I have a new “Magic Negro” origins theory. Here it is:

European explorers around the time of Columbus noticed that everywhere they sailed they ran into people darker than themselves. They found it beneficial to have a very dark person amongst the crew to serve as some type of “icon” or archetypical intermediary between the Europeans and the natives they met?

Plus, it was important to have a good dancer/singer/musician… among the crew as those activities are very important among native people world wide.

Or look at it this way;

every group of people can produce lighter/paler versions of themselves because the mutation to albinism results from a loss of information. Making darker people is difficult or maybe impossible unless you start with dark people because you are not going to get new information from a random mutation.

When you see a really dark person for the first time; it might seem like magic?

Mathew Henson had a similar experience when the Eskimos first met him.