Have you ever seen a black man or a woman with blue eyes? What was your first reaction? “I almost fainted when I saw one about 25 years ago on my way home from school. My first thought was: that it must be Mami Water (mermaid), since the person was not albino. It was awful to watch from afar, but when I approached, the lady was so beautiful and interesting” – Anonymous.
This experience is not entirely unlike the reaction of some Nigerian parents who gave birth to a blonde, blue-eyed girl in London a few years ago. When the husband saw the baby, he was shocked. If not for the fact that he trusted his wife so much, their marriage might have gone down in history, at least until a DNA test confirmed the paternity of the baby.
Today, many believe that people with blue eyes or eyes other than brown are not of African descent, and if they are, they were wearing colored contact lenses. There are other fears that come out when it comes to people with blue eyes.
Some said blue-eyed people were evil. Others want to know if blue-eyed people lack concentration, see well, or have hearing loss. Some of these fears are unfounded, but other speculations, such as its effect on hearing, seem to be true.
In general however, contrary to the opinion of many people, blue eyes are not the exclusive prerogative of Asians or Europeans; Black Africans can also have blue eyes and there are many explanations for this.
First, someone can have blue eyes as a result of a genetic mutation. As livescience.com explains, “a mutation that originated only 6,000 to 10,000 years ago was responsible for all blue-eyed people living on Earth today.”
This is the discovery of a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen. The team, whose research is published in the Journal of Human Genetics, identified a mutation in a gene called “OCA2” that accidentally originated somewhere around the northwest Black Sea coast in a single individual there. is around 8000 years old.
Blue eyes also occur when a person of African descent has Caucasian relatives on both sides of the family who carry the gene for that particular eye color.
In addition to a genetic mutation, blue eyes can also be caused by Waardenburg syndrome, a deficiency inherited from a single parent who may exhibit similar characteristics. There are different types of Waardenburg syndrome, but it is essentially a rare disease characterized by sensorineural deafness associated with pigment abnormalities and defects of neutral-crest-derived tissues.
Some also suggest that blue eyes are the result of ancient interbreeding with Neanderthals, who died out around 25,000 years ago. Another theory suggested in the Afritorial claims that blond hair and blue eyes are due to a mechanism called “sex selection”, where men and women choose their partners based on an unusual physical characteristic that is not not necessarily related to fitness.
However, it should be noted that blue eyes are not diabolic or evil and the only way to tell if someone has natural or artificial blue eyes is to ask that person.
There are many notable black celebrities with natural eye colors other than black or brown, including Rihanna, Tyra Banks, Vanessa Williams, and more. Evidence of blue-eyed Africans also abounds throughout Africa, including South Sudan, South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, and more.
Let’s hear from you. Have you have seen a Black African with blue eyes before?