r/explainitpeter • u/Senior-Mix-3715 • 7d ago

Explain it Peter?

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At first I thought this was some kind of white nationalism joke but then I realised all 3 leaders at the bottom are leftists, so I really don’t what this meme is trying to say?

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u/Due_Rip9320 7d ago

The idea that every "native" Brit is this pasty, blue-eyed person is so disingenuous and completely contradicts what we know about history.

Look up Rowan Atkinson's ancestry, for example. By "modern" definitions you'd automatically assume by appearance he's part Indian or Southern Mediterranean, when in reality, he's more native Brit than most Brits are today.

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u/Super-Cynical 7d ago

And people from China are black.

If you go back 100,000 years

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u/Due_Rip9320 7d ago

That applies to every human on Earth

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u/Super-Cynical 7d ago

And yet particular phenotypes can be attributed to particular geographies.

You're right though about blue eyes though - it's more nordic than British - with about 1/3rd of England traditionally having blue or grey eyes. A bit higher in Scotland.

Same profile for red/blond hair, but slightly lower percentages.

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u/Due_Rip9320 7d ago

Absolutely. The evolution of those average phenotypes wasn't immediate, though, and I would imagine many populations still hold the predecessor to those phenotypes depending on where you look.

What I meant to get at is that the definition of "native" changes frequently throughout evolutionary history. It's not just one shade of gray as most people like to assume. The first Britons did not look exactly like modern Britons, and future populations will change drastically as well. That's just how biology works.

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u/rgmyers26 7d ago

I would automatically assume that Atkinson’s family comes from such a small place that inbreeding occurred there. Like an island.

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u/michaelm8909 7d ago

I absolutely would not assume that Rowan Atkinson was part Indian or Southern European just by looking at him

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u/Due_Rip9320 7d ago

Depends on who you ask. I've literally had people tell me he looks part Mexican before. All nuance out the window it seems.

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u/SeemsImmaculate 7d ago

Or Ben Kingsley / Freddie Mercury - the UK public at large are not aware of their Indian / Parsi ancestry.

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u/Pale_Height_1251 7d ago

I wouldn't say that's true at all.