African ancestry/blue eyes

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Hello everyone,

My question is about people with African ancestry having blue eyes. I find this a fascinating topic.

I have a friend whose (now deceased) father was from Africa and had blue eyes. He was also relatively light-skinned. His precise ancestry is
not known--he was born in Africa and came to the U.S. as a small child.
We are curious to know if the blue eyes mean that he had to have some
European ancestry in his background, or is it possible for the blue eyes
in the family to have arisen out of purely African ancestry?

On a related (no pun intended!) note, can blonde hair be present in a
person with only African ancestry, or would blonde hair necessarily indicate the presence of a European ancestor?

Does anyone know of any good websites where I could find further information about this subject? I'm not even sure what category this would fall under. Anthropology? Genetics? Something else?

Thanks!

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emrem- Welcome to A2K!

I too am awaiting for someone with experience in anthropology. In my experience, the only African American people whom I have met with blue (or green) eyes were light skinned, and usually had some Caucasian features.

I have never seen an extremely dark skinned person with blue or green eyes.

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Thanks for the welcome. Smile

I never thought of his facial features as being particularly caucasian-looking (only pics--never met him), but that may be, in all honesty, confirmation bias. I've looked at his pictures with the knowledge of his African descent, and quite possibly I accordingly interpreted his features as African.

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I think blue eyes can arise spontaneously, from a mutation. When I Googled "blue eye mutation," this first result seems to confirm that impression:

http://www.thetech.org/genetics/ask.php?id=160

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Thanks sozobe, I found a lot of interesting things on that site!

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Also, Africa was colonialized for many decades by the English, French, Dutch
and Germans - who are mostly fair skinned with blue eyes and blond hair.

The Europeans not only left their cultural mark in Africa, they also procreated with the African population, and the genetic mutation in interracial unions, will - even after generations - produce a green or blue eyed African.

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No idea what part of Africa? North Africans have many incidences of blue eyes and fair hair.

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I don't know for sure what part of Africa he was from. That's a good question and I'll have to ask my friend and see if he knows.

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When Cecil Rhodes, who left a foundation for the purpose of teaching a few Americans the facts of life, was confronted by a large gathering of natives in the heart of darkness, which I will forbear describing on a family forum, he was asked- "Well Cecil- what are we to do with them?" he replied "**** 'em white".

I suppose the blue eyes are a sign that we are taking his advice. If so there will be, by synergy, other slightly less obvious manifestations.

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By the way-

As this site is Ask an Expert in order to be Abled To Know it might be worthwhile my adding that the rhetorical trick-

Quote:

which I will forbear describing on a family forum

is called praeteritio.

In mentioning other things only to reject them a writer hints at his learning or experience and reminds his readers that there is an art in selection as well as in narration.

Here is a double example from Ovid's wondrous Metamorphoses-

Quote:

When they were quiet, Alcithoe was called.
Running her shuttle through the upright warp,
'I'll not relate', she said, 'the well-known love
Of Daphnis, Ida's shepherd, whom a nymph
In anger at her rival turned to stone:
Such pain sears lover's hearts! Nor will I speak
Of nature's laws relaxed and Sithon's sex
Ambiguous, now a woman, now a man.

It is from The Sun in Love where the daughters of Minyas are telling stories at their looms after rejecting participating with the other Theban ladies in "the god's wild rites" preferring instead the duties of the frugal and virtuous housewife which is, of course, an affront to the god. (Bacchus).

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There is supposedly less genetic variation in the entire human race than in a typical group of 50 African monkeys, meaning that the human race was very recently cut down to a handful of individuals. Anything you see in any corner of the globe in the way of human features could arise in any other corner sooner or later.

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IS THAT FOR REAL? AND IF SO ISNT OUR GENETIC MAKEUP DIFFEREING ONLY AROUND 2-3 PERCENT FROM MONKEYS? I DONT REMEMBER EXACTLY.

50 MONKEYS, 2-3 % DIFFERENCE FROM HUMANS, ENTIRE COLLECTIVE HUMAN GENETIC DIFFERENCE.

HOW SMALL OF A DIFFERENCE ARE WE NOW AT?

JUST ASKING, I HATE MATH.

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African ancestry/blue eyes

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