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Well the term 'most' might be overstating it but 30% of 'White' America has anywhere between 2 and 20 percent African admixture. And this is just for the markers they test for (about 175). Also, since most Americans are decended from those who came after slavery ended, I would say this is a high percentage.
I am not so sure why you only specified 'white' and not 'black?' Are you suggesting the most 'black' people have white ancestors but most 'whites' do not have black ancestors? I realize that the % of blacks that have European markers is higher as well as the percentage of those markers.
I will concede th point of 'most' - I should have sad 'many' - nonetheless with this percentage of the 'white' population with these markers it is well worth the look particularly if any number of your ancestors go back before slavery ended.
I am not so sure why it 'wrecked' her -is she caught-up on being a particular 'race.'?
What percentage was she in Sub-saharan African and American Indian?
By no means does this mean that her father was not her father.
People need to read up on this type of testing and understand what is going on before being 'wrecked' by the results.
The test showed she was 8.8 something percent African and about 4.1% Native American.
She does have a noticeably darker complexion than her 6 brothers and sisters. There were black slaves in southern Italy so she could have some African via her mothers side but Her dad's Irish and French ancestors have immigrated here since 1900 so i dont see when they could mix with Native Americans. i can't see where else this Native American could come from. Her admixture is very, very common in countries like Puerto Rico and Cuba.
She is from Kenosha, Wisconsin, which at the time did not have any Cuban or Puerto Rican community whatsoever, but had a Mexican community. And there were also slaves in Mexico so maybe her real father is Mexican.
I am not so sure why you only specified 'white' and not 'black?' Are you suggesting the most 'black' people have white ancestors but most 'whites' do not have black ancestors?
Yes, I would say that there's a higher probability that most black people have white ancestors. This is because in the old days someone with any black blood was considered black and would not likely be able to marry a white person and have even whiter children. In my state VA it was illegal until the 60's for a white person to marry a person with any black blood.
Last edited by CAVA1990; 03-21-2010 at 04:06 PM..
03-21-2010, 04:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CAVA1990
Yes, I would say that there's a higher probability that most black people have white ancestors. This is because in the old days someone with any black blood was considered black and would not likely be able to marry a white person and have even whiter children.
Agreed! You should read the article I posted above - it does a great job of explaining this. Basically the reason why those who look white yet have African admixture, is surprising, is because the alleles that coded for skin tone were socially slected out of the white population while those who looked 'black' were socially selected to be part of the 'black' group no matter if there skin tone was light brown. So you have many (30%) 'white' Americans self identifying as 'white' because of their outward appearance yet having upwards of 20-25% African admixture. This is because their admixture is in relation to non phenotypic alleles (skin tone, ect.). African Americans have inherited many of the genes that code for dark skin tone and look African yet have a high (25-40%) admixture of those European alleles that do not code for appearance traits and therefore are classified as 'black.' This is what the author called a socially bimodal admixture unlike South America which is not as bimodal in its racial identity (appearance).
Anyway, I think if people understood this they would quite putting so much emphasis on racial appearances.
Anyway, I think if people understood this they would quite putting so much emphasis on racial appearances.
It's kind of ridiculous and makes about as much sense as differentiating people by hair or eye color, baldness, or color-blindness.
I'm ashamed to say though that if the Federal judiciary hadn't ruled them unconstitutional, inter-racial marriage and segregated schools would still be the law in Virginia.
Agreed! You should read the article I posted above - it does a great job of explaining this. Basically the reason why those who look white yet have African admixture, is surprising, is because the alleles that coded for skin tone were socially slected out of the white population while those who looked 'black' were socially selected to be part of the 'black' group no matter if there skin tone was light brown. So you have many (30%) 'white' Americans self identifying as 'white' because of their outward appearance yet having upwards of 20-25% African admixture. This is because their admixture is in relation to non phenotypic alleles (skin tone, ect.). African Americans have inherited many of the genes that code for dark skin tone and look African yet have a high (25-40%) admixture of those European alleles that do not code for appearance traits and therefore are classified as 'black.' This is what the author called a socially bimodal admixture unlike South America which is not as bimodal in its racial identity (appearance).
Anyway, I think if people understood this they would quite putting so much emphasis on racial appearances.
It is also fact in the North America that few, if any African- Americans lack European blood. What Americans view as "Black" features are already a diluted mix of African and European from hundreds of years of closeness.
Sometimes our fears are actually visions of our own selves.
The test showed she was 8.8 something percent African and about 4.1% Native American.
She does have a noticeably darker complexion than her 6 brothers and sisters. There were black slaves in southern Italy so she could have some African via her mothers side but Her dad's Irish and French ancestors have immigrated here since 1900 so i dont see when they could mix with Native Americans. i can't see where else this Native American could come from. Her admixture is very, very common in countries like Puerto Rico and Cuba.
She is from Kenosha, Wisconsin, which at the time did not have any Cuban or Puerto Rican community whatsoever, but had a Mexican community. And there were also slaves in Mexico so maybe her real father is Mexican.
Your poor mother. That would devastate me as well if I found out my father was not my real father through a test like that. Throughout my life, I have totally seen families where the eldest child looks absolutely nothing like the father, and I have questioned whether or not they are related biologically. A relative of mine went through a similar situation that your mother went through a few years back. The family already knew, kindof. He just looked far too different than his dad. For better or for worse, they already didn't like each other at all, so no hearts were broken too badly. But it did put his mother's honesty in great question.
On the topic at hand, I plan on doing one of these tests soon. I have always been curious as to whether or not I have any native american ancestry in me. The family says we do, but just about every white person in America says (or thinks) they have some native american blood in them. I plan on finding out for sure.
Last edited by CravingMountains; 04-03-2010 at 01:32 PM..
Your poor mother. That would devastate me as well if I found out my father was not my real father through a test like that. Throughout my life, I have totally seen families where the eldest child looks absolutely nothing like the father, and I have questioned whether or not they are related biologically. A relative of mine went through a similar situation that your mother went through a few years back. The family already knew, kindof. He just looked far too different than his dad. For better or for worse, they already didn't like each other at all, so no hearts were broken too badly. But it did put his mother's honesty in great question.
I think that sort of thing happened a lot more often in the pre-abortion days. Remember that it took a man to make the kid, and that man may have been married. It is just easier to 'catch' the woman, because she's biologically stuck with the kid. So husbands who may have scattered seed freely years back often got away scot free with no dna testing at the time. Taking the fact that men cheat much more than women, I would not be all that quick to impugn the woman's honesty.
What I take umbridge at is the man who agrees to rear the kid but makes its life a living hell. Almost any animal can create offspring but it is a finer side of our humanity that comes into play in trying to be a good dad throughout a child's life.
I'm not sure if I'd trust a DNA test. While it's true I don't know how DNA testing works for ancestry, I do know people have millions of past ancestors, supposedly going back to fish. So would you really trust a 'test' to give you a breakdown of your ancestry?
If you want to know your ancestry, look in a mirror. Then decide what people you identify with. That's your answer.
It's not even a question of appearance. Whatever group you feel more comfortable in, is your identity. We all know that "racial characteristics" a re subjective and very flawed.
I have seen many Brits or Irish with wide noses and super curly hair that have no connection to the American/African experience.
This test wrecked my mother. She grew up thinking she was 50% Italian, 25% Irish, and 25% French. The DNA test revealed significant amounts of West African and Indian blood so now she knows her half Irish half French father wasn't really her real father, who was probably Mexican or Puerto Rican.
So, do you think her father, either misrepresented who he was, OR, simply adopted her as his own? You say the test "wrecked" her. Is she ashamed of what she's learned?
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