Oddest Stories of 2016

Fredrick Ngugi December 28, 2016

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The Truth Behind Black Africans with Blue Eyes

For many years, a lot of theories and misconceptions about Black people with blue eyes have been thrown around with some people associating them with evil spirits. In the African context, Black people with blue eyes are seen as abnormal and are considered physically deprived.

Earlier this year, Face2Face Africa sought to explain the many reasons why some Africans have blue eyes. For starters, a team of researchers from Copenhagen University discovered that this condition can occur due to a genetic mutation. The team identified a single mutation in a gene called “OCA2,” which originated from northwest coast of the Black Sea in one individual some 8,000 years ago.

The article also revealed that a Black person can have blue eyes if they have Caucasian relatives on both sides of the family who carry this particular gene. Medical experts also claim that this type of eye color could be as a result of a condition called “Waardenburg Syndrome,” a deficiency inherited from a single parent who displays similar characteristics.

Other theories suggest that blue eyes came from interbreeding with the Neanderthals, a group of people that went into extinction 25,000 years ago. It is also believed that blue eyes came from Afritorial states, where people chose their sex mates based on one physical characteristic that isn’t necessarily associated with fitness. Despite all the suggestions, the fact is that Black people with blue eyes are not possessed by any form of evil spirit.

Last Edited by:Sandra Appiah Updated: December 28, 2016

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