Hmm, this is interesting, it seems it depends what state you are in as to what race you are (this might be old):
"The U.S. Government and the 29 states, which have statutory definitions of race, variously define colored persons. Are you sure you’re white? Or Negro? Or some other color? Perhaps you can legally change your race by changing states.
In fact, you will find there are intrastate as well as interstate variations on the legal definitions of what constitutes a colored person, and conversely who may qualify as white. Hence a person rated as white in one state may be labeled colored in another state, and be segregated accordingly." http://www.stetsonkennedy.com/jim_crow_guide/chapter4_1.htm
Oooo, that reminds me of a question I had. This seems like a good place.
I had the impression that skin coloring was due to tanning, and that even babies of fairly dark people were born much lighter than their parents. I’ve seen tan lines on medium-tones “black” people.
BUT: I’ve been in locker rooms. The dark “black” guys were dark all over. I don’t think they’d been outside tanning naked. What don’t I understand?
In terms of eye colour, don’t both parents have to have a non-brown gene (ie blue/green/grey/hazel) to get non-brown eyes? Because Brown is dominant, so Brown + non-brown (Bb) always = B?
So if MJ’s child looks “white” - maybe there is a non-brown/white gene somewhere in his family, and this is the first time it has expressed itself. Like a throwback?
This is incorrect. Blue eyes are recessive. A brown eyed person can carry a recessive blue eyed gene. Someone who shows the recessive trait of blue eyes must not have an overriding gene. Two blue eyed people could not produce a brown eyed offspring but two brown eyed people could produce blue eyed offspring if they both pass a recessive blue eyed gene.
Paddeye, what you’re saying is correct, but I’m not sure how it contradicts what istara said. A brown gene plus a non-brown gene will result in the brown trait being expressed, and it’s possible that there are non-brown genes in MJ’s family which are only now being expressed.
Actually, there are a lot more genes that determine eye color, so you can’t figure it as a simple cross. I know several people whose parents are both blue-eyed, but have brown eyes themselves - it’s entirely possible.
That being said, does anyone remember seeing photos of Prince as a baby in Life magazine? (I found one here: http://www.life.com/Life/pictday/971121.html) He had dark hair and an olive complexion, and looked to me like he had Mediterranean ancestry (he definitely did not look half-black).
My wife and I both have blue eyes. I’ll share the empirical evidence when it arrives…
Of interest:
“If a person has a brown allele on chromosome 15 and all other alleles are blue or green the person will have brown eyes. If there is a green allele on chromosome 19 and the rest of the alleles are blue, eye color will be green. Blue eyes will occur only if all four alleles are for blue eyes. This model explains the inheritance of blue, brown and green eyes but cannot account for gray, hazel or multiple shades of brown, blue, green and gray eyes. It cannot explain how two blue-eyed parents can produce a brown-eyed child or how eye color can change over time. This suggests that there are other genes, yet to be discovered, that determine eye color or that modify the expression of the known eye color genes.”