Red Hair Vikings and Black People
I saw an article today on vikings and red hair. Apparently you can basically trace the viking trade routes by the bunches of red heads in various areas which is pretty funny.
It made me think about red haired black people, African people really since I didn't see any info about them at all. From the lack of mention in that article I'll assume that no one thinks the vikings are responsible for african tribes that sport red hair but then the question is what or who is?
So i went to my friend google and looked it up. The only things I could find were articles and studies that concluded that red hair in african people is soley the result of a type of albinism. Not like red hair in europeans which is a result of recessive genes.
Now this makes me wonder a bit if they only saw albinism b/c that was all they looked for? I mean there are many people who will tell you that black people don't have red hair or only have it if they are mixed race in some way. So with that kind of prejudice the likelihood of looking for either the same recessive genes found in europeans or for a different one that has the same effects is much lower. It becomes something that can only happen as a problem not as a natural occurrence.
Now I'm not saying that there is a red haired gene more commonly found in africa or other areas where dark skinned people tend to be the norm but I do recall not all that long ago reading several articles that expressed surprise at the fact that there was a blond and blue eyed gene among some dark skinned people which was not the one found in europeans. Before then it was assumed that these groups of lighted eyed blonds with dark skin were obviously that way due to european ancestry. That never made sense to me just based on the fact that people from anywhere are way more genetically alike than different so although light hair an deyes may not be expressed as much in dark skinned people the potential is there. And the expression is not solely (although in some cases it can be) the result of either pathology or mixed heritage.
Of course this makes me wonder how much of what we learn about different groups and genetics is biased or have avenues left unexplored not even intentionally but due to the pre concieved ideas held by those doing the research.
It made me think about red haired black people, African people really since I didn't see any info about them at all. From the lack of mention in that article I'll assume that no one thinks the vikings are responsible for african tribes that sport red hair but then the question is what or who is?
So i went to my friend google and looked it up. The only things I could find were articles and studies that concluded that red hair in african people is soley the result of a type of albinism. Not like red hair in europeans which is a result of recessive genes.
Now this makes me wonder a bit if they only saw albinism b/c that was all they looked for? I mean there are many people who will tell you that black people don't have red hair or only have it if they are mixed race in some way. So with that kind of prejudice the likelihood of looking for either the same recessive genes found in europeans or for a different one that has the same effects is much lower. It becomes something that can only happen as a problem not as a natural occurrence.
Now I'm not saying that there is a red haired gene more commonly found in africa or other areas where dark skinned people tend to be the norm but I do recall not all that long ago reading several articles that expressed surprise at the fact that there was a blond and blue eyed gene among some dark skinned people which was not the one found in europeans. Before then it was assumed that these groups of lighted eyed blonds with dark skin were obviously that way due to european ancestry. That never made sense to me just based on the fact that people from anywhere are way more genetically alike than different so although light hair an deyes may not be expressed as much in dark skinned people the potential is there. And the expression is not solely (although in some cases it can be) the result of either pathology or mixed heritage.
Of course this makes me wonder how much of what we learn about different groups and genetics is biased or have avenues left unexplored not even intentionally but due to the pre concieved ideas held by those doing the research.
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