There's a common misconception that only certain people can have light-colored eyes or specific hair textures naturally. For those on the receiving end of these assumptions, it can be exhausting and frustrating to constantly justify their features.
Cheryl Neufville has been facing this kind of scrutiny since the day her daughter was born—all because her dark-skinned Black baby has striking crystal-blue eyes. Tired of the accusations and disbelief, Neufville took to social media to set the record straight.
In her video, she explains that the moment her daughter was born, doctors wanted to check her for cataracts due to her unusual eye color. But the real frustration has come from strangers who refuse to believe her daughter's blue eyes are natural.
Some have accused Neufville of editing photos, while others claim she puts colored contacts in her toddler’s eyes—a nearly impossible task given how squirmy little ones can be. Even her husband, who passed down the trait, has been accused of faking his own eye color.
Instead of letting the negativity get to her, Neufville decided to educate people. She shares family photos from her husband’s side, showing generations of relatives with the same striking blue eyes—going back at least seven generations.
“Even with all this proof, there will still be people who believe what they want,” she says. “But I just want to make one thing clear: The idea that certain features only belong to certain groups is extremely damaging and harmful to families like mine.”
Shockingly, Neufville reveals that some people have even tried to “slap” her baby awake to see if her eye color changes. She ends her message with a powerful reminder: Just because you haven’t seen something before doesn’t mean it isn’t real.