The Study of Racialism

Grasshoppa

Obviously of African decent, but would you assume any other recent influences?

Her name is Isha Sesay, and she's a CNN anchor of Sierra Leonean (sp?) descent. I just wanted to see if people would immediately see her as having a completely African phenotype. Some people on this site seem to have a narrow conception of SSA phenotypes. It seems like people are always sure of whether a darker skinned person of African descent has noticible non-African ancestry. Would these same people expect non-African ancestry in her as well?

Of course, I cannot be completely sure that neither of her parents have recent non-SSA ancestry, but seeing as they're both of Sierra Leonean descent, I would assume that they are relatively "pure" SSA's (though I hate using that word).

Also, I know that eyeballing is not a sure-fire way of determining a person's ancestry, but it can give hints.

pianoplayer111 · Mentor Joined: 16 May 2007 {Posts: 379 }

Simply by "eyeballing", she appears to be of mostly only African ancestry to me. She doesn't look racially mixed, IMO.

Of course, with her hair straightened like it is in the photo she does resemble a lot of Afro-Indian women in parts of the West Indies. Many dark-skinned black girls in places like Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Jamaica have East Indian ancestry...Isha looks somewhat like that in the photo. If her hair was in its natural state, I probably wouldn't say that.

Grasshoppa · Posted: Fri 09 May 2008 16:42 Post subject:

Yeah, she looks to be of mostly African ancestry. But with a bit of knowledge of admixture in the americas, I can't say I'd automatically think she was nearly of 100% SSA ancestry. Even though she looks predominantly of African ancestry, she doesn't look like what I think of when I hear the word "African." Then again, it might just be the straight hair, just as you've said.

This is probably why we should stay away from generalizations and eyeballing altogether. I think it causes us to narrow our ideas of what an *insert race here* should look like.

Bischoff · Mentor Joined: 20 Jan 2008 {Posts: 395 }

She doesn't look like a Mulata to me. She looks like she would be considered Black even by Brazilian/Latin American standards. To me her phenotype just does not scream recent European admixture the way somebody like Vanessa Williams does. I have seen some images of Nigerian women who look similar to her in phenotype.

onlyhuman77 · Posted: Sat 10 May 2008 15:43 Post subject:

I fail to understand why anyone would assume that someone has to have a high percentage of another race in their family ancestry because they have narrow facial features. I believe Geechee's have the highest SSA percentage in the States, but many of us have very narrow facial features, and we are very very dark. Tyrese Gibson and Tyrese Beckford (although he has admixture, there are africans with a similar look) would fit in perfectly with my Geechee family.

Grasshoppa · Posted: Sat 10 May 2008 16:15 Post subject:

You're right, but honestly I learned that kind of thinking. After reading some older posts, it seems that some posters claim to know if people of overwhelming African ancestry are "mixed" or not, and I think these claims are based on generalizations. People claiming that certain ethnic groups are mixed, which is true to an extent, but is it so hard to believe that these phenotypes are primarily caused by SSA genes? That these phenotypes are not only the result of mixtures, but also the result of location and population variation?

William · Posted: Sat 10 May 2008 20:30 Post subject:

I think many (American) folks don't know that sub-Saharan Africans are the most phenotypically and genetically diverse people on the planet, so they automatically assume that features they aren't used to seeing in African or African-descended populations are due to recent admixture. Adding to this, the fact that virtually all African-Americans are admixed with European and other genes further justifies these assumptions in their minds, which can incidentally be correct in some circumstances.

I recall on the first installment of African-American Lives, Gates interviewed the female African-American astronaut (whose name eludes me) and read her DNA results to her. She had a low percentage of East Asian admixture, and Gates immediately commented that it was visible in her face.

Some people have made claims that the Khoi-San of Africa must be mixed with all sorts of other populations, including East Asians, because this is visible in their features. What they don't realize, is they don't look the way they do because of admixture, but rather because they are relatively direct descendants of the aboriginal population that colonized the globe!

msmochachina · Regular User Joined: 03 Mar 2008 {Posts: 69 }

I can see some admixture in there. She looks Eastern European or Indian. Turkish or East Indian.

Bischoff · Mentor Joined: 20 Jan 2008 {Posts: 395 }

Turkish or Eastern European. Laughing

Must be an EXTREMELY TANNED Slav or Turk.

Grasshoppa · Posted: Mon 12 May 2008 02:38 Post subject: Re: She looks...

anonymouse · Wizard Joined: 09 Oct 2007 {Posts: 608 }