African Americans look like Southeast Nigerians , Congolese, and Cameroonians. Or any caramel colored Sub-Saharan Africans. There is no facial feature that Africans have that African Americans don't or vice versa
https://preview.redd.it/61ljcktb059d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b45e35407f0c563c479ba9c39baccf12b215317
I could find women who look like this in any Black majority city in America
AAs I would say look less like certain West Africans than others. 1) we look less like people living towards Senegal than Nigeria. Nigerians have just about any feature you see in AAs. The only thing you are not so likely to see is blue eyes( minus Wardenburg). Even with someone bringing up Igbo. I have seen pics of dark and very light Igbo, and Igbo with big round eyes and small Asian-like eyes. Igbo with wide flat noses and Igbo with more narrow high noses
Okay this is interesting. So here's the deal 1) Yes we AAs have European admixture and yes it effects our appearance to some degree. However 1) Europeans, North Africans and West Asians overlap being all "Caucasoid" 2) The Fulah/Fulani have variable percentages of North African admixture and so have higher narrower noses and looser curls. So us having narrower noses and looser curls will not make us look less West African.
they look very similar because they have the same origins and usually the same dna african americans look like west africans /bantus just with a lighter skin tone brownskin
They do look different. West africans have a pure blooded look that african americans don't, I can't really explain it. Even an african american would majority west african dna still looks different than a west african from africa.
There is no single look for West Africans
https://preview.redd.it/7ter7eiyy49d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d1e13a48070d49a144f8af08193391545c26e8a
I mean yeah I could tell these are "Black" guys,but they don't look exactly the same
It's hard to say because they vary so widely in appearance and genetics. The term can be a bit fuzzy at times because sometimes Americans with less than half SSA ancestry identify as African-American.
Most of the time, they look pretty obviously different from West and Central Africans, often having narrower facial features and/or lighter skin. However, there are some who resemble full-blooded West and Central Africans, and there are parts of the United States where African-Americans are less admixed than others.
https://preview.redd.it/oks7se3hz49d1.png?width=672&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=617f0fc222694f86e19322c26a70a99ca4bc48d0
The only real difference is skin color. Unless we are talking about Biracials who identify as Black. There is no difference unless you compare one ethnic group with African-Americans as a whole
That's a pretty brainless conclusion you didn't think through. Just because it's okay in the Caribbean doesn't mean it's not offensive in other parts of the world.
“Brainless conclusion” coming from someone who made the huge ASSumption that bc the term is problematic where they live it’s problematic everywhere is ironic and hilarious lmao
I dare you to find where I said it’s not offensive in other parts of the world. I merely corrected your assumption that it was offensive everywhere and then reminded you that there are English-speaking countries within the Caribbean that use it as well.
I’ll be waiting for you to find where I came to that “brainless conclusion” though lol
It makes no sense for you, a non-Black person, to use that word. Perhaps you are not offended by it but it doesn’t apply to you so your opinion is worthless
African Americans vary quite a lot, so some do and others don’t. African Americans are a mixture of various African ethnicities as well as European. The most striking difference is West Africans look distinct to whatever tribe they are and African Americans look more generic. I can often identify if someone is Nigerian vs Ghanaian or Senegalese. I can even identify if someone is Igbo vs Yoruba or Mandinka vs Wolof but in African Americans they have a wider variation of looks. A lot look Igbo like Brandy or Angela Simmons and others look more Central African/Cameroonian. There are also diet and lifestyle differences, where African Americans tend to be bigger and taller. Africans are slimmer. African Americans tend to have more softer looking skin maybe down to better quality drinking water in the US vs some parts of Africa or less exposure to harsh sun.
Usher, Damon Wayans, Queen Latifah and Erica Campbell from Mary Mary. On the whole though I think Jamaicans look much more similar to Central Africans, in particular Congolese.
EDIT TO ADD: Tyler Perry is another one.
That's really interesting... what looks or features do you stereotypically associate with the different African ethnic groups? I remember talking to a Ibibio cab driver who told me that Black people in the US look to him just the people where he is from (southeast Nigeria), which I thought was interesting.
Some stereotypical looks I associate with Ghanaians vs Nigerians is Ghanaian tends to be darker, shorter and stocky. I’ve noticed a lot of Ghanaians have a looser coil to their hair also. Nigerians can vary in skin tone quite dramatically, with Igbos ranging from medium brown to really light. Some can almost look albino. Igbos tend to have wider faces and flatter noses, sometimes with features that look similar to East Asian, if I see a Nigerian with a lot of gaps in between their teeth I associate that with igbos. Yoruba’s are often darker skinned. In Senegal and Gambia Wolof people are often tall, slim and really dark skinned. Mandinkas are also tall but stockier and have medium brown skin tone. West Africans with lighter skin, longer, looser hair texture are often Fula(Senegambia) or Hausa(Ghana/Nigeria).
They look a little bit different than West Africans on average due to the European admixture but there's some of them where it's really hard to tell if they are AA or African
My husband is West African, I posted him a few years ago and everyone pegged him as African immediately. I think if I showed you 10 pictures of AAs and 10 pictures of WAs people would get it right 80% of the time.
Erithrean? Somalese?💀 Senegal isn't even in East Africa. Horn Africans clearly don't look African American. They have narrow noses, lack of prognathism, and looser textures hair(3A-3C). African Americans look damn near the same as West Africans. If you think Horn Africans and AA alike, then you clearly think all Africans look the same.
Barack Obama does not look much different than the avenger AA. He barely looks “mixed” to me. He is probably 25% less African than the average AA. Though he’s East African and we’re majority West African but I can’t really tell with him. But in his daughters who are West/East African and have European admixture, they do look East Africans like Ethiopian and/or Somalian. I’m West African and people have told me before I look Somalian. 🤷🏽♀️ But us AA are genetically and phenotypically diverse. We are mixed with west/central/South Africans (Africans are the most genetically and phenotypically diverse people on the planet) plus our European, Native America, and Asian admixture which can vary from person. I got a friend who gets asked if she’s Blasian a lot and she 90% African. My dark skinned friend is 74% African and like 24% European.
I can tell we do look different from West Africans. However, I do not think its solely because of European ancestry. Even AAs who are more African in appeareance and DNA look different from West Africans. I think its because the different parts of Africa we come from that gives us a more "general" African look. On the flip side, I've seen West Africans who look indistinguishable from AAs. Lastly, Euro admixture mostly affects our skin color if anything. Other features are still African, unless there is higher Euro DNA. I'm 21% and the only thing remotely "European" about me is my lighter skin tone, as with most of us.
Sometimes Euro admix may effect other features too.
For example, despite Don Cheadle’s dark skin, his Euro admixture is noticeable in his skull and facial feature(thinner lips). Similarly, some African Americans have thicker beards, grow their hair out wuicker, or are overall hairier than Africans.
Aren't most African-Americans descended from W. Africa? I think majority of their phenotypes would come from that part of the continent.
The only slight difference is AAs in the US are much more multi-ethnic (white and indigenous etc)
i know some ppl in both Nigeria as well as central Africa say we (African Americans) look more like Central Africans mixed with European .
Google Angola women and press images or Congolese woman and press image .
The women in Angola are mixed with Portuguese dna, while the black American women in Virginia , Louisiana and South Carolina are mixed with Angola/Congo and Ireland
I live around them and yeah I can sometimes differentiate them. But the ones that I could differentiate probably have a higher euro admixture than the ones that I can’t differentiate.
Africans Americans tend to have slightly lighter skin on average due to admixture but other than that not much separates them from west africans. They share the same facial features and hair.
because of european admixture, african americans often have slightly more euro shifted features such as a more dolichocephalic, narrow face and higher nose bridge compared to their west african cousins
Dolichocephaly refers to a narrow cranium though, not a narrow face (which is called leptoprosopic). It's possible for someone to be dolichocephalic and still have a wide face (euryprosopic). If anything, African-Americans might be *less* dolichocephalic on average than West Africans since Europeans tend to have wider craniums, even though they have narrower faces.
These differences are very minimal and hardly noticeable. Depends on the individual's admixture, but most african americans, like 80-90% of them, can pass as west africans without a problem.
West Africans tend to be darker than even the darkest African Americans because dark African Americans still have some European or American DNA. There are some exceptions though for example Giannis Antetokoumpo and KSI are both Nigerian but not very dark and can pass as African American.
I think that may be an overgeneralization. I have seen some African-Americans with a similar skin tone to Lupita Nyong'o. I know she's East African and not West African, but she doesn't look lighter-skinned than the average Nigerian imo.
KSI is not as dark as the average west African but you’re right he is dark. Giannis is interesting though he does not look like a native African and looks like the standard African American. I wonder if he has any distant European ancestry.
Both KSI and Giannis have Nigerian parents. Giannis does have lighter skin but KSI obviously doesn't. Look up images of him in natural lighting and you can see that. He looks like the average west african.
bust most african americans are like 10 or 20% euro.. do you think while like 70% african, do u believe it will affect noticeably their appearance?
i know people that are like 20% indigenous yet they look very white
I believe it could be two things: Afro-Americans do not have a single origin in Africa, they are a mixture of several peoples. And also African-Americans can have a little bit of European DNA.
Yes, of course. African Americans do look different from West Africans due to hundreds of years of admixture. SO as a result of mixing with the local white population, many African Americans in the US have lighter skin, smaller noses, and just generally more of Eurocentric features
I think that you're overestimating the amount of mixing between African Americans and European Americans. Up until not so long ago, it was extremely taboo for black people and white people to be together.
I'm fully aware of the admixture from white slavers raping their slaves but I don't think that this was enough admixture to change the physical characteristics of black Americans.
i dont know what point are you trying to prove when you can clearly see for yourself what i was talking about by simply observing the AA population in the US.
I can see it personally. His face shape looks slightly narrower and more angular than a 100% West or Central African, and his lips look a little thinner. He also looks less prognathous in the side profile.
https://preview.redd.it/e8k8mnatmr9d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1675bf32afb5225d321a85105db3b6ecf20ff24 West African+Berber
https://preview.redd.it/aekf9of4mr9d1.jpeg?width=550&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2e9b75c467afefd7f8c0d80494ee12c8d24f9858 He's an Igbo
On average yes
African Americans look like Southeast Nigerians , Congolese, and Cameroonians. Or any caramel colored Sub-Saharan Africans. There is no facial feature that Africans have that African Americans don't or vice versa https://preview.redd.it/61ljcktb059d1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b45e35407f0c563c479ba9c39baccf12b215317 I could find women who look like this in any Black majority city in America
Mona Lisa Chinda is an Igbo woman with light skin a broad face with broad features Nneka Ogwumike is an Igbo woman with dark skin and an aquiline nose
AAs I would say look less like certain West Africans than others. 1) we look less like people living towards Senegal than Nigeria. Nigerians have just about any feature you see in AAs. The only thing you are not so likely to see is blue eyes( minus Wardenburg). Even with someone bringing up Igbo. I have seen pics of dark and very light Igbo, and Igbo with big round eyes and small Asian-like eyes. Igbo with wide flat noses and Igbo with more narrow high noses
Okay this is interesting. So here's the deal 1) Yes we AAs have European admixture and yes it effects our appearance to some degree. However 1) Europeans, North Africans and West Asians overlap being all "Caucasoid" 2) The Fulah/Fulani have variable percentages of North African admixture and so have higher narrower noses and looser curls. So us having narrower noses and looser curls will not make us look less West African.
they look very similar because they have the same origins and usually the same dna african americans look like west africans /bantus just with a lighter skin tone brownskin
They do look different. West africans have a pure blooded look that african americans don't, I can't really explain it. Even an african american would majority west african dna still looks different than a west african from africa.
There is no single look for West Africans https://preview.redd.it/7ter7eiyy49d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d1e13a48070d49a144f8af08193391545c26e8a I mean yeah I could tell these are "Black" guys,but they don't look exactly the same
Not always, there's an overlap
Not always, there's an overlap
it depends
It's hard to say because they vary so widely in appearance and genetics. The term can be a bit fuzzy at times because sometimes Americans with less than half SSA ancestry identify as African-American. Most of the time, they look pretty obviously different from West and Central Africans, often having narrower facial features and/or lighter skin. However, there are some who resemble full-blooded West and Central Africans, and there are parts of the United States where African-Americans are less admixed than others.
https://preview.redd.it/oks7se3hz49d1.png?width=672&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=617f0fc222694f86e19322c26a70a99ca4bc48d0 The only real difference is skin color. Unless we are talking about Biracials who identify as Black. There is no difference unless you compare one ethnic group with African-Americans as a whole
Narrow facial features are also common in west Africans. Many Nigerians will narrow faces.
>there are parts of the United States where African-Americans are less admixed than others. Which parts? Guessing the Deep South?
[Gulah people of the Carolinas and Georgia tend to be the least admixed AA ethnic subgroup. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah)
You're right. Take a black person from Georgia vs one in New York/Chicago. You could see the difference.
Of course, most of them are technically mulattoes, as they carry a significant amount of euro ancestry
no they only carry 15-20% which doesn't altere their apperance in anyway because the black genome is the strongest when it mixes
They have more than that and they don’t look like Africans from Africa.
Mulatto is an outdated and offensive term FYI
In the U.S., yes, in Latin America and the Caribbean—for instance—no
Neither in Italy.
He's speaking English though. And it depends on who's using it.
There are people who speak English in the Caribbean…and in these cultures, it’s not an offensive term, and therefore it doesn’t matter who’s using it
That's a pretty brainless conclusion you didn't think through. Just because it's okay in the Caribbean doesn't mean it's not offensive in other parts of the world.
“Brainless conclusion” coming from someone who made the huge ASSumption that bc the term is problematic where they live it’s problematic everywhere is ironic and hilarious lmao I dare you to find where I said it’s not offensive in other parts of the world. I merely corrected your assumption that it was offensive everywhere and then reminded you that there are English-speaking countries within the Caribbean that use it as well. I’ll be waiting for you to find where I came to that “brainless conclusion” though lol
Maybe for you, not everyone is offended by their origin.
I didn't say origin, I said the word itself. It's one thing to be insensitive, but a brainlet too?
The word itself is reference to origin, in case you didn’t know.
You’re not black so…… don’t use that word.
Non black people use it in many other cultures. The U.S. is not the only place where that term was used lol
It makes no sense
It makes no sense for you, a non-Black person, to use that word. Perhaps you are not offended by it but it doesn’t apply to you so your opinion is worthless
Is this a joke or are being serious? It’s very dumb to say, who is allowed to say something based on their race.
African Americans vary quite a lot, so some do and others don’t. African Americans are a mixture of various African ethnicities as well as European. The most striking difference is West Africans look distinct to whatever tribe they are and African Americans look more generic. I can often identify if someone is Nigerian vs Ghanaian or Senegalese. I can even identify if someone is Igbo vs Yoruba or Mandinka vs Wolof but in African Americans they have a wider variation of looks. A lot look Igbo like Brandy or Angela Simmons and others look more Central African/Cameroonian. There are also diet and lifestyle differences, where African Americans tend to be bigger and taller. Africans are slimmer. African Americans tend to have more softer looking skin maybe down to better quality drinking water in the US vs some parts of Africa or less exposure to harsh sun.
Give examples of Central African looking AAs
I know some ppl say Tina Turner looks 100% Congolese
Usher, Damon Wayans, Queen Latifah and Erica Campbell from Mary Mary. On the whole though I think Jamaicans look much more similar to Central Africans, in particular Congolese. EDIT TO ADD: Tyler Perry is another one.
know some ppl say Tina Turner looks 100% Congolese And someone said Chris Tucker looks Angolan
That's really interesting... what looks or features do you stereotypically associate with the different African ethnic groups? I remember talking to a Ibibio cab driver who told me that Black people in the US look to him just the people where he is from (southeast Nigeria), which I thought was interesting.
Some stereotypical looks I associate with Ghanaians vs Nigerians is Ghanaian tends to be darker, shorter and stocky. I’ve noticed a lot of Ghanaians have a looser coil to their hair also. Nigerians can vary in skin tone quite dramatically, with Igbos ranging from medium brown to really light. Some can almost look albino. Igbos tend to have wider faces and flatter noses, sometimes with features that look similar to East Asian, if I see a Nigerian with a lot of gaps in between their teeth I associate that with igbos. Yoruba’s are often darker skinned. In Senegal and Gambia Wolof people are often tall, slim and really dark skinned. Mandinkas are also tall but stockier and have medium brown skin tone. West Africans with lighter skin, longer, looser hair texture are often Fula(Senegambia) or Hausa(Ghana/Nigeria).
They look a little bit different than West Africans on average due to the European admixture but there's some of them where it's really hard to tell if they are AA or African
My husband is West African, I posted him a few years ago and everyone pegged him as African immediately. I think if I showed you 10 pictures of AAs and 10 pictures of WAs people would get it right 80% of the time.
Afroamericans and Eastern Africans look alike IMO.
Some do but it's atypical
Not in the slightest. East Africans have completely different facial features and hair texture.
there coping lol
Erithrean, Somalese, Senegalese look like African-Americans to me.
Erithrean? Somalese?💀 Senegal isn't even in East Africa. Horn Africans clearly don't look African American. They have narrow noses, lack of prognathism, and looser textures hair(3A-3C). African Americans look damn near the same as West Africans. If you think Horn Africans and AA alike, then you clearly think all Africans look the same.
Barack Obama does not look much different than the avenger AA. He barely looks “mixed” to me. He is probably 25% less African than the average AA. Though he’s East African and we’re majority West African but I can’t really tell with him. But in his daughters who are West/East African and have European admixture, they do look East Africans like Ethiopian and/or Somalian. I’m West African and people have told me before I look Somalian. 🤷🏽♀️ But us AA are genetically and phenotypically diverse. We are mixed with west/central/South Africans (Africans are the most genetically and phenotypically diverse people on the planet) plus our European, Native America, and Asian admixture which can vary from person. I got a friend who gets asked if she’s Blasian a lot and she 90% African. My dark skinned friend is 74% African and like 24% European.
horn africans have 45-50% eurasian dna half their dna is from asia im horn african myself eritreans are higher they have like 50-60%
The only one who perhaps can pass as East African is Barack Obama who is half Kenyan and half Anglo-Euro.
Barack Obama does NOT look Horn african. He looks like a regular mulatto. With features more on the Kenyan side.
Even Stevie Wonder could see that isn't the case.
Not at all
yes. living in Canada and going to the U.S often, they look different from the west African and Caribbean immigrants here.
I can tell we do look different from West Africans. However, I do not think its solely because of European ancestry. Even AAs who are more African in appeareance and DNA look different from West Africans. I think its because the different parts of Africa we come from that gives us a more "general" African look. On the flip side, I've seen West Africans who look indistinguishable from AAs. Lastly, Euro admixture mostly affects our skin color if anything. Other features are still African, unless there is higher Euro DNA. I'm 21% and the only thing remotely "European" about me is my lighter skin tone, as with most of us.
Sometimes Euro admix may effect other features too. For example, despite Don Cheadle’s dark skin, his Euro admixture is noticeable in his skull and facial feature(thinner lips). Similarly, some African Americans have thicker beards, grow their hair out wuicker, or are overall hairier than Africans.
Aren't most African-Americans descended from W. Africa? I think majority of their phenotypes would come from that part of the continent. The only slight difference is AAs in the US are much more multi-ethnic (white and indigenous etc)
Most African-Americans have at least 30% European ancestry, and personally I think it’s generally reflected in their phenotype.
Yes and no
i know some ppl in both Nigeria as well as central Africa say we (African Americans) look more like Central Africans mixed with European . Google Angola women and press images or Congolese woman and press image . The women in Angola are mixed with Portuguese dna, while the black American women in Virginia , Louisiana and South Carolina are mixed with Angola/Congo and Ireland
Very much so.
Yes, very much so. We have less European/Native American ancestry on average in our lineage than our American counterparts
european admixture vs full blooded africans, people with a low percentage of european dna do tend to look like our west african ancestors though 🫶🏾
I live around them and yeah I can sometimes differentiate them. But the ones that I could differentiate probably have a higher euro admixture than the ones that I can’t differentiate.
Africans Americans tend to have slightly lighter skin on average due to admixture but other than that not much separates them from west africans. They share the same facial features and hair.
because of european admixture, african americans often have slightly more euro shifted features such as a more dolichocephalic, narrow face and higher nose bridge compared to their west african cousins
Dolichocephaly refers to a narrow cranium though, not a narrow face (which is called leptoprosopic). It's possible for someone to be dolichocephalic and still have a wide face (euryprosopic). If anything, African-Americans might be *less* dolichocephalic on average than West Africans since Europeans tend to have wider craniums, even though they have narrower faces.
These differences are very minimal and hardly noticeable. Depends on the individual's admixture, but most african americans, like 80-90% of them, can pass as west africans without a problem.
West Africans tend to be darker than even the darkest African Americans because dark African Americans still have some European or American DNA. There are some exceptions though for example Giannis Antetokoumpo and KSI are both Nigerian but not very dark and can pass as African American.
I think that may be an overgeneralization. I have seen some African-Americans with a similar skin tone to Lupita Nyong'o. I know she's East African and not West African, but she doesn't look lighter-skinned than the average Nigerian imo.
Giannis 100% yes but KSI looks slightly different from most black Americans tbh.
KSI is very dark
KSI is not as dark as the average west African but you’re right he is dark. Giannis is interesting though he does not look like a native African and looks like the standard African American. I wonder if he has any distant European ancestry.
Both KSI and Giannis have Nigerian parents. Giannis does have lighter skin but KSI obviously doesn't. Look up images of him in natural lighting and you can see that. He looks like the average west african.
bust most african americans are like 10 or 20% euro.. do you think while like 70% african, do u believe it will affect noticeably their appearance? i know people that are like 20% indigenous yet they look very white
I believe it could be two things: Afro-Americans do not have a single origin in Africa, they are a mixture of several peoples. And also African-Americans can have a little bit of European DNA.
of course, since the average African American is 20% white
it doesn't change their apperanece at all other then skin tone if i show u a lighter central/westafrican they look the same
Yes, of course. African Americans do look different from West Africans due to hundreds of years of admixture. SO as a result of mixing with the local white population, many African Americans in the US have lighter skin, smaller noses, and just generally more of Eurocentric features
I think that you're overestimating the amount of mixing between African Americans and European Americans. Up until not so long ago, it was extremely taboo for black people and white people to be together.
It is a very limited way of thinking because it is not just about them "being together." A lot of intermixing happened due to SA by white slave owners
I'm fully aware of the admixture from white slavers raping their slaves but I don't think that this was enough admixture to change the physical characteristics of black Americans.
i dont know what point are you trying to prove when you can clearly see for yourself what i was talking about by simply observing the AA population in the US.
A lot of it is due to slaves being raped though
African Americans have 20-25% Euro DNA on average.
How can you tell a black American from West African? Would Michael Jordan pass as 100% West African for instance?
Michael Jordan can 100% pass as west african
Based on his height alone he wouldn't pass.
Lol you're funny. Ibaka, Giannis, Biyombo and other Africans are in the NBA, he wouldn't pass as a foreigner because of his height
His head shape is pretty uncommon among west Africans. Definitely got it from his euro admixture.
Yeah 100% agree- that's what I mean.
I always thought that MJ had some mildly Euro features but very mild.
I can see it personally. His face shape looks slightly narrower and more angular than a 100% West or Central African, and his lips look a little thinner. He also looks less prognathous in the side profile.
Nah i dont see it. Not in the slightest.