Are You a Black Blonde or a Blonde Black?
I stared at him, absolutely stunned. "Ehm, are you sure you've got the right file there?" I said. "Oh yes, absolutely" he replied. "Have you actually looked at me then?" I said. He smiled. Yes, he had looked at me. I am blond, and although I have a healthy tan, nobody thinks I am Oprah's twin sister. I truly thought that he was out of his mind. I can trace my family back from both sides, for centuries. And they are all white-skinned.
"How can you tell?" I asked him. In those days D.N.A testing was still in its infancy if it existed at all. This man had only looked at me, and spend an hour looking around in my mouth.
"You have dark spots on your gums, that's how I can tell, and as a little hobby of mine I have done research on this". He smiled as I thought of Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder and Lionel Richie. Yes, this explained why I like Soul music so much. If I only had the voice to go with my "blackness"!
So at least one of my forefathers or mothers must have been from somewhere else! And although that could well have happened centuries ago, it is still in my genetic make-up! I was intrigued.
All dark-skinned people have these pigmented areas, related to Melanin in their gums.
Before you rush over to the mirror to check if you are also a "blond black person", this pigmentation is not to be confused with certain Medical conditions like:
-Amalgam black stains or Black tattoo.
-Small black moles (Naevi) which are usually harmless.
-Melanomas, which can be very malignant. They are rarely found in the mouth, but grow rapidly.
-Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome, in which case you also have cramps in belly, newborns have also dark freckles on and around the lips, clubbed fingers and other
symptoms.
-Lentigo Senilis, also known as "liver spots" or "age spots". These usually appear on the outside skin, like hands and face.
If you are worried that the spots or discoloration on your gums might be something serious like a disease, just ask your Dentist.
As for everybody else, who might discover these spots: You too have a rich heritage of which you knew nothing about.
Published by MJ
I never knew I could write until I joined AC. I paint, I write, love animals and ironing. (no not the last one but it looked better). View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentVery interesting article........never thought of it in this light. thanks for another wonderful read
Very very very cool article. The best I have read on a long time! 5 stars from me!
great article. interesting facts.
"Dark skinned" in this article, also means people from the Mediterranian for example, who have an olive skin,not just African Americans.
My dad was a dark skinned Jew--there are no African-American ancestry whatsoever on his side. However there are dark skinned Jews from Israel and other parts of the world. Being "black' or "dark skinned" is not solely limited to folks who are African American. My best friend in fact, is part Egyptian and she and her father are dark, but neither per se are black. And yes, I know Egypt is in Africa :P
You are right about this variation of the gingival tissues. It gets difficult to make dentures for the people with such pigmentations. The pink acrylic area looks too pink. Therefore, we usually use the shade "MAHARRY"............yes, just in case if you haven't guessed yet....I am a dentist.
Wow, this is very interesting. Unfortunate we cannot trace it back though!
nonetheless this is quite fascinating...we have quite a lot of "gaps" in our family history, so i wouldn't be surprised at all to hear something like!
I would like to make a comment here, which should have been in the article. Having pigment on gums is not conclusive proof that you have dark-skinned forefathers somewhere; this can only be proven in DNA testing, which was not available at the time my Dentist told me. The article is based on what HE thought at the time(30 years ago); which is no scientific proof.
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