Kari?
Was Kari supposed to be adopted? The daughter of the dad's former mistress? Did I miss the part where they explained this random biracial child in the family?
shareI think we were just expected to believe Kari just happened to be lighter with curlier hair than the rest of her family, which does happen. Young Kari was more believable than older Kari, but I Think that's because I KNOW that her actress is biracial. However, maybe someone in her family was white or nonblack the generation before or the one before that, and it finally showed up, which can happen. Genetics are weird like that.
It threw me off too at first, but it can be explained that way - since no one alluded to Kari being from a different father or mother. For example, I'm black and my hair is more loosely coiled than either of my parents because my great grandfather happened to be Native American.
Yes, it certainly happens!
My mother looks like Tessa, just with slightly more European facial features and much paler skin. Her siblings, however, are all brown and chocolate-skinned with very tightly coiled hair, just like her own mother. The several kids of her siblings, however, have blue eyes, blonde hair, and yellow skin. This might be because the great grandfather of their own father was mulatto, though -- so she resembles him. Meanwhile, I resemble my Creole great grandmother while her own daughter and my own father do not. Phenotypes can totally be a roll of dice.