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They get along well, but it doesn't matter what race you are, it matters how normal you are. I'm Asian and get along with everyone as long as they're not crazy or had a totally sheltered upbringing. Most people I meet are normal.
"My DNA breaks down as follows: I’m 23% from Ghana, 17% from the British Isles, 15% from Cameroon, 12% Finnish, 11% Southern European, 7% Togo, 6% Benin, 5% Senegal and 4% Portuguese.
Now, I can’t wait to go to Ghana and Cameroon and Togo and Senegal — it’s a great opportunity to see why the customs resonate with you. I love to travel and I love to explore, and I have to admit that I was always jealous of people who knew their cultural background. Both my family and myself came out with light eyes, so obviously there is a recessive gene here. Not knowing what that was just made me very curious."
The above profile is Vanessa Williams profile. Again, just by looking at the test results you cannot know her nationality. She's a mix of various African and European groups that did not have to happen in the US.
A big problem with trying to classify African Americans is that people will randomly decide that because a big shipment of whatever ethnic group of Africans came to area X, that everyone in that area is automatically descended from that group. That isn't always the case . And when dealing with the European ancestries in people of color, people automatically decide if must be tied to the European colonial power. That isn't always the case as not all whites in Latin America were ever always Spanish or Portuguese, and not all whites in British America were always "English" And mind you the British always had a mixed of ethnic groups going on at home,
Well 65% of the slaves recorded as being shipped to North America were Senegambia/Guinea, Congo/Angola and from southeast Nigeria/Cameroon, in that order. Only 16% were from the Gold Coast (Ghana/Togo).
Slave masters acquired slaves the same way that you might buy a laptop. Brands mattered as each point of origin had associated with it specific stereotypes so when the ship landed the captain has in his manifest ex number of slaves loaded in the Bight of Benin, and Y number in the Bight of Biafra, and each slave was so branded, for identification. So while the records will not be 100% accurate it is good enough to get good estimates.
And indeed I have long suspected that many AAs have Senegambian/Guinea ancestry. One need only listen to AA music when compared to that from other parts of the Americas. More string and less drum, and a bluesy singing as opposed to vivacious and polyrhythmic chanting.
This is not to suggest that every AA will have their African ancestry mirroring this. But it does suggest, given that these ethnic/geographic based identities disappeared quickly its not likely that there will be much selectivity, based on this criteria, in determining who the mates would be. So I would expect their ancestries to roughly mirror this.
So your origins might not be typically AA, indeed I suspect more recent European ancestry than you might be aware of. 44% is a lot. Some might be connected to the slave trade and to early post slavery liaisons. I suspect that you descend from two parallel and completely unrelated ancestries that connected at some point not that long ago. There was not a substantial amount of contact between Finnish people and slaves. Which is not to say that some random Finn didn't show up on some plantation, but given that this would have been many generations ago, and its unlikely that there would have been subsequent contact with a Finn, I think that its some thing that has nothing to do with slavery.
If you still have older relatives alive quiz them. Contrary to popular belief there were more than a few loving relationships between blacks and whites in the post slave era, especially in back water regions where people were probably less worried about appearances. And clearly subsequent liaisons/marriages were between people who had significant Euro ancestry.
Also given that the modern borders are different from what they were in the pre colonial period, and that our ancestries are based on records, which indicate where the boarding cured, and not where some one might have been taken from, we cant say with certainly that we have ancestry in this or that specific African nation. Now I can say that you have ancestors who came from Ghana/Togo, Benin. SW Nigeria, and SE Nigeria/Cameroon, and from the Senegal/Mali/Gambia area.
They get along well, but it doesn't matter what race you are, it matters how normal you are. I'm Asian and get along with everyone as long as they're not crazy or had a totally sheltered upbringing. Most people I meet are normal.
Ethnicity and race are important social constructs and you are fooling yourself if you think that they don't matter. This is not to say that people from different groups might not get on with people from other groups. But clearly ethnicity and race in NYC are important determinants about who people socialize with, marry, and live among.
NYWriter I have been to Africa. Senegal, Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone. I don't think that there is enough specific African culture remaining in most AAs. You are also not from a third world country, so might find things some what disorganized.
I did especially in Sierra Leone (Senegambia was completely different). with their festive dances that were a lot like our Masquerade, and the Krio which is like our English creole. Also common fruits and vegetables. Body language was similar with lots of hand/arm gestures and facial expressions and use of the eye.
What you can relate to, if you are culturally Southern, is the extreme respect that the elders in the community command. As well as the importance of the extended family, and that "strong self reliant black woman thing".
We cannot rely on records to determine our specific ancestries, but we can have an idea. The records include where slaves were loaded, where off loaded and which flag did the ship sail under. So we have a general idea as to the regions of Africa which were the source of slaves to various regions in the Americas.
Well looking at your profile I was immediately able to sense that you had some sort of connection to Cuba, this because of your Indian Ocean connection. The majority of those were sent to Brazil Cuba and Argentina/Uruguay. You then surmised that it was because of a Florida connection, maybe ancient because it might have been when it was under Spanish control. Or maybe not with a Cuban person moving to Florida after it fell under US control.
So I guess we each make each other's point. Me because I said that an analysis of geographic ancestry is a clue as to where one might have a connection to in the Americas. And you because you have pointed out the fluidity of such flows that occurred since then.
Research that Russian/Norway part though. Where does your European ancestry come from?
The South Asian part can be explained maybe because of your Indian Ocean connection, or through your Mediterranean ancestors. There wasn't heavy migration of Russians/Norwegians to the South or to the Caribbean. Yes people pop up in places, but a random ancestor long ago most likely will not appear in your DNA. If the Russian/Norwegian is just a trace then it might be a co factor (error) in some other European ancestry. The DNA tests aren't 100% accurate as they are looking at genomes and a similar sequence might show up in unrelated groups, based maybe on some very distant point of origin.
Okay, yes, I agree an analysis of geographic ancestry is an indication as to where one might have had a connection to the Americas (but because of the fluidity of people since the matter gets muddled).
Well, definitely some of the trace European ancestries are co factors in other European ancestries. I tested as 1% Italian/Greek. There may not literally be an Italian ancestor per say, that may very well be an element of my Spanish ancestry (the Spanish are a Mediterranean people).
I do know that a lot of the European ancestry came in in the 1700s (the children of slave owners and their concubines). Some branches of my family dead end, so when I have more time I'll have to look up those connections more.
NYWriter I have been to Africa. Senegal, Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone. I don't think that there is enough specific African culture remaining in most AAs. You are also not from a third world country, so might find things some what disorganized.
I did especially in Sierra Leone (Senegambia was completely different). with their festive dances that were a lot like our Masquerade, and the Krio which is like our English creole. Also common fruits and vegetables. Body language was similar with lots of hand/arm gestures and facial expressions and use of the eye.
What you can relate to, if you are culturally Southern, is the extreme respect that the elders in the community command. As well as the importance of the extended family, and that "strong self reliant black woman thing".
Now that I agree with. There isn't any specific African culture remaining in MOST AAs. There are exception to this rule, such as the Gullah people from the Carolinas, and the Gulf Coast Creoles. Both of these groups still retained African based religion (while many other AAs did not).
I also think climate impacted the culture, as Caribbean and Latin blacks could at least have the same fruits and vegetables. There's a bit of this in the US, as rice was heavily grown in the Carolinas and Louisiana. (Rice wasn't just a staple in Asia, it was a staple in Africa).
Well 65% of the slaves recorded as being shipped to North America were Senegambia/Guinea, Congo/Angola and from southeast Nigeria/Cameroon, in that order. Only 16% were from the Gold Coast (Ghana/Togo).
Slave masters acquired slaves the same way that you might buy a laptop. Brands mattered as each point of origin had associated with it specific stereotypes so when the ship landed the captain has in his manifest ex number of slaves loaded in the Bight of Benin, and Y number in the Bight of Biafra, and each slave was so branded, for identification. So while the records will not be 100% accurate it is good enough to get good estimates.
And indeed I have long suspected that many AAs have Senegambian/Guinea ancestry. One need only listen to AA music when compared to that from other parts of the Americas. More string and less drum, and a bluesy singing as opposed to vivacious and polyrhythmic chanting.
This is not to suggest that every AA will have their African ancestry mirroring this. But it does suggest, given that these ethnic/geographic based identities disappeared quickly its not likely that there will be much selectivity, based on this criteria, in determining who the mates would be. So I would expect their ancestries to roughly mirror this.
So your origins might not be typically AA, indeed I suspect more recent European ancestry than you might be aware of. 44% is a lot. Some might be connected to the slave trade and to early post slavery liaisons. I suspect that you descend from two parallel and completely unrelated ancestries that connected at some point not that long ago. There was not a substantial amount of contact between Finnish people and slaves. Which is not to say that some random Finn didn't show up on some plantation, but given that this would have been many generations ago, and its unlikely that there would have been subsequent contact with a Finn, I think that its some thing that has nothing to do with slavery.
If you still have older relatives alive quiz them. Contrary to popular belief there were more than a few loving relationships between blacks and whites in the post slave era, especially in back water regions where people were probably less worried about appearances. And clearly subsequent liaisons/marriages were between people who had significant Euro ancestry.
Also given that the modern borders are different from what they were in the pre colonial period, and that our ancestries are based on records, which indicate where the boarding cured, and not where some one might have been taken from, we cant say with certainly that we have ancestry in this or that specific African nation. Now I can say that you have ancestors who came from Ghana/Togo, Benin. SW Nigeria, and SE Nigeria/Cameroon, and from the Senegal/Mali/Gambia area.
That profile above was Vanessa Williams dna profile. I'm 19% European. I did quiz the oldest person still living in my family. She's why I was able to do as much as I did in terms of looking up my family history. Here info lead to me finding records of ancestors during the colonial days.
Now that I agree with. There isn't any specific African culture remaining in MOST AAs. There are exception to this rule, such as the Gullah people from the Carolinas, and the Gulf Coast Creoles. Both of these groups still retained African based religion (while many other AAs did not).
I also think climate impacted the culture, as Caribbean and Latin blacks could at least have the same fruits and vegetables. There's a bit of this in the US, as rice was heavily grown in the Carolinas and Louisiana. (Rice wasn't just a staple in Asia, it was a staple in Africa).
Yes you are correct about the fruits and vegetables, and just the mere fact of living in virtually the same climate..
But the main issue, which you raised earlier is that American slavery was largely home grown. Even if we assume that 6-700,000 slaves were imported directly from Africa, or via the Caribbean, by 1865 there were 4 million slaves, and large numbers of freed blacks.
Look at Barbados. 600,000 slaves imported yet their population is now under 300,000. So in 1865 there were very few African born people in the USA, and they hadn't been for several generations.
In Guyana, as an example at least 50% of the slaves who were freed in 1834 were born in Africa, and there was fairly significant African migration even after slavery ended. So Africanisms are quite easy to find in the daily life patterns of AfroGuyanese, including the speech of most which is close to the pidgin English of much of West Africa.
That profile above was Vanessa Williams dna profile. I'm 19% European. I did quiz the oldest person still living in my family. She's why I was able to do as much as I did in terms of looking up my family history. Here info lead to me finding records of ancestors during the colonial days.
Vanessa has recent European ancestors who had nothing to do with slavery and very diverse as she is North American. Looking at her ancestry I would have been surprised if she wasn't US.
Interesting so we are roughly the same then. I am 17% European (almost all Celtic). The 83% African includes 29% Benin/southwest Nigeria, 25% Ghana, 19% southeast Nigeria/Cameroon, 8% Mali, with traces of Senegal and North Africa.
This is very consistent with some one descended from slavery in the former British West Indian colonies.
Vanessa has recent European ancestors who had nothing to do with slavery and very diverse as she is North American. Looking at her ancestry I would have been surprised if she wasn't US.
Interesting so we are roughly the same then. I am 17% European (almost all Celtic). The 83% African includes 29% Benin/southwest Nigeria, 25% Ghana, 19% southeast Nigeria/Cameroon, 8% Mali, with traces of Senegal and North Africa.
This is very consistent with some one descended from slavery in the former British West Indian colonies.
Yes, we're very similar. 27% Benin/Togo, 18% Nigeria, 11% Mali, 10% African Southeastern Bantu, 10% Cameroon, 4% Senegel, and 1% from Ghana, about 1% Indian/Pakistani, 6% British, 3% Eastern European, 3% Spanish, 2% Western European, 2% Northern Russian, 1% Italian, 1% Scandinavian, and 1% Irish.
The chief differences are the African Southeastern Bantu, and my European ancestry has a lot of Mediterranean, Eastern and Northern Europe. (along with a little Indian/Pakistani)
But aside from the African Southeastern Bantu and the non African ancestries, there's a lot of overlap in our ancestries. Caribbean people ended up being scattered all over. Most likely some of my ancestors as slaves were first brought to the English Caribbean. If there is a Cuba connection, it happened through Florida (where I know some of my ancestors lived during the Spanish colonial days and it may very well be that the African Southeastern Bantu came in that way).
People from the British West Indies have become such a scattered population on their own right. Many went to the US, Canada, or Britain. Many others went to Central America or South America. In the US, at various different points since slavery you've had influxes of Caribbean people.
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