200 African-American women: Eye colour distribution, skin types, phenotype and genetic data

[The Blade]

This is a survey I conducted some time ago but publish now. I cannot really tell you if I will do a male equivalent of it (I may or I may not). In any case, if I decide to it won't be in the near future. For obvious reasons hair colour isn't an element of it. Instead it includes skin tone pigmentation - the basis for it is the Fitzpatrick scale but I simplified things a little counting some tones as intermediate (I find this more realistic in the specific case). In general I just give you the info in the form of ''blue eyes'', ''brown eyes'' and so on and so forth. This time I provide you with the absolutely exact data for each eye colour (as listed by numbers). Survey consists of 185 rappers (some of the names you'll see in the respective links actually correspond to entire rap formations, not just to one person) and 15 actresses. I also add detailed data about each Sub-Saharan African type's frequency and some data about non-SSA admixture involved in a quite fair share of modern African-Americans' appearance and compare it to official genetic data.

You can read about the Fitzpatrick scale here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitzpatrick_scale


Above you see the Martin-Schultz scale. Colours 1-8 I count as light.
The Martin-Schultz scale includes:
1-2 : blue iris (1a, 1b, 1c, 2a : light blue iris - 2b : darker blue iris)
3 : blue-gray iris
4 : gray iris (4a, 4b)
5 : blue-gray iris with yellow/brown spots
6 : gray-green iris with yellow/brown spots
7 : green iris
8 : green iris with yellow/brown spots
9-10-11 : light-brown and hazel iris
12-13 : medium brown iris
14-15-16 : dark-brown and black iris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin...3Schultz_scale

Links I used:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...female_rappers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...ican_actresses

Sample info
A good number of African-Americans display certain white admixture, with a minority showing Native American influences, too. In addition to this some have recent admixture from regions such as Central America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, etc. I skipped Acquanetta (R.I.P.), as there was no clear info of her roots:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acquanetta

Results
Eye colour distribution:
Nr. 3 – 4 (2%)
Nr. 4b – 2 (1%)
Nr. 5 – 1 (0,5%)
Nr. 6 – 5 (2,5%)
Nr. 7 – 5 (2,5%)
Nr. 8 – 5 (2,5%)
Nr. 9 – 6 (3%)
Nr. 10 – 1 (0,5%)
Nr. 11 – 1 (0,5%)
Nr. 12 – 5 (2,5%)
Nr. 13 – 20 (10%)
Nr. 14 – 80 (40%)
Nr. 15 – 50 (25%)
Nr. 16 – 15 (7,5%)
Colours 1 and 2, as listed by the Martin-Schultz scale, weren't present among people in my survey. This doesn't come to say they are non-existent among African-Americans with stronger Euro input; just that there was no such case in my statistics. Light eyes (3-8 combined) account to 11% of African-American women in this study of mine. Hazel ones (9 and 10) make 3,5% of the total. Various shades of brown and black eyes form the vast majority - 85,5% (0,5% for light brown shades; 12,5% for medium brown irises; 65% for dark brown eyes and 7,5% for black ones). Nicki Minaj who is an Afro-Trinidadian/Indo-Trinidadian mix (I classified her as Guinesid/Gracile Indid blend) wears light-coloured lenses at times but is naturally dark-eyed.

Skin tones distribution:
2 – 1 (0,5%)
2,5 – 3 (1,5%)
3 – 4 (2%)
3,5 – 11 (5,5%)
4 – 36 (18%)
4,5 – 74 (37%)
5 – 59 (29,5%)
5,5 – 6 (3%)
6 – 6 (3%)
No one belonged to skin type I. Nevertheless, the average pigmentation is half a shade to shade and a half fairer than the Sub-Saharan African approximate. The more Euro/East Asian influenced types were even lighter in certain cases.

Sub-Saharan African phenotypical traits present in sample (usually these were the main elements) and number of people displaying them (of course, some people have more than one SSA type involved in their look):
Guinesid – 107 (53,5%)
Sudanid – 53 (26,5%); 8 of them Senegalids (4% of the total and 15,09% of Sudanids)
Congolesid – 2 (1%)
West Congolesid – 19 (9,5%)
Guineo-Cameroonian – 13 (6,5%)
Mundu Mangbeto – 2 (1%)
Mountain Dama – 1 (0,5%)
Ethiopid – 27 (13,5%)
Omotic Ethiopid – 1 (0,5%)

The more or less recent Europoid admixture accounted to 146 phenotypical elements in the total mix. Of them 117 (80,14%) expressed mainly Northern and Northwestern European character (in the form of Nordocromagnid, Corded, Hallstatt, Phalian, Brunn and Borreby addition to the main SSA factor). Other Euro components present in African-Americans include Atlanto-Med, Atlantid, Transmediterranid, Alpinid, Dinarid, East Cromagnid and Gracile Med. However, Europoid admixture in the majority of cases accounts to what is perceivable by the eyes as between 15-35%. Few women approach a mulatta look and just 2-3 in the total sample look as if they could be about 75% European genetically.

Furthermore, Amerindian influence is worth to be noted even if it's of lower importance. 12 women (6%) display such admixture (Silvid, Pueblid, Andid, etc.). South Asian component is restricted to Minaj I already mentioned and 2 women display other Asian admixture (North Sinid and Palaungid respectively).

Additional statistics dealing with racial mix:
Phenotypes perceivable as fully/very strongly Sub-Saharan African – 47 (23,5%); of them 2 Ethiopids partly linked to Caucasoids (1%); 45 (22,5%) fully/very pronouncedly Negroid looking
Sub-Saharan African phenotypes mixed to a various degree with European ones – 138 (69%)
Sub-Saharan African phenotypes mixed to a various degree with Amerindian ones – 6 (3%)
Sub-Saharan African phenotypes mixed to a various degree with both European and Amerindian ones – 6 (3%)
Sub-Saharan African phenotypes mixed with East Asian ones – 2 (1%)
Sub-Saharan African phenotypes mixed with South Asian ones – 1 (0,5%)

Types partly influenced by European ones account to 144 women (72%), by Amerindians - to 12 (6%).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa...icans#Genetics
Link above gives you info about the genetics of African-American people. Anyway, I'll quote:
''Genome-wide studies
Recent surveys of African Americans using a genetic testing service have found varied ancestries which show different tendencies by region and sex of ancestors. These studies found that on average, African Americans have 73.2–82.1% West African, 16.7%–24% European, and 0.8–1.2% Native American genetic ancestry, with large variation between individuals.
Genetics websites themselves have reported similar ranges, with some finding 1 or 2 percent Native American ancestry and Ancestry.com reporting an outlying percentage of European ancestry among African Americans, 29%.
According to a genome-wide study by Bryc et al. (2009), the mixed ancestry of African Americans in varying ratios came about as the result of sexual contact between West/Central Africans (more frequently females) and Europeans (more frequently males). Consequently, the 365 African Americans in their sample have a genome-wide average of 78.1% West African ancestry and 18.5% European ancestry, with large variation among individuals (ranging from 99% to 1% West African ancestry). The West African ancestral component in African Americans is most similar to that in present-day speakers from the non-Bantu branches of the Niger-Congo (Niger-Kordofanian) family.

Correspondingly, Montinaro et al. (2014) observed that around 50% of the overall ancestry of African Americans traces back to the Niger-Congo-speaking Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin, reflecting the centrality of this West African region in the Atlantic Slave Trade. The next most frequent ancestral component found among African Americans was derived from Great Britain, in keeping with historical records. It constitutes a little over 10% of their overall ancestry, and is most similar to the Northwest European ancestral component also carried by Barbadians. Zakharaia et al. (2009) found a similar proportion of Yoruba associated ancestry in their African-American samples, with a minority also drawn from Mandenka and Bantu populations. Additionally, the researchers observed an average European ancestry of 21.9%, again with significant variation between individuals. Bryc et al. (2009) note that populations from other parts of the continent may also constitute adequate proxies for the ancestors of some African-American individuals; namely, ancestral populations from Guinea Bissau, Senegal and Sierra Leone in West Africa and Angola in Southern Africa.

Altogether, genetic studies suggest that African Americans are a multiracial people. According to DNA analysis led in 2006 by Penn State geneticist Mark D. Shriver, around 58 percent of African Americans have at least 12.5% European ancestry (equivalent to one European great-grandparent and his/her forebears), 19.6 percent of African Americans have at least 25% European ancestry (equivalent to one European grandparent and his/her forebears), and 1 percent of African Americans have at least 50% European ancestry (equivalent to one European parent and his/her forebears). According to Shriver, around 5 percent of African Americans also have at least 12.5% Native American ancestry (equivalent to one Native American great-grandparent and his/her forebears). Research suggests that Native American ancestry among people who identify as African American is a result of relationships that occurred soon after slave ships arrived in the American colonies, and European ancestry is of more recent origin, often from the decades before the Civil War.''
As you can see from the underlined part, 78,6% of African-American people have a portion of white ancestry ranging from 12,5% to much higher results - not extremely different from the 72% I saw as Europoid admixed in my survey.
5% having at least 12,5% Native American isn't far from the 6% in my survey who showed such.

''Y-DNA
Africans bearing the E-V38 (E1b1a) likely traversed across the Sahara, from east to west, approximately 19,000 years ago. E-M2 (E1b1a1) likely originated in West Africa or Central Africa. According to a Y-DNA study by Sims et al. (2007), the majority (≈60%) of African Americans belong to various subclades of the E-M2 (E1b1a1, formerly E3a) paternal haplogroup. This is the most common genetic paternal lineage found today among West/Central African males, and is also a signature of the historical Bantu migrations. The next most frequent Y-DNA haplogroup observed among African Americans is the R1b clade, which around 15% of African Americans carry. This lineage is most common today among Northwestern European males. The remaining African Americans mainly belong to the paternal haplogroup I (≈7%), which is also frequent in Northwestern Europe.

mtDNA
According to an mtDNA study by Salas et al. (2005), the maternal lineages of African Americans are most similar to haplogroups that are today especially common in West Africa (>55%), followed closely by West-Central Africa and Southwestern Africa (<41%). The characteristic West African haplogroups L1b, L2b,c,d, and L3b,d and West-Central African haplogroups L1c and L3e in particular occur at high frequencies among African Americans. As with the paternal DNA of African Americans, contributions from other parts of the continent to their maternal gene pool are insignificant.''

[Übermensch]

I think african americans are mostly skin type 6.

[Supercomputer]

I remember one study from some black African country (forgot which) on eye colour and results were 53% dark brown, 44% medium brown and 3% light brown. None of them had hazel or light eyes, so in African Americans it's mostly due to White admixture.

[Creoda]

I remember one study from some black African country (forgot which) on eye colour and results were 53% dark brown, 44% medium brown and 3% light brown. None of them had hazel or light eyes, so in African Americans it's mostly due to White admixture.

Another thing they should be grateful for. The best looking black women are those with lighter eyes.

[The Blade]

I remember one study from some black African country (forgot which) on eye colour and results were 53% dark brown, 44% medium brown and 3% light brown. None of them had hazel or light eyes, so in African Americans it's mostly due to White admixture.

Well, of course it is. One needs to be blind to oppose this claim.

[Avicenna]

Another thing they should be grateful for. The best looking black women are those with lighter eyes.

Not necessarily.

[Avicenna]

Well, of course it is. One needs to be blind to oppose this claim.

Do you think 11% is a bit too high though? The only "African Americans " who I would deem to likely have some sort of mixed /light eyes would be one with a Caucasian parent . Most African Americans have distant euro ancestry .

[The Blade]

Do you think 11% is a bit too high though? The only "African Americans " who I would deem to likely have some sort of mixed /light eyes would be one with a Caucasian parent . Most African Americans have distant euro ancestry .

Not too high and the way genetic combinations affect phenotype is more complex than that.

[Tooting Carmen]

African-Americans are generally darker and less Caucasoid than Afro-Latinos but lighter and more Caucasoid than African-Caribbeans.

[Lucas]

No data on hair? I know person who is half Ugandan and has brown hair, not dark brown but brown. So it is possible for them to have other than black colors.