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They say that Mexican isn't a race. I know, I get tired of hearing it though. Why? Because typically when someone looks like George Lopez or someone that looks Mexican, we can tell that they are hispanic. So they must all have some common race. I know that they say being Mexican isn't an ethnicity, but a nationality. I get it... But where do most of them come from? I don't like it when people try to correct your words when they know what you mean.
I believe they originated in the Asia, possibly in Afghanistan. There was a PBS show on years ago that said the DNA was traced back to people from Siberia who crossed the Bering Strait and slowly populated North America, Central America and South America.
Most Mexicans ethnically are descended of a variety of ethnic roots including European, indigenous American, and African. Some also have recent Asian ancestry. European ancestry can include the Iberian peninsula and other areas of Europe, especially those with German roots - many Germans moved to Mexico.
I'll note, I'm a black American. I consider myself and my family to be "from" America. I have American ancestry going back to the 1600s in this country so to me we are "from" America.
However, deeper ethnic roots go to various parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and indigenous American.
Most Mexicans are similarly "mixed" and aren't "from" one particular continent/area except Mexico.
They say that Mexican isn't a race. I know, I get tired of hearing it though. Why? Because typically when someone looks like George Lopez or someone that looks Mexican, we can tell that they are hispanic. So they must all have some common race. I know that they say being Mexican isn't an ethnicity, but a nationality. I get it... But where do most of them come from? I don't like it when people try to correct your words when they know what you mean.
I think the trouble people are having answering your question is that there are a lot of Mexicans who are more indigenous than others, and many who are none at all. There are studies which have found averages (below) for Mexico- but keep in mind, it doesn't necessarily mean all Mexicans are, for example, around 52% European and 45% Amerindian. Many might be 100% European (or close to it), many might be none at all (or close to it), and so it averages out to about 50/50, but that doesn't mean most Mexicans are around 50/50.
"An autosomal DNA study by the American Journal of Human Genetics estimated that the average admixture of Mexicans is approximately 52% European, 45% Amerindian, and 4% African."
"Another autosomal study [...] found Mexico to be 50.1% Native American and 5.6% African" (so 44.3% European).
"A study by Mexico's National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN) reported that mestizo Mexicans are 58.96% European, 35.05% "Asian" (primarily Amerindian) and 5.03 percent African".
Among those who have European backgrounds, they are primarily of Spanish descent, which is hardly surprising since they speak Spanish, were originally conquered by Spain, and after gaining their independence, did not see massive amounts of immigration from other parts of Europe. Here's info on other immigrant groups in Mexico though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigr...oups_in_Mexico
I believe they originated in the Asia, possibly in Afghanistan. There was a PBS show on years ago that said the DNA was traced back to people from Siberia who crossed the Bering Strait and slowly populated North America, Central America and South America.
Asia Yes -- mostly eastern Asia. Afghanistan No (have you looked at a map lately?)
The entire Americas -- North, Central and South -- consist of a variety of aboriginal tribal groups who were later mixed with an influx of Europeans.
For Central and South America, these were almost entirely French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, with Germans and Japanese following in the post-WW II era.
For North America, mainly British, Dutch and Germans from the more than 100 principalities, duchies and city-states, with later migrations of Irish and Scandinavians, another wave of Germans following the unification of Germany with the expansion of Prussia, a wave of Italians following the unification of Italy, Chinese, and then Eastern Europeans in the interwar period.
There are 12 Y-Haplogroups among aboriginal groups. It might be possible for one Y-Haplogroup to emerge, but not 11 in that short of a time frame.
The Inuit and others came by boat, not via the so-called "land bridge."
There's a site in the Chilean desert (northern Chile) that is dated to 32,000 BCE, and the artifacts suggest a Polynesian-Micronesian-Melanesian origin.
The oldest skeleton is that of a Negroid woman found in a cave in Brasil that dates to 25,000 BCE. So far, they've been unable to extract DNA, so it's unknown if she is of African origin or Melanesian origin (the Melanesian peoples migrated about the same time as the Australian Aborigines to New Guinea, the Solomons, and other island groups in the area).
So, the entire Americas consists of aboriginal peoples, plus Europeans, and the descendants of slaves, and then a mix of those peoples.
"Mestizo" Hispanics have European and American Indian ancestry, usually - sometimes with some African ancestry. The frequency of these backgrounds varies accordingly with the country we're talking about, so Cuba for example has a lot of people who have a lot of African ancestry, and far fewer Mexicans have African ancestry. Both Cuba and Mexico are former Spanish colonies, so people from those countries are generally called Hispanics, whatever their own ancestry; whether their skin is very dark brown, pale white, or anything in between.
Hispanic is not a race.
As far as the basic question, all Mexicans come from Mexico. "Mexican-Americans" might have been born in the USA with ancestors who immigrated from Mexico, or they might have immigrated to the USA and now regard themselves as "Americans".
"Mexican" is not a race, it is a nationality, but most the vast majority of Mexicans are of one specific race or phenotype however you want you to put, which is mestizo. Those 2 concepts aren't mutually exclusive.
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