Blonde hair is beautiful; it has the effect of taking years off your face, resulting in a more youthful and lifted appearance. It’s a color trend that can ramp up your style in many ways, such as ombre and balayage to give a soft, feminine look, or even platinum, which is fierce and edgy.
Yet no matter how well executed these color trends are on black men and women, there always comes a point in time when someone has to put their two cents in, saying something along the lines of, “Why do you have blonde hair? Are you trying to be white?”
This ignorant comment not only places claim to this particular genetic trait as belonging solely to European Americans, but also seeks to shame the black man or woman who chooses to wear their hair in this particular color.
Well, next time you hear this ignorance you can let that person know that the word is out: Black people also have naturally blonde hair, as evidenced by the naturally blonde haired Melanesians and Aborgines.
Certain physical traits do not belong solely to one particular racial group, they are determined entirely by the beautifully random nature of genes, which are subject to mutation and can create an array of attributes within any race that account for the diversity of the human race.
A single gene is the difference
The Melanesians of the Solomon Islands, just east of Papua New Guinea and north of Australia, have ancestry that can be directly traced to Africa, yet a good portion of them are naturally blonde.
The percentage of the population that exhibits this trait is about ten percent, and the trait, though not limited to them, has a higher prevalence in children. For quite some time their blonde features were attributed to past imperial rulership by European countries like Germany and the UK.
The popular claim at the time was that this trait was a direct result of Europeans breeding with the native islanders. This theory, although widely accepted, was greatly disputed by the islanders themselves, who insisted that the blonde hair was a trait innately belonging to their people.
None of their disagreements were given any clout until years later when Dutch geneticist, Stephen Myles, from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, was studying the islanders and took notice of the fact that there was very little variation between the shades of blonde that the Melanesians exhibited.
He ruled out the idea of genetic variation by inheritance and sought to prove his hypothesis. He and a team of colleagues collected saliva and hair samples from 1,200 Solomon Islanders. Out of this large sample, 43 blonde and 42 dark haired islanders were chosen for DNA comparison.
What they discovered was that the gene that determined hair pigmentation had a single protein difference between the two groups.
The exchange of this protein was the single determinant of the outcome of either blonde or dark hair. The gene is found only in Melanesian people, proving that their naturally occurring blonde hair is not an inherited European trait, but an outcome of random genetic mutation over time.
Aborigines as well✊✊✊
Thank you … I’m Blasian and blonde and I love it!
Speaking for the blacks born with natural blonde hair. Not bottle blondes. It’s crazy how a lot of non black women bleach their hair blonde, & no one bats a lash. Asians bleach their hair every color under the sun, they love going blonde. No one assumes they want to be white tho lol.
You’re right but….ask yourself, HOW DID THIS COME TO BE ?
From the article: “…The gene is found only in Melanesian people, proving that their naturally occurring blonde hair is not an inherited European trait, but an outcome of random genetic mutation over time.”
My sis is blonde,and she’s black. Some my cousins are blonde,they are black. My hair is dusty redish blackish, l don’t like it. I die it black.
Every colour comes from black.
Actually black folks had blonde hair from the beginning of time. White are genetic mutants of black people, lets not forget that!
There is no such thing as blashian. God the Father has already named everything and everyone for all eternity
Blasian is a portmanteau of “black” and “asian.”
Really! Blonde belongs to anyone, who wears it well. Why make everything about color. Are we ever going to move pass this.
Some will never move pass it. It’s crazy!
This if why we stay stuck in the same place. After all these years. Sad.
Yes but if it doesn’t naturally grow outta yo scalp it doesn’t belong to you either. Stop making excuses and just say u enjoy wearing the color
Whatever physical characteristics u were born with are the ones the u are supposed to have and belong to u. Anything else is personal preference plain and simple.
Only if it’s natural not dye
a you kidding me, so u going to compare a woman [beyonce] who acts like she is white who never wears her real hair in an afro with rare black folks who have red hair and not blonde hair. the excuses black ppl make smh
Just because she doesn’t wear her real hair doesn’t mean she’s trying to be white. It’s her preference.
“Acts like she is white”. How?
Most whites aren’t naturally blonde either. It is scientific fact that once your out of adolescence you cannot grow blonde, dirty blonde maybe but they all die their hair as well.
We can wear our hair anyway we want. Just because someone choose to wear blind hair or weave does not mean they are trying to look like someone else. It’s their preference.
Black people hate to be sterotyoed but we stereotype one another. Shameful!
Please say that again. Lol
That’s right , I’ve been wearing blonde since 15 because I like the color!
There is a whole country of black people with 1/4 of the population with blonde hair. So…..surprise. Blonde hair is not limited to one race. http://www.odditycentral.com/news/black-and-blond-the-origin-of-blond-afros-in-melanesia.html
No surprise to me, I’ve known about the Melanesian Blondes for a while now!,,
No matter the hair color, black folk will always be black folk.
Be’yonce ain’t blonde, she weave….. whatever
The point is that if someone dyes their hair blonde or wears a blonde weave, doesn’t mean they’re trying to be white.
Kids called me Sinbad in school because my hair was a sandy brown blonde color. I have freckles and all that other stuff. We come in every color
Thank you …
she’s not a blonde but she likes it so oh well. as for her pro black natural “formation” …she just stuck out all blonde and weaved up but that’s how she slay. next.
Yeah its a curse from the father no one in the kingdom will have blond hair
Very informative article. From a lot of these comments I gather some, didn’t even bother to read it.
I’m so glad someone finally put this out there. I don’t care what a women does to hair it doesn’t necessarily means that she doesn’t love her black skin.
Everyone should already know that.
You learn something new everyday. Never knew there were Blacks with blonde hair
Most Caucasian people are NOT naturally blonde. Hence the fascination with, “Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes” and high hair colour sales.
I hope you ALL remember THIS when white people wear braids or other “black” styles… EVERY f**king shade have braided their hair for centuries but yet black people goes in on white people for “stealing black culture”…even though ALLLLLLLL shades of humans has done ALL the things that black people claim to be “black” culture…
Jeez people stop focusing on SKIN COLOR – when YOU focus on it YOU HELP KEEP IT AN ISSUE!
I don’t think about people’s skin shade – I focus on their person & actions..
Stop what culture has braided their hair for centuries in cornrows and box braids flat twisted etc o my style most non black people have done is Dutch braids and the two pig tail braids. Certain cultures have traditionally created certain things from stufff every plce of people may use like for example most cultures use chicken but the way they make their dishes is signature to them only ! Sadly no culture owns blonde because only 5 percent of actual White people have true blonde hair and the same percent is in Africans with blond and Australians with blonde hair ! It’s literally a pigment disorder of brown hair ! Braids tho that’s a different story and common sense and education would show for that ! I mean if everyone wore braids since back then why is it still discriminated against ?