian origin of Polynesian Y chromosomes
Manfred Kayser*, , Silke Brauer*, Gunter Weiss*, PeterA. Underhill†, Lutz Roewer‡, Wulf Schiefenhövel§ and Mark Stoneking*
* Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Inselstraße 22, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
† Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
‡ Institute of Legal Medicine, Humboldt University Berlin, Hannoversche Straße 6, D-10115 Berlin, Germany.
§ Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology, Von-der-Tann Straße 3, D-82346 Andechs, Germany.
Correspondence: Manfred Kayser
Abstract
Background: Two competing hypotheses for the origins of Polynesians are the ‘express-train’ model, which supposes a recent and rapid expansion of Polynesian ancestors from Asia/Taiwan via coastal and island Melanesia, and the ‘entangled-bank’ model, which supposes a long history of cultural and genetic interactions among Southeast Asians, Melanesians and Polynesians. Most genetic data, especially analyses of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation, support the express-train model, as does linguistic and archaeological evidence. Here, we used Y-chromosome polymorphisms to investigate the origins of Polynesians.Results: We analysed eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and seven short tandem repeat (STR) loci on the Y chromosome in 28 Cook Islanders from Polynesia and 583 males from 17 Melanesian, Asian and Australian populations. We found that all Polynesians belong to just three Y-chromosome haplotypes, as defined by unique event polymorphisms. The major Y haplotype in Polynesians (82% frequency) was restricted to Melanesia and eastern Indonesia and most probably arose in Melanesia. Coalescence analysis of associated Y-STR haplotypes showed evidence of a population expansion in Polynesians, beginning about 2,200 years ago. The other two Polynesian Y haplotypes were widespread in Asia but were also found in Melanesia.Conclusions: All Polynesian Y chromosomes can be traced back to Melanesia, although some of these Y-chromosome types originated in Asia. Together with other genetic and cultural evidence, we propose a new model of Polynesian origins that we call the ‘slow-boat’ model: Polynesian ancestors did originate from Asia/Taiwan but did not move rapidly through Melanesia; rather, they interacted with and mixed extensively with Melanesians, leaving behind their genes and incorporating many Melanesian genes before colonising the Pacific.
You do realize that the actual article isn’t available online, unless you have a subscription to it, right? I posted a wikipedia link, because most people with the internet can access it. However, if you have a subscription to the journal, you don’t need me to send you a link to it.
By the way, what do you think it means to descend from a group? The abstract (not an article) you posted isn’t debating whether or not Melanesians are Asian. It’s about Polynesians and how long their ancestors intermingled with other groups in the area before moving on and separating themselves.
@ bint alshamsa. I know exactly what you are talking about. I do not have the same education as you, but I knew about this group of people for some time now. They are Asian. A dark-skinned Indian would not dare call themselves “black” no matter how much darker they are than a black person. I agree with you.
but, some of these people do refer to themselves as black.
aboriginals in australia and the maori in new zealand often refer to themselves as black. in the uk, historically, asians (indians, pakistanis, etc.) have been referred to as black.
indians in india don’t refer to themselves as black partly because they can’t stand african-descended people. lol.
the former, on the other hand, have often identified with the struggles of black folk in the u.s.
wow, there are a lot of people who are very unaware of world cultures, history and affairs.
can tell by people’s amazement in this thread.
Your right these people are more closely related to Asians, but black doesn’t have to only refer to people of African decent tbh. Lots of people (including the people that came up with the term) just use it to describe people with ‘black skin’ (dark skin ect).
You can’t really talk about race when discussing genes, I think that’s why people are getting confused with all these classifications; a lot of the time how someone looks can have nothing to do with their genetic heritage, hence why people can’t understand why’d you describe these people as Asian.
A bint indeed. *smh*
Yep. So was your mother and her mother and her mother and so were you, if you’re not still one.
Mature.
LOL, look at her comment AFROKISSES, she is mad because she thinks people are “fawning” over these people, and she feels her nephew is just as special because look he has blond hair and green eyes. Just an example of cultural misorientation, she is so used to people “fawning” over him because of those features she needs to discredit any connection that could be made. And for the record, according to western stands, these people would be classified as black because of the broadness of their nose, skin color, and other traits. Now whether they would be classified as negroid, mongoloid, etc by the scientific community would be based on how much genetic makeup they have from each group, and there isn’t enough information in this article for Ms fake scientist to say for sure what category they would be…BUT a scientist would know that. What kind of idiot uses information about one gene and location of the people to interpret what their makeup might be.
I thoroughly enjoyed your response.
oops let me be specific…I meant I enjoyed afrokisses comment, not yours bint alshamsa, I’m actually confused by what you’re saying. You ask in your first comment “what’s the big deal” and when people tell you why it’s a big deal to them, you tell them they don’t know what they’re talking about b/c they are not a genetics researcher.
No, that’s not why they don’t know what they’re talking about. They simply haven’t learned this stuff. That’s why I pointed out that you don’t even have to study genetics to learn this. It’s just basic biology. Unfortunately, not everyone has a good understanding of the subject.
I’ll make what I’m saying clearer:
These folks are Asians, not Black. Scientists aren’t studying Melanesians because they think that Black people with blond hair is something novel.
ya know if you just wanted to post a pic of the cute baby, then….ya coulda just posted it…
Ya know, if you just wanted to learn about genetics, then…ya coulda just looked it up…
You know what, I read a book once too. Let it go…
lmbo
Maybe you could try reading more than one, then?
Bint Alshamsa,
I think your point of view and knowledge on the topic is very interesting. Obviously, you have a rather extensive understanding of the subject. However, there is a way to communicate that without being condescending and/or combative. Maybe you could change someone´s perspective if you went about it a different way?
Wait a damn minute the term black is a social construct and HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GENETICS!!!!!! Are you serious, you are not a scientist at all. I would bet my own damn degree on that. You are speaking straight BS!
Your nephew looks biracial so people expect him to look like that. Most biracial kids do. This is about dark skin people with blond hair.
Ok!!! Not once did she mention the color of the mother…smh
Thank you nelle 🙂
You need to check yourself before your wreck yourself!
What was it that ‘forced’ you to react so negatively on this post, when you can clearly see that that nephew of yours doesn’t remotely resemble the Melanesians? You can’t even compare them given their distinct heritage! If you don’t know about these people read about them before you react! School yourself please….SMH
Please school yourself, Loraine. The kid in that photo is Blacker than those Melanesians. Do you know anything about their genetic heritage? If you did, and you understood that “Black” is a Western social construct that loses its meaning outside of the Western world, then you’d realize why it’s ridiculous to call these folks Black.
If you can’t handle science, then why are you reading an article about genetics?
I am, in fact, a professor of biology, specializing in human genetics. Thank you for speaking on my behalf, and the behalf of all genetic researchers, but I do actually find this news of genetic interest. The key point is that the mutation causing blondeness in Melanesians is unique to that population alone. Whereas, the genetic variants causing blondeness in your nephew is most likely the same as those found in Europe. The two types of blondeness genetic variants have different recent common ancestors.
That’s exactly what I said further down. My nephew is from an American family that is most often identified as Black. Even though he has features some associate with whiteness, it is still more accurate to call him Black, than it is to claim that a Melanesian is Black.
However, it’s nice to meet more Black female scientists. 🙂
Your nephew mother is white or other than black right?
Nope. She’s black, too.
I am confused why any scientist would thank another scientist for speaking on behalf of a whole group. Do genetic scientist not disagree on concepts. This is just crazy to me, I really would like to know where they do that at, because the reason why we have scientific journals is to check each other’s logic and critique the quality of the work and conclusions, so why would anyone thank any individual “researcher” for speaking on behalf of a whole group, except for the organization set up to represent your group, any statements represent the individuals view and not that of the entire field.
THE HMONG GUY IS CLEARLY CHINESE. JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT TO BE DIFFERENT DOESNT GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO DISRESPECT THEIR RACE. A LOT OF PEOPLE GET CULTURE CONFUSED WITH RACE. EVERYONE COMES FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF CULTURES HOWEVER, EVERYONE HAS A SPECIFIC RACE. WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS FROM JAMAICA, DOESNT MEAN THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR BLACK RACE. IT JUST MEANS THAT THIER CULTURE IS DIFFERENT. THEY ARE ALL DESCENDENTS FROM AFRICA. WE NEED TO GET IT THROUGH OUR HEADS. WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NO PROBLEM CLAIMING WHOEVER THEY WANT……
Have you ever seen the movie Austrailia with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman or know anything of what actually occured in Austrailia, a very western country? If you had I’d think you have a little more insight into these people and very closely related groups…aboriginal people and related types were discriminated against in and around Austrailia, an individual of this group was referred to as a Black. You’re splitting hairs is like telling a Somali that they are not in fact black because they are a mix of arabian and italian etc blood. I don’t think anyone sits around to say that Mexicans are in fact asians because they are descendants of native americans who held here from Asia and that’s because generally once a group leaves a place to begin their society with all of its rich culture and traditions they are no more like where they held from then african americans are like Africans. They have very different features, and most likely different genetic make-ups. I find it funny that your initial comment was not denying their blackness but rather..”here look at my nephew, he too has blonde hair and is also black”. And to be perfectly honest, as far as the little girl is concerned, she seems to have “black” features moreso than the asian culture you prematurely tie her to. What I mean by prematurely is that no one knows for certain where people come from that is something that the people of the group to document their stories and tales etc. Traveling is not some modern tool, who is to say that these people didn’t do the continental hop from africa to asia to an island, kiddie-corner to Austrailia. I highly suggests that you look up the race relations and very westernized racism that these people have experienced as well as the aboriginals in austrailia. I also believe that it’s a little rude to say someone is blacker than someone else as if they weren’t affected by the same struggles, because they were—not that blackness is something to be scaled. If you were as well versed in genetics as you say you were, then you wouldn’t have brought up the comment about your nephew’s father being really dark and your nephew being really light….kids are not a mixture of the phenotypic look of their parents but rather a combination of their parents genotype..which occasionally translates to phenotypic similarities. Why do you say that geneticists would not be interested when it took a geneticist to perform this research? Did you know that Indians were once considered white until that was revoked? Did you know that their ancestors held from the caucus mountains so they are in fact caucasion? I don’t pertain to be an expert although I have a reasonable amount of experience in this field
Furthermore, it is thinking like yours that for years, made it impossible for my dad to check the box labeled afro-latino. Is my father not latin because he is black? Her skin is very much what we consider black in a very different way than Malaysians, Indians, and cambodians are dark.
I UNDERSTAND WHAT BINT ALSHAMSA IS SAYING HOWEVER I DISAGREE. THERE ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WHO ARE BLACK. YES BLACK. THERE ARE ASIANS WHO HAVE AFRICAN HERITAGE. LATINO’S HAVE AFRICAN HERITAGE. SO PLEASE STOP TRYING TO MAKE BLACK PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY HAVE NO CONNECTION TO OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. THERE ARE PLENTY OF LATINO’S AND ASIANS WHO THINK THEY ARE MORE WHITE THAN ANYTHING ELSE. THAT IS INCORRECT IN MANY CASES. BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL AND I AM CLAIMING THAT CHILD IN THE PIC
Well, for a ‘scientist’ you are pretty lousy at reacting in a proper manner or even explaining your point properly! Your first comment on the article had a condescending tone to it. Hence my question what forced you to react so negatively. Why the need to put up a picture of your nephew along with harsh comments?
When I pointed out that you can’t compare your nephew to this child because of their distinct heritage I was referring to the genes they inherited from their ancestors. For it is clear that the mutation causing blondeness in Melanesians can’t be found elsewhere and originates from Oceania. I think it’s safe to say your nephew most likely has white ancestors from whom he inherited the gene that causes his hair to be blond. But then again, I’m no scientist like you, I’m just using common sense here.
Aren’t you surprised that to someone like me, who can’t handle science but still reads articles about genetics, it was apparent that the distinct heritage of your nephew and that child are incomparable?
Furthermore, ‘Black’ may be a Western social construct, but I don’t agree with you that it loses it’s meaning outside the Western world! Have you ever been to South America, the Caribbeans, Asia? If you have been you must know that ‘Black’ hasn’t lost it’s meaning outside the Western world. Unless the aforementioned area’s are also part of your Western world(?).
Lastly, what’s with the comment about the child on the picture being blacker than ‘those Melanesians’? Is it your (scientific) opinion that Melanesians only come in a shade lighter that that child’s? I can’t claim that I know what all Melanesians are supposed to look like, but I have seen footage of Melanesians who where as dark or even darker that that child.
Oh, I’m sorry! I see my comment on your reaction was not properly placed. I asked you some questions in my quest to school myself. Here you go:
https://bglh-marketplace.com/2012/05/black-people-with-naturally-blonde-hair/comment-page-1/#comment-271725
Please lady, get curly sue out of hair…(No pun intended in the way I spelled here :D)
i think the point is that in the americas, a light-skinned “black” is more than likely the product miscegenation.
the folks studied here come by their features without any mixing from outsiders; it’s “natural”. and that’s why the results of the study were significant for some people.
I actually find what you’re saying very interesting. I don’t know why you had to make your first comment so condescending though.
Its a big deal to some people because they have never seen people like this. And since you were able to study genetics its not a shock. You had an opportunity to share your knowledge respectfully to many of us that don’t have a great understanding. It was really unnecessary to come here insult the content of the blog and the people that commented.
I have a hard time writing in friendly English while I’m working. I’ve explained that here quite a few times. When I’m on my computer, I’m usually doing translation work. That means I’m switching back and forth from other languages to English. I’m also disabled and that can play a role in how I think I sound versus how it actually sounds to others.
I wish folks wouldn’t just assume that someone is being condescending when it really may be something else at work. I did have a chance to learn genetic and others haven’t had that chance (or, perhaps, other folks just don’t find it all that interesting). I know that higher education is a privilege and not everyone who deserves it has the opportunity to obtain it. So, I don’t go around bragging about something that I was just blessed to receive.
I’m not here to insult the content of the blog. I have been posting here for a long time, because I love this blog. I just don’t comment on everything and sometimes I only comment on the facebook post. It’s silly to claim that I’m just here to troll, when I’ve been here and had many of the folks here agree with stuff I’ve said.
I appreciate the knowledge that you offered here today. I know the topic of race and race identification can be a touchy subject for some. I do have to admit that it has always boggled my mind (that we, as descendants of the Africans that were brought to this country to be slaves and as a result, robbed of our culture have settled for just being called black). We have an identity too and until someone can point to the country or continent on the globe and show me a place called “Black”, I’ll never understand how we as a people are identified with this word. I’ve seen Cubans and Indians with much darker skin tones than me, but somehow we African Americans have been associated with the term black. Is it because of our hair texture?…I’ll never know. Black is the color of tar and I’ve yet to see a black person with actual black skin, or even a white person with actual white skin for that matter, but I digress. Bint alshamsa, now you’ve got me wanting to do some research. So thank you for that, when you stop learning, you stop growing and run the risk of becoming complacent.
THE HMONG GUY IS CLEARLY CHINESE. JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT TO BE DIFFERENT DOESNT GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO DISRESPECT THEIR RACE. A LOT OF PEOPLE GET CULTURE CONFUSED WITH RACE. EVERYONE COMES FROM VARIOUS TYPES OF CULTURES HOWEVER, EVERYONE HAS A SPECIFIC RACE. WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE IS FROM JAMAICA, DOESNT MEAN THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM THEIR BLACK RACE. IT JUST MEANS THAT THIER CULTURE IS DIFFERENT. THEY ARE ALL DESCENDENTS FROM AFRICA. WE NEED TO GET IT THROUGH OUR HEADS. WHITE PEOPLE HAVE NO PROBLEM CLAIMING WHOEVER THEY WANT…..
We are used to having blond hair that are really traits passed from some European ancestor. I’m black and I grew with two large patches of blond at my temples.
The real issue (that the article probably wasn’t able to bring out) is that the blonde hair gene identified in the people on Solomon Islands is a NON-EUROPEAN gene, so these people have blonde hair but with no European ancestry whatsoever. This gene and their particular traits and characteristics evolved independently.
@MIN THANK YOU! I WAS ABOUT TO PULL MY HAIR OUT! LOL (clarifying that the gene is Non-European) and yes this was an interesting read and it is worth researching.
the real issue for me is, why is this a big deal?
the people who were the subjects of this study must be equally confounded by our assumptions about them.
He’s gorgeous btw (nephew)y fiancé and I are both dark and Our daughter was born light skin with hazel eyes and sandy blonde hair black people come on all different shades to find this fascinating is just plain ignorant
I agree, Danyella. Dark skinned people give birth to light-skinned children all of the time. It ain’t that amazing, folks! Black people are every shade from midnight to past-white. I just don’t get the fascination that so many of our people have with any feature that white people have.
There are folks who think that Black people with naturally straight hair is really something to be impressed about. Others are quick to get enthralled when they see Black people with anything other than brown eyes. It’s 2012. Everybody here has access to the internet. If you’ve never seen something and you wonder whether it exists, googling it is a great start.
I keep wondering how long it’s going to take our people to get past this obsession with color policing.
Thanks for the sweet comment about my nephew. That little boy is bad as hell, but I love his little bad butt. I’m sure that your daughter is a beautiful black girl, because ALL of our children are beautiful.
Thank you.. love this articles.. Now if clairol, revelon and loreal will put this hair color in bottle i too can have it.. Lol.
lol, i like this one!
I was born with red, fire engine red and had it for the first four years of my life before my head finally turned to the auburn-mahogany mess it is right now.
I can totally believe this article.
Juliette, you literally just made me LOL, auburn-mahogany mess? stop it:)I wish I could see your hair, I bet its beautiful
This is so fascinating. And they are beautiful.
i must be missing something because i don’t find this all that fascinating and i’m not sure why others do.
okay, some dark-skinned people who look african-descended naturally have blond hair.
no big whoop to me.
maybe it challenges whites and a sort of superiority/purity they claim that is partially based on blond hair being unique to them?
whatever…
Not all that complicated =/ there are a few people who find scientific discovery……fascinating! there are also a few people who…. like learning.
that’s quite an insult.
i mean, you’re insinuating that i don’t like learning because i’m not all that interested in why this small group of people has blond hair that doesn’t result from miscegenation with europeans?
um, that’s not fascinating to me.
of all the things to learn about in this world, this is not the thing that gets me up.
k?
i’m sure there are many areas that i could run circles around you in.
please sit down with your nonsense.
umm did you read the article there blonde hair has NOTHING to do with being mixed with Europeans which they are not smh and even if YOU’RE not interested doesnt mean no one else should be
You misread merry’s last comment, and I’m going to have to agree with her. Black people in general need to stop being fascinated by stuff like this. The fact that white or european even needed to be mentioned in this article is a problem for me. as the article, and merry pointed out, their hair has nothing to do with anything white whatsoever and i wish black folk stop putting lighter/brighter features on a pedestal. its really not amazing. its how their hair is, and that’s cool, but i fail to find what’s awe-striking about the simple fact that the hair is growing blonde. additionally, if this article is the first time you’re hearing about this then you need to step away from the networking sites and message boards and go educate yourself.
Who are you or anyone else to say what anyone should be interested in or fascinated by? I personally find it interesting but I wouldn’t dare tell anyone else what they should do. The comments of people that want to tell ANYONE else what they should think/feel/care about is the ultimate insult to me…..but that’s just my feeling. You, of course, can do whatever you wish.
why is it fascinating? ask yourself that. if the answer has anything to do with white people, then my dear… that’s who i am to say what anyone should be FASCINATED (never used the word interested… you can be interested in genetics, but not fascinated by something as simple as hair) by. but that’s just my feeling… until you get your mind out of the matrix, you’ll continue to be fascinated by basic things. excuse me for trying to help you out, lol. you can do whatever you wish, even if it continues to hinder the true liberation that you “naturalistas” seek.
You are so passive aggressive and demeaning, it’s sickening.
So, a person finds a trait about his/her race fascinating (yes, fascinating, not interesting, FASCINATING), and you decide to get high-and-mighty and decide BLACK PPL NED 2 STP FNDNG THEIR CULTURE INTERESTING LIGHT AND BRIGHT LIGHT AND BRIGHT.
I really think you need to get your mind out of the matrix. While you’re doing that, I’ll remain fascinated by the more simple, “basic” things in life.
Ugh is right. LOL, here’s hoping you feel better about yourself after that comment. Girl, bye.
Merry, I agree with you…
This article seems focused on the Europcentric beauty ideal. Like, wow we can have blond hair too! I’m fascinated by the genetics because I love science like nobody but I’m not sure how this relates to black people as a whole. I don’t see it. it’s lovely the Asian girl has blond hair. This is a fascinating visual phenomenom, but lets not forget-this isn’t most of dark skkinned people. Many of us are just learning to love our features/kinky hair types. Lets not deviate from the plan (:
These people are of African descent.
how many black people do you know with natural blonde hair? and in that texture? please stop being ignorant. it is very fascinating. especially the fact that they have a completely different genetic coding. i find it amazing. God is Good.
it’s only amazing to people who are limited to begin with.
in your world, this doesn’t exist. so YOU are amazed because you’ve been taught that a) blond hair belongs to one group of people -whites and b) it’s special.
the confluence of that makes you believe this is amazing.
for them, it’s normal and natural and hopefully nothing to jump up and down about. it just is.
i’ve never assumed their blond hair is the result of miscegenation with whites so this is not AMAZING TO ME. unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know these people exist.
this is just another human being with another genetic expression that is not like mine.
now, if there was a whole group of human beings who grew wings that allowed them to fly great distances, i would be totally amazed by that.
i am not amazed that another group of people on this planet has blond hair.
i mean really people. get a grip.
merry stop trying to be white, lol. but in all seriousness, this is exactly how I feel about it. the sooner we catch up mentally to this “hair liberation”, the sooner people will begin to understand the point you’re trying to make. the sooner we can move on to more important issues other than bickering and being fascinated by hair, the better.
I’m interested in the science behind it all. I’m not sure why anyone is arguing about this at all. Weird.
Your being silly it’s interesting because it’s not something you see every day and the genetics behind it also interesting to read about. It’ has nothing to do with people being ‘taught that a) blond hair belongs to one group of people -whites and b) it’s special’, that’s just the conclusion you’ve come to from reading other peoples comments, without considering the obvious basic fact that things that you don’t see everyday are INTERESTING.
Also don’t put others down for not knowing things; it’s perfectly understandable that some people may not know certain facts about the world that doesn’t mean they’ve been ‘living under a rock’. I bet there are many things that are obvious to me that you wouldn’t know (and vice versa). You should never put people down for not knowing things, after all it’s not like you’re the almighty source of all knowledge in the world; we’re always going to have gaps in our knowledge.
Are you really praising god because of her hair colour and texture? genetics is facinating, i’ll give you that but maybe you need to examine why you think god is good simply because her hair is that colour/texture.
Alot of black people around the world have variant hair colours. Mine is medium brown. I hate it-doesn’t suit my skin tone. All my life i’ve had people be like “wow is that your natural colour-amazing!”
I dye my hair now because I think this glamourisation of percieved non black traits in black people is ridiculous.
Genuinely makes me feel sad. That may be pathetic, but it does…
God is good because God creates all of this. Everything. Saying God is good has nothing to do with uplifting white features. It’s about appreciating all the lovliness that God created, period. Again, I’m terribly taken aback by the argumentative nature of these comments.
this ^^
its not pathetic
when black people as a whole stop upholding that traits associated with white people are magical, fascinating and wonderful that’ll be one more shackle removed from our brains
this post got 200+ views. the posts with “plain ole garden variety black people can’t compete with this
the hair is pretty, but this is a site for pretty hair. so why is this hair so much prettier than the rest?
co-sign. ^^this comment is really what it boils down to. and instead of trying to understand this, when you mention it, you’re being aggressive or mean… or whatever other silliness comes of stating an opinion that defies the popular one.
it doesn’t have 200+ views it has 200+ comments and that has nothing to do with black people ‘upholding that traits associated with white people are magical, fascinating and wonderful’, it’s probably more to do with the big discussion this article has generated and the amount of people arguing over different points.
Does anybody else think merry is white or at least trying to be? Just saying’…
no i don’t think merry is white
she/he just isn’t upholding that features that white people claim for themselves are fascinating. black people with blonde hair ..big .bloody. whoop .
as soon as someone doesn’t uphold white supremacy they get accused of acting white
absolute backwardness
+1
lmao.
i have been accused of acting white by black folk.
never been suspected of being white by anyone.
oh get over your color and see through skin to the blood pumping gHearts we all have. Comparisons, Jealousy, blame, labeling, Hate carrying…is so Heavy on your soul, you say “Whatever..that is a low frequency , you say Peace and you reach the LIGHT inside Bursting out, shining on all colors…this world is Bigger than your skin..step outside of your skin! … for not realizing we are all One will def give you Gray hair and ailments…Please people OPEN YOUR MIND and know you are a Spirit not just a body! and a spirit has NO COLOR. is any its ALL COLORS of the spectrum! Love ALL and you will be truly at him sand happy.
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at Home (here) and Happy (your birth nature) bless you…sorry, tough Love cuz, hate needs to be Checked some times…DING! …sheerrrrr….you hear your heart beating…mine is too, we are together weather you like it or not. my ares are Open for you, please open your its warm and loving. body heat, caring for all & any..no happy , or high talk just HIP and HIGHER thought! step out the shame/blame, wash in the rain again and see we are all different but, all the same!
Oh, I almost forgot its, 2012! ….let the past die/rest in peace..and embrace LIFE!…and embrace the wonderful NOW! no I’m not ignorant to the past, nor the pain but do we really need it to go on…PEACE…Id rather laugh smile than cry and frown…Ill bring you Up before i leave you down. softly. bless..
..PS. I’m bald…so enjoy Any hair you got! let it FLOW! its an extension of your self! and tickles nice!
..breath….release the stress, let the pain rest…..and BE a being….
WOW, this site just SHUT ME DOWN…sad.. guess my words are not free here….Bless ya
girl shut up!
you too.
i’m just not all that easily impressed i guess.
you read my mind
dis is soooOOOooo cool, she is so cute, God’s creations are so amazing….
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[img]https://bglh-marketplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Picture254.jpg[/img]
beautiful you are as a reflection to all lIFE..sweet comment!