The World Needs More Ninjas

Sometimes you just learn something that shakes your entire concept of reality. Last night, someone was telling us about a kid she went to college with who was black but had two white parents. After the obligatory “milkman’s baby jokes”, we decided to look it up. According to genetics experts, this isn’t unheard of.

Can white parents have a black baby? Even if the grandparents are white too?

Tough question to answer but here’s my best shot. It certainly seems possible for two white people to have a black baby even if the baby’s grandparents appear white as well. Even though the genetics behind all of this are really poorly understood, there are lots of stories where white parents have black babies.

Here’s a story of a black lady born to white parents during South Africa’s apartheid.

Nature had played a trick. Abraham and Sannie Laing were white, their parents, grandparents and great grandparents were white, yet their daughter was dark. By a biological quirk, the pigment of an unknown black ancestor had lain dormant for generations and manifested in Sandra.

I honestly had no clue this was possible. Amazing! Who says Friday night activities aren’t educational.