Can White Parents Make Black Children?

The other day I was asked if white parents can produce black children. I though it was possible, but could not say for sure, until I looked into it. The answer is yes, but like black parents producing 'white' children, it is rare, but further proof that even small amounts of a different ethnicity can produce offspring that appear very different than their parents.

Perhaps the most famous example, written as a book entitled "When I Was White", was of white South African/Afrikaner, apartheid-era, parents who bore a 'colored'/black child, Sandra Laing. The long-odds and geographic location created a tragic circumstance for Sandra and her family, with a legacy that continues to this day. (here)

The technical reasons on how this occurs is pretty simple. Each parent carries a combination of genes whose phenotype (expression) is dominant toward one ethnic group, while even a small number of genes are also resident, but without expression. At conception, the 'minority' expression of the genes may combine in such a way to have the minority ethnicity to 'poke through' and express itself in a one-in-a-million scenario. In the case of Sandra Laing, she is every bit the offspring of her parents, including her wrapping. She simply shows something that is unseen in her parent's outward appearance - that is a very small amount of recent generational black heritage.

James C. Collier

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