Along the same lines as some recent posts about Black-White phenotypical convergence in the US towards more progressive phenotypes and away from more archaic ones, here is an older post.
Especially interesting is that while White Americans have been selecting for progressive phenotypes since colonial times (1750), Black Americans have only been selecting for more progressive phenotypes after the First Liberation in 1865 from the late 1800’s on. Before Liberation, there was apparently no selection among slaves for progressive phenotypes.
Some things may have happened. Some White genes clearly went into the Black population after Liberation. Also probably Black men and women were more free to choose their partners than before.
Black men preferentially select towards women who are ligthter skinned, with more progressive phenotypes. Quite a few light skinned Black women have a fair amount of White in them. Others may simply be more naturally phenotypically progressive.
At the same time, Black women may have become more selective.
A few things may be happening.
Hypergamy may have been going on a lot longer in the Black community than in the White community. A few Black Alphas may be cleaning up with the women and getting way more than their fair share. Alphas are often very good looking men. Therefore, greater hypergamy may drive more progressive phenotypes by women preferentially selecting for the best looking men.
Also Black men with more progressive phenotypes and/or a certain amount of White in them seem to do better in society. Studies show that light-skinned Black men have higher IQ’s than darker skinned men. After Liberation, a Black middle class formed even amidst segregation. Black professionals, often men, were able to make high incomes servicing the Black population. These men were able to acquire more money and resources, which were scarce in segregated Black communities.
Black women may have preferentially selected for more intelligent, light-skinned, progressive and successful Black men due once again to hypergamy where women preferentially select for more successful men. In this case, they are not selecting for the phenotype per se, but they are only selecting for the success and money which the phenotype happened to come along with as a package.
Here.
Objectivity writes:
All over the world brain size and height increased over the 20th century presumably because of nutrition. It’s hard to argue blacks in the U.S. were a special case caused by genetics, though genes may have played a small role (heterosis).
I wrote a post which referenced a paper written by a woman who had access to many skulls. White and Black skulls both increased dramatically in size and moved towards a more progressive phenotype over the past 250 years. A move towards a more progressive phenotype could not have been caused by nutrition. Both Whites and Blacks have been selecting for more progressive phenotypes over the past 250 years in the US. As more progressive phenotypes tend to have higher IQ’s the result was an increase in IQ’s.
Blacks and Whites now look more like each other than they look like their Colonial ancestors. A modern Black looks more like a modern White person than they resemble their Black ancestor from 1750. A modern White looks more like a modern Black person than they look like their White ancestor from Colonial America.
According to the author, while some of the changes were due to environment, most of them were due to genetics (selection).
What we are creating here in the US is sort of a whole new race via convergent evolution of the White and Black types. This is also good evidence of eugenic breeding over the past 250 years. In Blacks, eugenic changes only occurred after the late 1800’s and the decline of slavery.
This maybe related to the rise of love marriage and decline of arranged marriage. Also rising wealth allowed females to select for wealthier males, who may have also been more intelligent and had more progressive phenotypes. Decline of arranged marriage allowed males to select more for progressive types in females (in Blacks these women may have had higher IQ’s), as more progressive features in females are seen as more beautiful.
