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[redstatebluegirl]

This message was self-deleted by its author (redstatebluegirl) on Wed Mar 14, 2018, 06:17 AM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[HipChick]

1. 2nd that..

[redstatebluegirl]

171. Amazing how quickly this becomes viral. Just talk with liberals about race and things get dicey.

[janx]

284. How does talking with "liberals" about race get dicey?

?

[Tipperary]

315. Interesting phraseology here.

Just talk with “liberals” hmmm? Your agenda is showing.

[Hekate]

340. No kidding

[TheBlackAdder]

290. Many DNA sites are not fully bound by HIPAA and share your DNA results with other companies/labs.

So, while it's kind of neat to get a DNA test, you might be compromising your entire family's medical history at the blink of an eye, which in a few years might translate to denied medical coverage, denied employment, increases in medical and life insurance, and other items.

Oh, and I believe these tests automatically get placed in the FBI database, which might not affect you, but it might affect a family member, especially if a lab is careless and accidentally flags your or a relative for a crime they did not do.

[Dorian Gray]

309. Right...

That the OP would say white people don't get it bc they're afraid they'll find out they aren't white is laughable. I am adopted. I've never been 100% sure of my background, nor do I care all that much. I don't need a test to tell me who or what I am. I'm me. Regardless of which ethnic background comes back.

Add to that that there are a slew of articles about how unreliable they are, and that the tests are an infringement on privacy, and there are a number of compelling reasons for any person who doesn't want to take one not to take one.

[TheBlackAdder]

327. The chilling part is their TOS allows them to change pretty much anything at their discretion.

After they build up a vast database, they can start selling it off, or open another company to provide a screening service for employers and health insurance companies, profiting off your DNA information while jeopardizing you and your family's future financial stability.

[Dorian Gray]

334. Yeah...

That's all pretty frightening. The privacy issue is one that a lot of people haven't thought through.

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. Never thought of it, makes sense, reminds me of

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/7nnosh/chappelle-s-show--frontline----clayton-bigsby-pt--1---uncensored


I dont think I could make jokes about racism were I a recipient of it daily as all POC are. But god bless Dave.


This is the uncensored version, so they do use the N word.

[The Mouth]

157. I think the use of 'white' is kind of useless

I mean are you talking skin colour? Or that one is from a country that is considered 'white'? Or simply a lack of DNA from African or Latin American countries?

I get that we use 'black' since so many African Americans are descended from slaves who were ripped from their home nations and subsequently didn't have the kind of genealogical data that a typical Irishman or Italian or Englishman might- you know, being able to say that great grandad grew up in this town... but what it 'white? My oldest childhood friend is Sicilian, his skin is dark from working outside, welding, for 45 years; it is nearly as dark as a good friend who is from Eritrea. Another friend is 3/4 polish 1/8 Cherokee and 1/8 black- paler than me, but 'white?....

I'm pretty sure I'm boring old Irish through and through, but considering dad was kind of racist it would be pretty cool to find out I had some African DNA in there

[Eyeball_Kid]

190. Youre noting the contrast between...

physical and cultural anthropology. The disciplines use an entirely disparate set of terms. In physical terms most people would be shocked were they to discover the wide diversity of the caucasians. We are ALL homo sapiens sapiens, which, taxonomically, is our subspecies. From what I recall, using the “race” designation is more a cultural attribute, even though we can most often generally identify people as white, Asian, etc. What’s fascinating is the ancient migration patterns of tribes or peoples as they emigrated and settled tens of thousands of years ago.

Ok. Time for coffee.

[The Mouth]

197. Exactly

Well said. Thanks.

[Eyeball_Kid]

198. Maybe this is outdated, but

the migratory history of Caucasians is that they emigrated from the Caucasus Mountain area in Russia. Some emigrated north and eastward, some southward. Asian Indians and North Africans are considered Caucasian not due to skin color, but to other physical attributes. And the migration history of Asians includes their populating Alaska, the Arctic, and the Americas, and are our present day Native Americans. Fascinating.

[The Mouth]

212. Fascinating, indeed

Personally, I think understanding such histories and data does a lot to take the piss out of racism. All one species; diversity has everything to do with evolution and having genes in play that can offer advantages when conditions change.

I bet even the most virulent racists understand (and fear) on some level just how fluid the genetics of 'race' are in Homo Sapiens Sapiens..... But they use a (faulty) genetic paradigm to express what is actually a cultural issue for them

[mr_lebowski]

279. "Race" is meaningless and people who obsess about the concept in general ...are being lame, IMHO ...

In today's population it's such a vaguely-defined so-called 'attribute' of a given subset of the Human species to begin with ... yet you get these idiots that legitimately think it's like THE MOST IMPORTANT THING in the friggin' world, like 'my RACE must be PROTECTED!' ... it's simple-minded, tribal-based bullshit, and a means by which the less intelligent are manipulated by people smarter than they are ... to do their bidding, THINKING they're engaged in some noble fucking pursuit ... no offense, but religion falls along the same lines.

Anyone who 'fights' for 'their race' or 'their religion', outside a legitimate position of self-defense because they are HONESTLY being persecuted and their lives threatened FOR their race or religion ... are not acting as good, decent human beings.

I pretty much NEVER think about the fact that 'I'm white', and likewise I don't see anyone else I come across as being 'somebody not white', even if their skin tone isn't particularly light. I don't define anybody I know as 'that Black, that Indian, that Chinese person' or whatever. Really doesn't even occur to me.

That's how stupid people think IMHO, and I'm not stupid.

[janx]

283. I think you may have misunderstood the post

you responded to.

[mr_lebowski]

286. If it seemed I disagreed with who I was responding to, that was not my intent ...

I agree with their post, in fact ...

[paleotn]

213. South Asians are also classified as such due to their languages.

Part of the Indo-European family. Fascinating stuff.

[brush]

234. Didn't everyone migrate out of east Africa even before that, and racial characteristics are...

adaptations to climate—such as the amount of melanin being higher to withstand warmer

climates; and even thinnest of nostrils an adaptation to colder climates, and on and on?

[LeftInTX]

300. Many went from Anatolia to Greece, Balkans & Italy.

Then spread from there.

Same people, different routes.

[femmedem]

3. That's a pretty broad brush.

I'm white. No one in my family (Jewish and Irish) came here until the 1880's, well after slavery ended. And I wouldn't care what showed up in my DNA. I just don't get one because it costs money, and the results don't mean much to me.

There is plenty of racism and hate in our country--more deep and more virulent than I would have imagined a few years ago--but I don't think failure to take a DNA test is necessarily one of its symptoms.

[redstatebluegirl]

4. No but some of the racists I work with clearly are not 100 percent white but

talk about the "fact" that people of color are not as smart as they are. Not talking about you, it may be broad but a lot of racist stuff fits the majority of white people.

[Skittles]

9. if people talked like that where I work

they would be fired

[redstatebluegirl]

13. Well I work in an academic environment thankfully.

[Skittles]

17. and I work where people cannot be openly racist

[redstatebluegirl]

29. Neither can we, but we are open to all kinds of questions.

That is unique in many work environments, I worked in business and hated it, I love the curiosity of the academic environment.

[melman]

56. 'Neither can we'

Really? That's not what you said here https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10342780


Which is it?

[Tipperary]

130. Wonder if youll get an answer. This op is a sad thing to read here.

I am still wondering how she can tell who is 100% white or not.

[Tipperary]

314. You have contradicted yourself repeatedly.

[JI7]

47. Academic environment like trump university ? That's the type of "academic" environment

Where i would expect that kind of bigotry.

[Skittles]

66. yup

an "academic environment" where it's cool for some people to think they are inherently smarter than POC

something just does NOT add up

[JI7]

81. And refers to it as "curiosity of the academic environment"

Do they debate whether slavery was actually bad also or whether the holocaust actually happened........

[Skittles]

134. it's complete BS

[cwydro]

170. I find this OP to be one of the more bizarre Ive read here

[Agschmid]

258. Yup.

[pbmus]

261. For sure...

http://www.genealogy.com/lp/genealogy-records?s_kwcid=heritage&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn-Lq4Ojl2QIVkLrACh1MTgHxEAAYASAAEgLs2fD_BwE&rd=http%3a%2f%2fgenealogy.com%2flp%2fgenealogy-records%3f&o_xid=57493&o_lid=57493&o_sch=Paid+Search+Non+Brand

[Tipperary]

322. I think it is beginning to add up actually.

The more I read the op’s answers, the more it becomes clear - doncha think?

[Dorian Gray]

311. I'm trying like heck to square this away

with your post about what your co-workers say regarding people of other ethnic backgrounds and their intelligence.

[Tipperary]

98. Same here. Besides, I would imagine people have a lot of reasons not to do the DNA thing.

I would have been happy to find some surprises in my background, but I was as Anglo-Saxon as I expected. Sigh.

[brush]

237. That's something, right? Sounds like a good company. They'd have to fire trump's ass after...

how he dog-whistled in his speech yesterday about Maxine Waters having a low IQ.

His dumb ass with such a limited vocabulary sending out white supremacist messages about someone, Aunt Maxine of courste being one of the most critical of his presidential imposter-hood.

[redstatebluegirl]

11. I have a mix of European, Asian, and African American most likely from my great grandfather

who lived in South Carolina.

[LeftInTX]

303. You have a more interesting background.

I was working with a Trumper at the polls. She was super- conservative, but wss proud of her Chocktaw heritage.

[Retrotech]

108. What's a 100% white person look like?

How about 95% white?

[Codeine]

140. My skin is so white that I might as well be transparent,

and I’ve got all kinds of crazy shit going on in my ancestry. The OP has some ludicrous ideas about people.

[Retrotech]

161. Try as I might,

Ethno-vision eludes me.

[Codeine]

164. Well then you clearly are not progressive enough.

I’ll fax over some old copies of Die Stürmer so you can brush up on your ethnic skull shapes.

[cwydro]

180. Ive got a close friend descended from an Irish family.

Her sister looks completely different from the rest of them in eye color, hair color, and her skin is darker.

They live in south Florida, and people frequently speak in Spanish to her because of her looks (she doesn’t speak Spanish).

She’s had her DNA done through one of the companies - identical to her sister’s.

Pretty sure the OP would assume she is not white lol.

[brush]

242. Must be black Irish. Anyone know how that whole thing came about?

[appalachiablue]

265. I know, have Irish friends but am only a bit Irish, maybe 1/64! or less.

See Black Irish
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_people

[Marcuse]

277. Shipwrecked Spanish Armada sailors of Moorish descent?

Or perhaps from Cheddar Man.


https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/feb/07/first-modern-britons-dark-black-skin-cheddar-man-dna-analysis-reveals

[Orange Free State]

178. Well I am 99.4% and

On the Osmond scale of whiteness, I am somewhat above Marie and just below a bedsheet.

[Hekate]

227. I know, right? Back in college I was introduced to an "octoroon"-- a friend of a friend...

This would have been 1968, University of Hawai'i. He was from the Mainland.

Anyhow, I don't know what I expected from that outstandingly racist designation (which he had used on himself), but it was not a young man with a square Saxon face, pink skin, blue eyes, and straight blond hair.

So really -- our OP can "tell" just by looking at someone whether or not they are "100% white"? I highly recommend an extended trip to Hawai'i, where hardly anybody is 100% anything.

[Tipperary]

112. You say they are

“clearly not 100% white.” On what do you base that? Facial features? Eye color? I am fascinated and cannot wait to hear how you have decided that they are “clearly not 100% white.”

[Codeine]

141. Scientifically,

with phrenology!

[Tipperary]

146. Of course! Why did I not think of that?!

[paleotn]

185. To be accurate, none of us are 100% white...

We all come from Africa. The only difference is some of our ancestors left the old homeland before others.

[brush]

243. And so-called racial characteristics are merely adaptations to climate over the millenia.

[ileus]

252. You should insist they take an DNA test so you can prove they're not wht

[Dorian Gray]

310. They say WHAT?

Where the heck do you work?

[Blue_true]

6. I agree. nt

[Sherman A1]

238. Agreed

To draw such a conclusion based upon such flimsy presumptions ( I won’t even use the term evidence, as none exists) says more about the one drawing the conclusion than those whom they wish to portray in a particular light.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. Probably. Personally, I think it would be quite cool

to find all sorts of otherwise unknown ancestry.

I've had mine done and it's completely unremarkable. All four of my grandparents came from Ireland and this is what they found about me:
Northwestern European 99.6%
British & Irish 95.7%
Scandinavian 1.3%
Broadly Northwestern European 2.6%
Southern European 0.4%
Sardinian 0.3%

But I do have have more Neanderthal than some 98% of their clients, which I just love.

Oh, and I used 23 and me.

I have a friend who got hers done through the National Geographic, in part because they have a larger world-wide data base. And she's got ancestors from everywhere!

[Squinch]

8. How much Neandertal do you have? I also have more than the vast majority of people.

[cwydro]

159. I did Ancestry. No mention of my Neanderthal.

I’d love to know that!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

232. Ancestry doesn't look at Neanderthal traits.

23 and Me does, as well as the National Geographic one.

Ancestry is very good if you want to locate otherwise lost or unknown relatives. My sister and her kids have done Ancestry and have connected to several relatives.

I'm thinking of doing the National Geographic one sometime soon. In my case, my somewhat limited ancestry probably won't give me any other information, but what the heck.

[cwydro]

246. Interesting.

Thanks!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

230. The site I used, 23 and Me,

said that I had 330 Neanderthal variants out of a possible 387. Which was what they had at the time I did their test. It didn't give a percentage. My favorite part was that I have one Neanderthal variant associated with having less back hair.

[Maeve]

16. Thanks for mentioning the service you used!

Because I was going to ask....I went thru Ancestry.com and was likewise disappointed that my heritage was as white-bread as it is (virtually all from Germany and points NW from there, majority British & Irish). Parts of my family has been here since 1750 (possibly earlier) and I really expected SOME surprises!

[greatauntoftriplets]

69. I got surprised when I found out that I'm 5 percent British.

Immediately heard my father spinning in his grave because that means he's 10 percent.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

235. Not necessarily.

It might be that your mother is 12 percent British. Or more. You don't get exactly half of what each parent has necessarily.

Which is why siblings, even though they really do have the same mother and father, can come out with at least a slightly different mix. As I recall, of my two sisters one showed over 97% British and Irish, and the other was about 95%. The second one had more Scandinavian.

In a family with a more diverse ancestry than ours, the differences between siblings can be much greater. On average siblings share 50% of their DNA. That means the other 50% can be quite different, again especially with a more diverse family background.

I once knew two brothers, same mother and father, but one was clearly (by the way we look at things) African American, and the other clearly Caucasian. Their parents were, as I recall, both bi-racial, the the toss of the genetic dice came out quite differently for them.

[greatauntoftriplets]

262. That's entirely possibly, of course.

The thing that makes me think it's from my father is that my maternal grandparents both emigrated from Luxembourg in about 1890. Additionally, the families have been traced back to the 1500s through both church and civil records, and there's no indication of anyone from England marrying into either family.

My father's family originated in France and were part of the Norman Invasion of Ireland. So they were the ones with the proximity and opportunity.

Who knows, of course.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

270. Who knows? is a good response.

I was completely flabbergasted by the Southern European, specifically Sardinian, thing.

They did indicate approximately how far back different ancestors entered my genetic line. For Sardinian it was a good 400 years ago, which makes sense in terms of what a tiny percentage it is.

I believe my friend who did National Geographic also had some Neanderthal show up. I'll be seeing her in about three weeks and will ask her for more details. Of course, she's a veritable United Nations in her ancestry. Some significant part is Chinese, and to look at her that's what's most noticeable. One of the things that showed up in her DNA testing was Turkey. There's a family story about some great grandparents (maybe multiple greats) who emigrated from Turkey to China. What a cool verification of that family story!

As proud of and as happy with my Irish origins, I've often felt that in some fundamental way I'm not a "real" American because of that. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't actually change my heritage, but I think that those with a greater mix are closer to the ideal of the melting pot.

The grandparents of my (ex) husband are Jews from Poland and Russia, although at the time they came here it was all the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I need to encourage him to have his DNA done. And my son.

As for the Neanderthal thing, here is something I learned quite recently. All of us whose ancestors left Africa and went to the rest of the planet, all of us (with the possible exception of Australian aborigines) have Neanderthal genes. Not just those of us whose ancestors went to Europe, but those who went to the rest of the world. I also learned that at least one Neanderthal skeleton has been found in Asia. How remarkable. Those whose ancestors remained in our collective ancestral homeland have no Neanderthal.

That's just another example of how we are all related, and so far as immigrants to this country are concerned, the only difference between any of us is at what point the immigration to this country occurred.

[The Mouth]

166. I saw a documentary about the percentages of Neanderthal in the population.

The one thing that struck me was that in this group of 100 students, the 6 or 7 who had the highest percentages were, well how to say this delicately *HOT*, as in 'bring on the magazine cover shoot' smoking sexy. (at least to my cultural preconditioning).
Bizarre

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

272. Is that a documentary I might be able to watch on line?

Do you have a link?

Among the many things I'm fascinated by is human evolution and human migration, so even if I had no Neanderthal traits I'd still be fascinated. Just as I'm fascinated by the fact that humans in Africa have far more genetic diversity than those of us whose ancestors left that continent. It strikes me as Africa being both the past and the future of our species.

[paleotn]

216. I thought the same. And used the same service.

Exactly what I expected, given family lore. I've got a bit less British Isles and bit more Scandinavian than you, but about the same otherwise. My Y chrome is Niall from Northern Ireland, so no surprise there. However, we have an unusual mitochondrial, U8a. It's primarily Basque. My maternal, mitochondrial line goes back to southwest England, so some English sailor may have played a little "Guess who's coming to dinner" with a Basque wife.

[RobinA]

223. I Would Love

some surprises, too, but I know it’s unlikely. I know my genealogy and I pretty much look like what it seems to be. Anybody who jumped the fence in the past did it to meet somebody just like the person they were married to. German Palatines on all sides except my Grandmother, a Brit [gasp].

[IADEMO2004]

7. I'll confess my tin foil hat on DNA tests

How many types of DNA tests are done with your sample? Is the database for sale to the world? Future employers, Health insurance companies, republicans? Gives me the creeps.

[rawtribe]

50. ...

[IADEMO2004]

58. I think I'll be sharing this video. Thank You. Tin Foil stays on for DNA.

[appalachiablue]

266. See #222 on more if interested.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

274. Oh, really?

This sounds like tin foil hat bullshit of the first order.

[rawtribe]

292. Yes really...

https://www.23andme.com/about/tos/

[BannonsLiver]

321. More like good old fashioned nuttery

And a fundamental lack of awareness of the process.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

61. There's no way to do the test anonymously? nt

[IADEMO2004]

72. Good question and I don't have an answer. I'm not very clever or sneaky

[LakeArenal]

131. Same here.

I don’t want to be part of any DNA register. Safe today not maybe tomorrow.

I don’t believe in giving up bodily fluids for employers either.

[Marcuse]

280. The database could be accessed by law enforcement or the intelligence community

In case they wanted to reach out and touch you or a relative.

[Exotica]

142. I have that same tinfoil hat on, and I sure as hell am not remotely close to being all white

English (and that in itself is a rabbit hole) Father, West Indian mother who is Black African, Scottish, Portuguese, Lebanese, East Indian, Chinese plus who knows that else.

[brush]

248. Not to mention the Church of Latter Day Saints who may baptize said ancestors at some point.

[Squinch]

10. What kind of place do you work in? Are you in the south?

[redstatebluegirl]

14. Yes in an academic environment.

[Squinch]

18. That's pretty interesting.

Had mine done. Unremarkable except the nice surprise of some "Armada" Spanish in with the Irish and English.

[keithbvadu2]

147. Some of them made it to shore.

[paleotn]

211. Similar here...

...but it's my mitochondrial. U8a is ancient, upper paleolithic, and very rare, except in the Basque country of Spain. There's not much additional Iberian genetics in our genome, so where did our mitochondrial come from? It may have come north behind the retreating ice sheets, but that's unlikely since it's very rare in the British Isles. My maternal, mitochondrial line runs back to southwest England, particularly Cornwall, so our current theory is some enterprising English sailor brought home a Basque wife.

[Squinch]

330. Cool!

[milestogo]

12. I did one and found out that I am a totally boring white person

of northern and western european ancestry only. All European immigrants to the US in the 20th century.

[redstatebluegirl]

15. Wow I seem to hit a I hit nerve here, aren't any of you curious?

[Squinch]

20. What does this mean?

[janx]

53. I wonder also. n/t

[Skittles]

71. it's gibberish

[redstatebluegirl]

73. Ok I grasp that I found it interesting to find I had some AA roots.

[Skittles]

76. well it's nice that you grasp something

[redstatebluegirl]

84. Oh gee thanks so.much 😊

[Skittles]

87. here's a tip:

Last edited Sun Mar 11, 2018, 11:45 PM - Edit history (1)

don't assume what most white folk think based on the racist musings of your coworkers

there are many reasons to not want a DNA test - among them: the cost, distrust of the database, or simply not caring

[regnaD kciN]

271. Oh, you mean #NotAllWhitePeople...?

And the is not aimed at you, but as those who use hashtag slogans like that to further their prejudiced notion that, yes, it it is all whites, or all males, or all straights, etc.

Anyway, I'm "white," and I took one of those tests. The results were as I expected: predominantly European of various ethnicities. I did have <1% North African, which I very much doubt came from one of my ancestors "sexually abusing their slaves"…especially since none of my ancestors came here until twenty years after the Civil War ended.

[Tipperary]

122. Thank you! Lmao here.

[jberryhill]

228. I am fluent in Gibberish

I spent ten years in an intensive Gibberish program and have a master’s degree in 20th century Gibberish literature. My own research has been published in the International Journal of Gibberish, and I have am a fellow of the Royal Academy of Gibberish.

Trust me. This does not even rise to the level of Gibberish.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. I'm curious why you think about acquaintances' DNA

and have an opinion that they ought to have it tested. So, why?

[redstatebluegirl]

28. No testing is totally voluntary, I don't think people should be tested unless they want to.

But I do believe that there are white folks who don't want to know including progressives and liberals.

[whathehell]

102. Fearless white DNA seeker here..

I'm 99..5 percent European and .5 percent Asian, and only that tiny trace of Asian ancestry surprised me.

I'm not sure your fear theory takes into account the fact that many, if not most White Americans are only 2 or 3 generations out of Europe where Africans and people of African descent were extremely scarce.

I don't know who you work with, but the fear you imagine is keeping them from doing DNA searches would pertain, realistically, only to those with very long histories in this country.

[muriel_volestrangler]

172. That doesn't tell me *why*, which was my question.

You asked whether we're curious, and I am: why are you so concerned about these people's DNA that you've asked several of them whether they'll get tested?

[Codeine]

184. Maybe the OP is secretly afraid that

her coworkers really ARE whiter than she is!

[cwydro]

196. Ooh.

You may have hit the nail on the head there!

[OnDoutside]

27. I doubt that is high on the list of reasons. I'm sure there's a few who think like that but it is a

private test, so if it turned out that someone was put out by being 1/16th Gambian, they can always burn the results letter.

[ProudLib72]

43. Funny story

I did a masters in Irish Studies in the late 90s. The entire time, I told everyone I was not the least bit Irish (and they could not fathom why I would want to go through the program not being Irish). Last year, my family was discussing ancestry and my sister mentioned that we were a little of this and that and...Irish. So I had lied! I told everyone at the Catholic University of American, the only American university sanctioned by the Vatican, that I was not the least bit Irish. I may be going to hell.

[OnDoutside]

127. You're a walking ad for the Ancestry DNA test !!! ;)

[whathehell]

109. Hey Peter..

American history is very pertinent to this whole question of "fear". Please check out my post above.

[OnDoutside]

125. I agree with that. Realistically, I think the whole racial fear aspect is way down the list for the

overwhelming majority.

[whathehell]

143. Yes it is..

[Squinch]

63. What do you mean when you say you hit a nerve? What are you referring to?

[redstatebluegirl]

65. I think even on progressive democratic boards people would rather not know.

[Squinch]

67. What makes you say that? I'm not seeing anything in this thread that supports that.

[Tipperary]

144. Me either. This op is amazing to me on a number of levels.

[Codeine]

148. That is the stupidest assertion

that I’ve seen made on DU in quite a goddamned while.

Do you really think there is a secret percentage of liberals terrified to discover that they’ve got a black or Asian ancestor? Immof the opinion that most of us would say “neat!” and tell our families about a bit of our unknown genetic history.

[Mariana]

202. I think many liberals would be positively gleeful

to inform racist, republican family members about such an interesting bit of unknown genetic history.

[Hekate]

233. +100, Codeine. smh

[whathehell]

304. You're attributing racism to others on zero "evidence".

which makes your "opinion" appear to be based o
largely on personal bias.

[Ms. Toad]

78. What hit a nerve is your assumption that whatever reasons being offered

for not taking the test are pretexts for racism. First, alleged against your co-workers (point blank), and implied in your repeated provocative comments in this thread.

Taking the DNA test, especially one that matches you with relatives, should not be done on a whim (or to prove you're not a racist).

My daughter found her biological father via 23 and me.

For us, that was a blessing - since we had given up on ever finding her (donor) father. And the social dynamics have worked out well.

His wife enrolled them both to find out health information. At that point, had it been a secret, he would have had to choose between disclosing information he might not have wanted to disclose (that he might have dozens of children out there via donation) - and hoping none of his donor children used the same service. (She knew, but that is not a given for all spouses of donor dads)

When she (the wife) contacted our daughter, she had no way of knowing if our daughter knew the circumstances of her conception - it might have been a secret we were trying to keep. In that era, the donor was matched as closely as possible to the husband (if there is one in the picture) and characteristics that they couldn't match with the "father," they matched to the mother, in order to create a child with similar appearance and abilities - AND the couple was told to keep on trying to conceive so there wasn't certainty as to whether the child was biologically related to the father or not (that didn't apply in our case, since we were both women, but there was no reason for the wife to know that.

Fortunately, for us, she has known since she was old enough to understand the concept that she was conceived by donor insemination - and we had already spent time and money trying to find him, without success. So her, "I'm curious about why 23 and me has identified you as my husband's daughter," wasn't a shock we had to explain to her - she knew immediately what it meant. . . . and then we had to be careful about how we responded because we didn't know if she knew - and thought, perhaps, her husband had fathered a child via an affair.

Most matches are not direct father-child, but aunt/uncle/grandparent etc. - child. So the chances of finding an unknown parent are larger than just whether or not he donated to the same service - but whether any relative did.

And - what if the unknown parent is a rapist (and you are a child of rape, but don't know it)? (Or other scenarios in which one, or both, participants in creating you had chosen to keep that information secret.)

That is not to say that knowledge is bad, but the kind of information packaged with the DNA test is much more emotionally complex than just what country you came from.

So your assumption that white people who choose not to take it are afraid they might find out they are black (and repeated prodding suggesting that it is the reason even progressives/DU people don't want to take the test is a gross oversimplifications of a very complex decision (even without the relatively mundane, but significant factors that others have mentioned, of cost, what will they do with my DNA, etc.)

As for my ancestry (which would have shown up through my daughter) - there weren't any surprises. But I honestly don't recall whether she/I have any African DNA or not. Because it truly wouldn't have been surprising, or even crossed my mind as one of the factors my daughter should think about before deciding to having her DNA tested through 23 and me.

[Hekate]

240. Very well said, Ms. Toad. There's an advice column I like to read, and occasionally this topic ...

...comes up quite urgently. File it under: "What could possibly go wrong with this idea?" Especially in small towns.

[Ms. Toad]

281. .

[whathehell]

301. Thank you.

[Ms. Toad]

306. You're welcome.

As a white liberal, having gone through the entire list of risks associated with this test for my young adult daughter - the likelihood that we might find non-white DNA never particularly crossed my mind as a "risk" we should be talking about.

I can't imagine any progressive being reluctant to take the test for that reason,

[Tipperary]

151. Yes, you hit the nonsense nerve that many on du possess. Seriously, delete this op.

[cwydro]

162. Im a white person who was curious.

Does this mean I’m a fearless progressive?

[DownriverDem]

176. I was curious

My folks on my Dad's side came to Canada (before it was Canada) in the late 1600s. My Dad always said that we had some native American in us from way back. My DNA test showed that I was 3% Native American. Happy to know.

[Guilded Lilly]

19. I am looking forward to getting mine done once the price comes down a bit!

Fortunately, my workplace is quite a melting pot.
And just the ancestors we already have firmly in our tree are an interesting blend.

[poli-junkie]

21. Im too paranoid to do it.

I wouldn’t want some corporation having my DNA. Who knows what they’d do with it afterwards? Sell it to health insurance companies? Sell it to the Trump fascists? No frikken way!

[redstatebluegirl]

25. I can understand but I think a lot of white people are truly afraid to find out

they have african blood.

[Skittles]

75. see, I assumed we ALL have African blood

isn't that where everyone originated?

[Mariana]

115. We do, but some populations left Africa too long ago

for it to show up on everyone's DNA tests. My first cousin had it done, and we were sure it would show some nonwhite ancestry. Our grandfather certainly looked like he was of mixed race, even though we could find zero documentation that any of his ancestors weren't white. Sometimes the records lie, but they didn't this time. My cousin's DNA result is perfectly consistent with the records.

[Skittles]

137. OK thanks

that would explain it!

Personally, I would LOVE to find I have any smidgen of African DNA! Totally cool. I have asked my brothers if they'd like to pitch in to find out what we are made of.

[brush]

253. How well do you tan?

[Hekate]

244. What percentage is "a lot," and can you tell just by looking at them? nt

[whathehell]

297. I think you're wrong.

but are trying hard to advance a meme and/or grind an axe.

[hlthe2b]

22. May be a lot of other reasons--including fear of DNA being shared, tested for genetic disease

predisposition (and thus shared with life or health insurers or potential employers), end up in law enforcement databases... I'm not saying these fears are all realistic or that I necessarily share them. I did do Ancestry.com, but I was very very careful how little I made public and I would NOT do 23andme or another "genetic health" screen at this time because they are sooo misleading, testing for only a very tiny proportion of cancer-based genetic mutations for instance-- and lacking in full validation..

I had no knowledge of my adopted late mother's ancestry, so I was fully prepared to learn anything, heritage wise.

Maybe your colleagues are concerned about race... I'm just pointing out that there are a lot of other reasons to be concerned.

[smirkymonkey]

85. I was afraid to have mine done at the hospital for reasons that you state, but I am curious

about my ancestry so I bought a kit from Ancestry.com and will do it this week. My mother was no surprise at almost 98% English and Scandinavian but my Italian father had a more interesting mix at about 25% Italian, 65% Greek and small amounts of Ashkenazi Jewish, Northern African and Northwestern European.

[Collimator]

145. Not surprising about your father. . .

Anyone who can confirm a direct link to a recent ancestor from the regions where the Roman Empire once held sway can expect a mixed salad of ethnicities in their DNA.

The Romans went far and wide and did what soldiers often do. By force or for pay, they left their DNA all about the world from North Africa to not-quite North Britain.

They also brought back slaves from these regions. So the DNA swaps went in both directions.

My own immediate ancestors are from Sicily, which has been conquered by Greeks, Arabs, Normans, and many others. It would never occur to me to imagine that I am any sort of "pure bred" type.

And I don't want my DNA tested because I would like to keep my options open should I choose to take up a life of crime.

[smirkymonkey]

267. My father is from a region in Italy that is know for being a dyaspora of Greeks and

Albanians. I think the Italo-Albanians are called the Arbereshe, which is the name of the people where my grandfather's town is in Barile. Anyway, I find it kind of fascinating.

[LisaM]

114. Yes, I have privacy concerns.

I am not afraid of what it would show.

[jalan48]

23. Didn't we all originate in Africa way back when?

[redstatebluegirl]

32. Yes, I'm glad you recognize this.

[Hekate]

245. Big of you

[Butterflylady]

35. Bingo!!!!!!!!

I would take odds that more than a few of us have some African-American blood in us. That's their biggest fear. I have the most beautiful bi-racial granddaughter in the world and I am proud as can be of her.

[LonePirate]

26. Depends on the company performing the test.

I have heard those ancestry sites take ownership of your DNA and that is not something I want to happen.

If there is a company that performs them without such an ownership claim, then I probably wouldn't have any issues with taking one provided the results are for my eyes only.

It matters not to me how many nationalities or races comprise my background. I simply do not want other people or companies controlling and using this information for their own purposes.

[33taw]

33. Completely agree. If it is in a database you cannot control it - even if you own it.

[lame54]

30. Why did it come up?

[redstatebluegirl]

36. I openly talked about having mine done and how interesting this was.

It brought about an interesting discussion.

[redstatebluegirl]

31. Isn't it interesting how white folks get nervous about this, find reasons to doubt it?

[MichMan]

38. I find it very strange why you are so obsessed with it

Why are you so insistent that all white people get a DNA test? Why is it any of your concern?

[redstatebluegirl]

42. Well I'm not otsessed with it, but it was interesting to me and I found it interesting

when I brought it up in a room full of white people they found it odd, not making judgements, but it is and interesting sociological idea.

[Codeine]

149. Isnt it interesting how transparent and obvious

your trolololololerry has become as the thread progresses?

[cwydro]

158. Just read through this thread.

Wow.

OP seems to have some issues lol.

[EllieBC]

224. So not wanting it or feeling you don't need it means someone is nervous?

I'm Jewish. My Ashkenazic family didn't even arrive here until the 20th century. How does that make me nervous? I'm sorry you don't know your family history well enough so you felt like you have to test but that doesn't mean everyone is like you.

[whathehell]

302. What's interesting is how little you understand

this country's history and it's impact on racial mixes.

[petronius]

34. I am white, and I wouldn't do it because

1) I don't particularly want my DNA in a database if I can avoid it,
2) the tests aren't free, and I have better uses for my money, and
3) I don't really care or have any interest.

Unless there is other evidence about your co-workers that we aren't privy to, I think you might be making a pretty big leap to assume their reluctance is out of some bigotry-based fear of the results...

[redstatebluegirl]

37. I respect that but I think if you ever lose your fear and have the money it is very interesting.

[jberryhill]

97. You do understand that one of the largest companies doing this is owned by the Mormon church, yes?

The largest private database of genealogical data is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Ancestry.com is headquartered in Lehi, Utah, and LDS members get free accounts.

https://tech.lds.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28868

There is a doctrinal reason why they are in this business, and it is a practice to which many non-LDS, particularly Jewish descendants of holocaust victims and survivors object to.

Among other things that can be done with this data is detection of adoptees, and identification of their birth parents. They don’t give that data out, but when you give them your DNA, you might notice in the fine print that aside from what they tell you, you agree that they can do whatever they want with it.

Humanity originated in Africa, so this business about “African blood” is silly anyway. All humans descend from humans in Africa.

But whether or not you are comfortable with your personal data in the hands of an organization which some others regard as a religious cult, is a personal choice that’s up to you.

[appalachiablue]

222. I knew the Mormons maintained vast records on genealogy and

Last edited Sun Mar 11, 2018, 11:38 PM - Edit history (1)

that they posthumously baptized (by proxy) Jewish Holocaust victims like Anne Frank which is offensive and absurd. Their ties to Ancestry that you mentioned are in this HuffPo article. The extent to which Ancestry was in the genetic family health data collection business, like Google-backed 23andMe is quite interesting.
This 2015 Huff Po article Updated 12/2017, focuses on issues of information collection and the use of 'genetic health data' especially related to family heath history and hereditary conditions, all of interest to the pharmaceutical and medical industries and others.

*ANCESTRY.COM IS QUIETLY TRANSFORMING ITSELF INTO A MEDICAL RESEARCH JUGGERNAUT* HuffPo, 2015/17

ANCESTRY.COM — the $1.6 billion Internet company that his magazine evolved into — is poised to become one of the most unlikely, yet powerful, scientific tools in the world. For about three years, it’s been collecting and analyzing genetic information through a service called AncestryDNA, and in the process, quietly asking consumers if they’d be willing to share their data with Ancestry for research. To date, it’s banked more than 800,000 samples from customers all over the world, rivaling the database of Google-backed genetics-analysis company 23ANDME, which boasts about 900,000 samples. And now, armed with mountains of health data, Ancestry.com is slowly transforming itself from a retiree’s hobby into a medical research juggernaut.
“We actually do think that health is a pretty natural extension of the core mission to help everyone discover, preserve and share their family history,” Ancestry.com CEO Tim Sullivan told me earlier this week, during a visit to the company’s San Francisco offices. “We’re exploring ways that we could participate in health and provide our users with health insights, for sure….ways that we could leverage the data we’ve aggregated to support research efforts, similar to what 23andMe has done with Genentech and others like 23and Me.

Long before Ancestry.com got into the DNA game, it had ties to the MORMON church. Its owners were two Brigham Young University grads who had made their fortune selling Latter-day Saints publications on floppy disks. Access to Ancestry.com was free at LDS Family History Centers, and recently the company signed a deal with the church’s genealogy non-profit, FamilySearch.org.
Ancestry.com’s huge advantage over services like 23andMe is its age; since it has been collecting ancestral data about its users for decades, it knows health information not just about its users, but about their great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. That information, coupled with surveys and modern-day genetic testing, can inform users of any HEREDITARY CONDITIONS that run in their family, and help them project health problems in their future. Recently, the company has been testing a “family health history experience,” which will eventually help people use their family trees to aggregate family health history from their living family members. “Our records give us a lot of family health history.”..

As Ancestry.com pivots into medical research, it would be wise to learn from the example of 23andMe, which has spent much of its life tangled up with federal regulators. 23andMe is Silicon Valley’s BIOTECH darling — a sexy, headline-grabbing company that was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, a biologist who married Google co-founder Sergey Brin—but its reception by the government has been less glowing. After being told that it wasn’t allowed to market its spit-in-a-vial genetic test as a medical diagnostic, 23andMe went ahead and did it anyway...Outside the consumer realm, though, 23andMe has had some victories. The company’s massive database landed it some megadeals with pharmaceutical giants Genentech and Pfizer earlier this year, and last month, it launched its own drug-discovery lab, 23andMe Therapeutics.

Like 23andMe, Ancestry.com eventually hopes to make money by selling anonymized data about its users to large pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Already, the site has has had some initial conversations with companies that “might value [its] data for purposes of research,” Sullivan said, though they haven’t struck any deals yet. Those deals, if they happen, risk sparking privacy worries among Ancestry.com’s users, as they did when 23andMe began selling its data to the highest bidder. But Sullivan and Freestone are confident that even if some users grimace at the idea of their genetic information being sold to Genentech or Pfizer, the long-term benefits will make the discomfort worth it.
More:https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/ancestrycom-medical-research-juggernaut_n_7008446.html

NYT, Jews Take Issue with Posthumous Mormon Baptism Beliefs, 03/03/2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/us/jews-take-issue-with-posthumous-mormon-baptisms-beliefs.html

[jberryhill]

225. See? You just dont like African Americans

What a crock.

[appalachiablue]

255. Yep, bull. "DNA Shaming'?! Not to mention 'Thar's plenty gold in thiss here stuf too!' Yessir.

This topic made me recall a supervisor in DC, one of the worst, laziest ever, even though she was very smart. Really into geneaology and loved the Mormons with their big records mountain in UT. Proud Danish heritage which she mentioned frequently, the woman grew up and longed for Idaho where she was making her New England newsman husband retire.
Truly the most racist person I've ever been around workwise, although not open about it with typical ugly, vulgar statements. Just deep, deep distain for Greeks ('they smell') Mediterraneans, black people- everyone 'non-Aryan.' A classic Nazi Women's Auxililary type in looks and views that Goebbels & many would have chosen for frau in a minute! Shudder, had to leave that place.

[Hekate]

251. I find it amusing that people voluntarily pay to give up every shred of privacy, including medical.

But ooooh booga booga, what I'm really afraid of is finding out I may have an African ancestor 200 years back. According to the OP. That's gotta be it.

[appalachiablue]

264. PBS genealogy programs like "Finding Your Roots" with Prof. Henry 'Skip' Gates

are really interesting, the ties they come up with especially. The show also advertises Ancestry I think.

But I don't know if many people are really aware of the MEDICAL data collection aspects with the 2 major genie kit companies. I suspected then read a few things about it- serious health and medical history stuff/potential.

The alleged fear of learning about African background from years ago may exist with some hard core types but not like it will be published, that widely anyway. Sounds like some kind of "DNA Shaming" here, maybe for other motives.

There are personal birth history situations already mentioned here by some. I could see discomfort arising if test takers initiate contact with unknown fathers and relatives, and maybe in the case of adoption, matters that people might not want revealed. Who knows. ~ I've had a kit for 2 years, but have procrastinated. Maybe that's a good thing, although I'd love to verify we have some Portuguese/Iberian, Native American or other ancestry as mentioned by elders.

[Hekate]

273. I do enjoy that show very much: Prof Gates has a way of telling the stories that is charming. nt

[appalachiablue]

288. He's excellent, a scholar, literary critic, teacher and more. Yes his manner and

communication skills are terrific. Gates has done several great PBS series like the beautiful Railroads tour thru Africa in 1995, "Many Rivers to Cross" about AAs in America, and others. His background and long career are impressive, educated at a WV college where he's from, Yale and Cambridge, then teaching at Harvard and continuing so many varied projects over the years. Gates' own family history is quite interesting too.

~ The many noted guests he has on 'Finding Your Roots' and research that goes into their background is amazing. It was so ironic when with Bill Maher, Gates presented info. about a shared ancestor of another famous person-Bill O'Reilly! Maher handled it really well, funny.

[CountAllVotes]

39. I was told I was part Indian

It made sense being my mother was adopted by a Cherokee indian. However, no, I am not. I came back 99% European.

The foster aunt is still alive. She won't take a DNA test to prove that she is part Indian. I do not know why but to each their own.

I found a first cousin which is a big deal. My mother was adopted and long ago I thought I had figured out who her real father was (a rich boy from Texas that was married and fooling around with an 18 year old = spot on!). As for the first cousin I found, he is very rude and arrogant and I want nothing to do with a man whose very rich uncle dumped a baby and left her behind when he had the means to support her! Shame on this entire family! Shame!!

So, I sort of wanted to know, but not really.

Another cousin I found (Mother's real grandma's family) paid for it due to my reluctance to do so. He told me afterwards, "I have one match! It is ... YOU". This other first half cousin is a very nice man and we've become good friends. I am proud to know him!

Glad to know the truth finally in hindsight. It puts many issues to rest once & for all!

[redstatebluegirl]

46. Native American? I would embrace that living in Oklahoma.

It is a very rich culture!

[CountAllVotes]

117. Yes indeed

Something to be proud of I told my foster aunt. She is finally learning at the age of 90 years!

[TexasProgresive]

40. I would be disappointed if I did the DNA test and it showed African genes.

These are stereotypes I know- but I got no rhythm and I can't jump. Actually it wouldn't hurt my feelings to find African American genes in me. I would love to rub it into the noses of my awful, racist, prejudiced relatives.

[redstatebluegirl]

44. Well a lot of African Americans I know don't have rhythm and can't jump.

As my Black friends have said the stereotypes are there for a reason.

[CentralMass]

41. I'm skeptical that the results could be sold.i could careles

whaat my ethnic or racial makeup is. it is clear enough to me..

[redstatebluegirl]

45. I get that, but I also feel that some are afraid to find out because

they don't want to be seen as a minority, they enjoy their majority status.

[CentralMass]

59. Well ok. It's not my thing. I wouldn't waste a dime on letting some company get ahold of my my DNA

[redstatebluegirl]

62. They already have it if you have been in a hospital, but you don't. No problem.

[jberryhill]

100. Thats ridiculous

Hospitals don’t waste their time or money sequencing the DNA of random patients.

Aside from which, unlike the terms of these DNA test hawkers, hospitals are bound by HIPAA.

You are here to shill for these tests. I get that. But the notion that people don’t indulge in this idle fad out of some sort of racial fear is odd.

[Tipperary]

124. That is utter nonsense.

[Codeine]

182. You keep outdoing yourself

with ignorant statements based on zero knowledge.

I am impressed.

[cwydro]

214. The only thing missing from this thread

is the door buzzard!

Perhaps he’s afraid of having his ethnicity judged...

[Hekate]

259. Oh deary deary me. Now you've done it.

[Tipperary]

187. How would anyone know their status? My results came by email.

Anyone could lie. Even you.

[PatentlyDemocratic]

48. OP should be ashamed

If that is what you think of your white coworkers, you need to reassess your bias. If someone posted unfounded accusations of racism against their black coworkers, it would be unacceptable and condemned.

[redstatebluegirl]

52. Ok then, what I see is a bias, that many democrats refuse to see.

I have students of color, so I know how they are treated by people who claim to be progressive who are totally not.
Sorry I am not ashamed!

[HipChick]

83. This has been raised many times....Dems put blinders on...

you have nothing to be ashamed of...

[MaryMagdaline]

126. Agree. Co-workers are like family. We know their faults. If you suspect

Bias it is probably there.

I don't know if you are white or AA but you may be underestimating the fear of co-workers of discovering Jewish blood. Anti-semitism was as strong in European countries as racism against blacks is in the USA.

[Tipperary]

329. I have been close with Co-workers over the years, but I have never considered them family.

I have always worked in professional work environments, and I cannot imagine judging someone with whom I interact professionally as a racist, or making assumptions about them based on whether they would take a DNA test or not.

[Dennis Donovan]

49. I'm a genealogist and have never felt the need to hide anything

...from the Family Hx I've constructed. And some of it wasn't very pretty (I'm related to the Bushes ).

[redstatebluegirl]

55. Well I am related to Ronald Reagan. Go figure....

[MaryMagdaline]

129. That would be enough to scare me off DNA testing😊

Like Obama finding out he was related to Dick Cheney. Sad day in American history.

[Binkie The Clown]

51. My great-great grandfather was French and lived in Haiti. His wife was black.

So I'm 1/16th African/Haitian.
In other words, I'm 100% American.
America is the great melting pot. Get in the pot and melt already!

[redstatebluegirl]

54. Yes it is! But alot of American's claim to be 100 percent white when they are not.

I am just trying to make a point here.

[janx]

57. Yes. That is clear.

Just what that point is is still confusing though.

[redstatebluegirl]

70. I you are truly progressive and liberal you should not care, you should embrace

your ethnic diversity.

[Tipperary]

107. So everyone should have an Ancestry test done to prove they are truly progressive?

Aaahh. Got it.

Sounds to me like you think you are vastly superior to your work colleagues. That’s a shame.

[dawg]

60. I had trace amounts of North African DNA in my results.

I suspect that it is related to the surprisingly large amount of Iberian heritage that the test also indicated.

I was expecting to see some Native American in the results based on family history, and I had also considered the possibility that the "Native American" DNA could come back as "West African", but, sadly, neither showed up.

I'm fascinated by stuff like this.

[greatauntoftriplets]

64. I was disappointed to learn that I'm 100 percent European.

Made me feel so blah.

[Retrotech]

123. Being white is the worst

I'm surrounded by diverse, ethnic and interesting people from rich and deep backgrounds. I'm just a boring white male with no story or history to be proud of. I really enyy my POC coworkers in that regard.

[EX500rider]

207. I have no problem being descended from Scottish Highlanders and Viking warriors.

Why would white people have no story or history? Every country and race does.

[RobinA]

247. Oh, Nonsense

The history of Europeans is just as interesting as anyone else. My background is pretty solidly German Palatine. Because I was trying to make a point that we are actually French, I dug into the history of the area of Alsace one branch of the family is from and drew a series of maps of who controlled the area when. I learned A LOT about European history as a result of my digging. It was fun and interesting. This notion that white is bland is just the current fad because snarking on white people is OK at the moment.

[janx]

256. Yes, the Europeans certainly had their own tribes.

Re Alsace (and German versus French), that was continually changing and had less to do with genetics than it did with nationality. In the results of a DNA test, it would just be considered Western European--at least thus far.

[RobinA]

338. Yep

The Palatines pretty clearly identified as Germanic and brought it over with them. I have to brush up on my Alsatian cooking now.

[janx]

341. Many years ago I was in Strasbourg

and ate something like pork with Swiss cheese over a flat pastry. It sounds gross now, but it was so delicious. There may have been kraut involved--can't remember now, but damn it was good. It sounds heavy, but the flavors were delicate and well balanced.

[LeftInTX]

298. I'm half Middle Eastern and half Scotts Irish.

Based on my DNA, those Eurpoeans got around! The Mid-Eastern, not so much....

[Skittles]

174. see, that is how I would feel

I would LOVE to find some AA or Jewish ancestry! Looks like we don't fit that ridiculous stereotype, greatauntoftriplets!

[greatauntoftriplets]

186. There wasn't even any sign of the Iroquois ancestor we're supposed to have.

But my sister just sent in her test last week and I'm curious to compare. It's always nice to buck stereotypes.

[janx]

191. Sometimes those romantic stories get

passed down for generations and nobody questions them. It happened in my family too. But the science does not lie.

[greatauntoftriplets]

194. That's very true.

We at least had ancestors living in the area at the right time, which may have lent credence to the story.

[Skittles]

193. my great-grandfather was left on a doorstep as a baby!

he could have been anything!

[greatauntoftriplets]

195. I know a woman who was adopted who did a test.

There were no real surprises in her results. But you never know!

[Drahthaardogs]

200. I was able to find out who my great grandfather was

He was from a rather important Texas family and impregnated my great grandmother and left her ( probably because of her italian heritage). He was a mining engineer. Her family were miners.

I had a hunch, but not much else based on some old documents. Anyway, I found a great grandson of the Nan I suspected, and he agreed to a y-DNA test that I paid for.

Results proved we had the same great grandfather. Family mystery solved!

[greatauntoftriplets]

204. Now that's very interesting.

Sad story for your great grandmother, though.

[Drahthaardogs]

205. He was a dick

She was awesome! His loss. He married a morman woman and died very young. Her children went on to be scientists, engineers, religious leaders, and doctors.

[greatauntoftriplets]

206. Good for her!

Sounds like she was better off without him.

[jberryhill]

316. Was there a "Merry Christmas" doormat?

[Hekate]

332. No, but it sure was a good thing the stork beat off that door buzzard before leaving...

[tavernier]

68. I am Eastern European, first generation off the boat.

My grandparents, both mom and dad’s side, had never seen a person of color. I was in the Baltics visiting a few years back and there were none. A young lady of mixed race waited on me in a day side trip to Helsinki and that was it. My recent DNA confirmed that I was 99 % from the region of Latvia and 1% Estonia. Dad did once tell me of an Estonian aunt of his. I am probably the first person in my family ever to see a person of color, including Asian and Indian and American Indian and African, although there were travelers, or gypsies as the Latvians called them, in fairly large numbers throughout Eastern Europe.

Obviously I don’t come from slave owners, but that’s not the point. My father was a racist even though he had never known any people of color before he stepped off that boat at age 22. It was 1950 and America was in its height of racial tensions. All he knew about negroes, the accepted term in those days, was that they looked different. We would drive to Buffalo and he would ride through “the slums” and complained that the people
lived in broken down tenements and weren’t interested in making something of themselves. But he had no idea of the struggles and the brutality these people had just so recently endured, and the continuing inequality they suffered daily, at work, at school, at the simple act of entering a bathroom.

So, things have improved. At school I was educated about the civil war, about slavery, and I had black friends and teachers, and these days my grandchildren date black and white boyfriends and girlfriends and no one thinks much about it.

But it will remain a struggle, I’m certain, until we either all blend into one color, or into one understanding... That we are all of the same human race.

[B2G]

74. I had Alexa test my DNA.

I'm getting my barcode tatooed on next week.

[Dennis Donovan]

79. Alexa is the mother of my child...

Cute little kid except his signal screws up my Bluetooth speakers constantly...

[jberryhill]

104. Seriously

I’m fairly technologically oriented, and have not the slightest idea why I would want one of those eavesdropping devices.

I’m one of those people with tape over the camera on my laptop, so maybe it’s just me.

[cwydro]

210. I dont want one either.

No desire whatsoever.

[Historic NY]

77. Waiting on mine....

its being processed. Just curious about the Italian side, I suspect its the Sicilian city vs. the same Italian named city my grandfather came from. My grandmother always said people would come to the house constantly for advice.

[MichMary]

80. The only reason I can think of

to take one is to find out I'm NOT related to some of the assholes that show up at my family reunions.

[redstatebluegirl]

86. Well I am related to mine. But I did find some

Pleasure sharing my DNA with them

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

276. Hey, that's as good a reason as any to take a DNA test!

[elocs]

82. I personally don't know anyone other than me who has taken a DNA test.

I'm retired now but I did work with a lot of people in the last few years I worked and I never heard anyone talking about having a DNA test done. But I wouldn't widely apply my experience to all workplaces because that would just be anecdotal evidence.

[demmiblue]

88. I know exactly one person who has done a DNA test (health related).

Is this a thing? Also, what is the purpose of doing it?

I guess it would be interesting, but there are more important things to spend money on.

Is this a hit job on Elizabeth Warren (the only current reference to DNA testing that I have seen in the media), but dressed up as something else? Strange.

[MountCleaners]

89. According to my DNA test...

I have DNA from five continents (all except Oceania), and I look "white", although I get asked quite a bit if I am mixed race. Then again, I'm darker than most "Caucasian" people and it's credible that I have a lot of non-white DNA. My own European relatives found me through Gedmatch and aren't shy about getting their DNA done.

The surprise is that I'm more than 10% Asian, then again I do have a bit of an Asiatic look to me.

[Croney]

90. I will never have my DNA tested.

First of all, I picture them just throwing a pile of results down the stairs and choosing one they declare is me.

But the main reason is that I have no idea who my biological father was, and have no interest in finding out where I came from on that side of me. I think we are all made up of every race. It’s ridiculous to claim superiority based on what we see in the mirror.

[Bradshaw3]

91. The whole thing is ignorant

All humans are of African descent. And race is a superficial construct.

[redstatebluegirl]

96. But most white people do not understand this.

[jberryhill]

106. Have you taken a poll?

Please point to your data showing that “most white people don’t understand” grade school anthropology.

[Tipperary]

138. Yes indeed. Good point.

This thread has me reeling.

[charlyvi]

132. I would not be wrong in saying

that you know a very, very tiny sliver of "most white people". That you can make a broad brush statement like this is astounding.

[Codeine]

152. I think you need to move in a better circle

of white people. Evidently the faculty at Central Racist University are some desperately fucked-up individuals.

[cwydro]

254. Youre obviously so much smarter than

“most white people.”

[Hekate]

269. Redstatebluegirl, you are really grinding that ax. Has it occurred to you that the person who ...

....has issues about race is YOU?

[cwydro]

299. Spot on. nt

[Skittles]

343. no shit

[Chemisse]

92. I'm sure there are some people who fear the results for racist reasons.

But there are plenty - like me - who don't want their very essence defined and duly cataloged. There is no telling how that bank of information will be used in the future.

[meow2u3]

93. Those "white" people may not be of 100% European ancestry

IMO, most of them have some traces of Native American and/or African ancestry and they don't want to know it.

Side note: I'd be willing to take a DNA test because I'm a 3rd generation American of mixed European ancestry.

[cornball 24]

94. I am waiting for my DNA results and should have them within two weeks. I am positive that I have

African American heritage. I could not be more proud of my paternal ancestors and the selfless contributions they have made for the betterment of so many lives. My research has taken me on a wonderful path and I look forward to the DNA results that should substantiate my ancestry.

[fescuerescue]

95. I don't think this has ever come in conversation where I work

[redstatebluegirl]

99. I work with people who are highly educated in areas of sociology and science so they are not afraid.

[fescuerescue]

119. So do I

High tech company and you likely using one of my products to conduct this conversation.

I'm just saying that having DNA tests isn't something that has come up in conversation.


I don't think I understand though - in your original OP you said that you co-workers were afraid to get a test. So they are brave enough to talk about it----but to fearful to get one?

I'd love to be a fly on that wall!

[cwydro]

183. Highly educated and not afraid?

But in your OP you say they ARE afraid.

Can you explain?

[former9thward]

101. Since we are doing broad brush here

Do all minority people you work with (if any) do DNA tests? If not, why not?

[LisaL]

103. How do you know that?

Could be many reasons why someone doesn't want to do DNA test that have nothing to do with what you are speculating about.

[argyl]

105. Im white and took the DNA test looking for a little diversity. Id have been fine with it.

And it came back 99.7% Northwestern European.
Over 70% British/ Irish, which is roughly three out of four grandparents, about 15% French/German and 13% broadly Northwestern European. .2% was unassigned, and .1% was East Asian/American Indian, which would amount to one ancestor about ten times removed.
Maybe I’ve got a little Genghis Khan in me. Some Ashkanazi Jew, African, Iberian Peninsula, Middle Eastern would have been interesting.
But I reckon I’m about as Pure Dee white trash as it gets.

[sarah FAILIN]

110. This is ridiculous

I think it is also racist.
I refuse to take any sort of DNA test and discourage others from it because I think it is a trick to get our DNA info for the insurance companies. Once they know who has what genetically it will make not insuring high risk people so much easier after the ACA is eventually repealed.
Once you take that test, you no longer own the info. The company will do what they want with it.

[jmbar2]

111. Other reasons to not DNA test

The results could be used to screen you out for health insurance based on predisposition to diseases. Even if they say they aren't testing for those reasons, you never know how the DNA can be used in the future.

[Siwsan]

113. I don't give a holy rip in hell what I would discover my racial make up to be.

I am a 2nd and 3rd generation American on 3 out of 4 sides of my family - my paternal grandmother's family has been her since the early 1700's. There's lots of potential for anything, in that corner, and I'd welcome what ever it would show.

However, I won't do one because I don't want to end up in a dangerous medical data bank. I really don't want anyone digging in to potential genetic medical issues that can be used as leverage against me or other members of my family, because of something that might, or might not develop into a health problem.

[LexVegas]

116. Jesus Fucking Christ. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

118. Not sure this is a path for the world to take

I know my ancestors back to about 1850, some 50 or 350 years before that. Don't know what DNA would accomplish. Can they determine specific Native American tribes, I mean there are/were dozens of them. doubt it's worth identifying my .5% or less.

[janx]

133. DNA science is being refined all the time.

I'm not sure that scientists have gotten so far as to ferret out genetics of Native American tribes. If they have been able to do so to some extent, it wouldn't surprise me. The technology is still in its infancy. Also, some tests are more thorough/expensive than others.

DNA testing can be very revealing compared to the accounts your relatives (even those into online genealogy), genealogical databases, or written records have conveyed to you.

My brother did a spit test recently, looking for some kind of "exotic" (i.e. nonwhite) result. He didn't get that, but the scientific result he got was a far cry from what my other brother swore to when he searched names via online genealogy sites.

The more people are tested, the better the tests are refined. Again, this technology is very new, relatively speaking. From what I've read about these tests so far, results between siblings can vary in terms of percentages but will still have the same components.

[bucolic_frolic]

156. results between siblings

does not surprise me. i swear there are regressive genes or dominant genes because siblings can look like one side of the family, or the other, or like a grandparent.

But I would stack my genealogy against anything they could test me for because i have oral histories, census data to 1850 or 1810, and genealogies to the same time period though one branch was done decades ago by Mormon researchers to the early 1500s.

An alternative history I read once, and cannot specify the book because I don't remember, stated that Chinese servants were in Europe far earlier than official history knew. Like prior to or about the time of the Renaissance. Mona Lisa? Those almond eyes come from somewhere.

[janx]

181. Spit test!

You can find out. I'm tempted to take a different one from the one my brother took and compare results.

It was so funny that my spit-test brother was just dying to know what DNA lurked beneath the surface that we didn't know about, and it was #2 on the list: Irish.

It should not have been a surprise I guess. One other interesting factor: in the spit test he took, the results delineated between Great Britain and Ireland, so the Scots did not stand out as a separate genetic entity. (But Scandis did.) It's all a big soup up there anyway, and it's amazing that they can analyze DNA even to that specificity.

This is probably confusing to most of us because we tend to think in terms of nationalities and languages, which are different ways of thinking about people and history. It's fascinating.

[appalachiablue]

231. Interesting, I can believe about Asians in early Europe. Also Moors, No. Africans

in Europe, and Vikings and other sailing traders and pirates that were in Sardinia, the Mediterranean and all over. A rich and diverse history for sure. I know people from Pakistan with light aqua blue eye like I've never seen and black hair. Also Punjab Indians, mostly Sikhs with green eyes and rather fair skin, tall and features more like north Europeans.

[bucolic_frolic]

312. Yes

There were Arab invasions of southern Europe several times over the centuries. They invaded Sicily in the 1100s and the late 700s I think, after which Norman protectors were invited to rule. Norman Count Roger I built Normal style castles in Sicily that stand to this day. So it is reasonable to assume both Arab and French genes became part of the region.

[janx]

249. Sorry, I misunderstood you and thought you

were referring to your own DNA in that last paragraph!

Mea culpa.

Anyway, yes about physical appearances between siblings. It's toss of the dice.

[brooklynite]

120. Um, I wont do it because Im not remotely interested in geneaology.

[Tipperary]

154. No, no. You are clearly a white person afraid of possible others than white in your family tree.

[Codeine]

179. We can smell your fear. nt

[GusBob]

121. How much does a DNA test cost?

Why should everybody have one?

[Oneironaut]

217. Mine was about $100

[Cairycat]

128. At the age of 48

my husband found out that he's about 1/8 African American. We were cool with that. He reached out to other people researching common ancestors, and now is Facebook friends with cousins in a variety of shades. His AA ancestry most likely stems from 17th and 18th century white female indentured servants having children with black male slaves. These children married other people like them (with some marrying people who were more white or black). His ancestors on his father's side were mostly free people of color. The necessity for these ancestors to carry papers proving their freedom is providential for genealogy in the 21st century.

Growing up, my husband's father was rather reticent about his family and background. Other than that, he really had no clue growing up.

I think many people who think of themselves as white might be surprised to find African American ancestry in their DNA, it's true. I think many people who think of themselves as black, have some white ancestry. My husband was recently featured on a local access channel talking about his ancestry, but another panelist, who would be readily identified as a black woman, had a white great-great grandfather who had children with both his black slave and white wife and raised them all together. So while our country bears the guilt of white men forcing themselves on black women in many cases, you can't just assume that was always the case. As is so often true with human behavior, it was often more ambiguous than that.

[Marty Marzipan]

135. I did a DNA test...

... and I was disappointed that it showed no African-American. But plenty of other interesting non-Aryan roots.

"Purity tests" for racists sounds great! It goes both ways. I wonder how much white blood Louis Farrakhan has... ? How much Jewish blood Hitler had?

[Nailzberg]

136. Could care less about what my DNA says, I just don't want some corporation using the data.

[dembotoz]

139. casue no box says merican and it means i came from some shithole country

[Still In Wisconsin]

150. My wife is 1/16 Native American and her parents (Trump-humpers both) refuse to acknowledge it.

You better believe my three girls are proud of their 1/32 Native heritage though!

[Freelancer]

153. I'm a descendant of a Barbary pirate that enslaved thousands of Europeans

I'm descended from this monster and other North Africans that were probably fine people. I know this and am fine with it. Having my African heritage verified is NOT why I don't want a DNA test.

Here are three reasons against, just for starters:

1. DNA results are durable resellable information that can eventually wind up in the hands of governments and insurance companies to be used to determine risk factors, potentially resulting in denials, or being placed into risk "pools."

If you believe that the DNA company with the slick website is bending heaven and Earth to safeguard your info, that's just nuts. Their security password is probably DNA1234.

2. When you give your DNA you're also giving the DNA of your parents, your siblings, a big portion of the DNA of your cousins and of your children. Even if you ask, and they're cool with having their DNA "out there," You can't ask those yet to be born. They'll carry huge portions of that code in as well.

3. As DNA is researched, markers for violence, or insanity or god-knows-what may present themselves. Who wants their family to be subjected to some stigma, or placed on a watch list just because of their DNA?

Seems like a bit of a risk to take in return for a cute pie-chart with some percentages of nationalities on it, don't you think?

[appalachiablue]

268. Good points, esp. about future generations and selling $$ data. Creepy stuff.

From what little I've read, I can def. see insurance cos. requiring your DNA, to search into background Before approval.

[keithbvadu2]

155. We all have a king and a horse thief somewhere back there.

We all have a king and a horse thief somewhere back there.

[keithbvadu2]

160. White nationalists are flocking to genetic ancestry tests. Some dont like what they find

White nationalists are flocking to genetic ancestry tests. Some don’t like what they find

White supremacist Craig Cobb found out on a daytime TV show that DNA testing revealed his ancestry to be “86 percent European, and … 14 percent Sub-Saharan African.”

https://www.statnews.com/2017/08/16/white-nationalists-genetic-ancestry-test/

[FarPoint]

163. I don't do it because.....

I think these DNA tests go to a data bank for some tracking information that may haunt us all in some unpleasant fashion.

[Sam McGee]

165. An ol' Southern boy speaks . . .

I was born in 1944 and reared in Wilkinson County, MS -- poor, rural then and now. 70 % African-American. My great-great-granddaddy and all his extended family were slave owners. I have records from his plantation of slave purchases and sales, runaways, births, deaths, etc.

Sexual relations involving white men and black women are one of the best-kept secrets among Southerners -- but it's something we all understand, especially we older ones. During the over 200 years of slavery, and up until today, it was not unusual for a white man -- especially a wealthy, powerful one, but also poor whites -- to have one or more mixed-race children. In many wealthy families, Grandpa left provisions in his will to provide income for certain "favorite" slaves or servants. William Faulkner's g-grandfather is an example. Remember the senator from SC -- Strom Thurmond, who had a daughter by his family's maid?

Does anyone remember the scene in the movie "The Color Purple?" Oprah Winfrey's character has been arrested. Her family is discussing how to negotiate her freedom with the sheriff . . . one of the family members asks "Who are his black family?"

In my family, a distant uncle had a common-law black wife; they had eleven children. For the longest time, the children used the mother's name, then, one day, they all decided to start calling themselves by their (white) father's last name. Our entire white family damn near went nuts . . . except my grandfather who thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever experienced -- Granddad and the uncle with the black common-law wife were hunting and drinking buddies. When the uncle died, he provided for all eleven children in his will -- two became dentists, one a physician, two lawyers, one soldier, I forget about the rest -- not bad for poor, mixed-race children from rural South Mississippi.

So -- as the OP states, I'll bet a lot of Southern white folks aren't too excited about a DNA test.

I won't tell you what mine showed.

[redstatebluegirl]

167. Yep totally true.

[janx]

188. Aw c'mon!

You're going to tell us a great story like that and then tease us with your spit test results?

[Orange Free State]

168. I took the Ancestry DNA test some years back

And there were no surprises there. My father is my father, my son is my son, my sister is my sister, my ethnicity is exactly what I was told it was, except for 0.4% Pacific Islander! None of my other close relatives had it, each and every one 100% European. Wish I actually did have a little headhunter but I am told they measure DNA sequences and when it is a tiny amount like that it’s probably just genetic static, I probably happen to have a sequence that some Tongans also have, but not necessarily a real connection. I’m really really Scandinavian looking, blue eyes, sandy hair, sunscreen used all winter, etc. The least Tongan looking man around.

I worked campaigns with a man of Sicilian descent, who was very loudly and vocally down on Black people. If you know what many Sicilians look like (he did) and where Sicily is, you understand the irony. I got tired of it and said “Hey Joe, did you know the name of the first African who learned to swim?” He was expecting a racist joke of the type he constantly told. He said “No, what?” I said

“Guido.”

He was not happy with that but did dial it back some.

[Boxerfan]

169. My Mom was Cajun....

No need to know-I'm full of "mud blood".

That was the term for random racial sampling from what she told.....

I am sorta curious but not enough to spend a penny. I know I'm a mixed bag & my Dads lilly white germain side-they are nothing but thieves. Stole millions from me & my siblings-I just learned that a few years back & have no hope of ever having justice.

Proud of my Mud Blood.

Not so much of my fathers side. I've fought his demons all my life.

[flyingfysh]

173. I did one, the results were not quite what I expected

I had always been told that one of my grandmothers was one quarter Cherokee. The DNA test said no Indian ancestry. I got a copy of the Dawes rolls, which includes the official list of tribal members around 1890 or so, and found people who appear to be my relatives. Diagonally across the page was a huge rubber stamp "REJECTED". I read the details, and it appears that they originally tried to claim Chickasaw membership. After that, they also tried to claim Choctaw membership, and also Mississippi Choctaw. There was no mention of Cherokee in this document. It would have been an advantage to be recognized as members of one of these tribes, because they would have been entitled to land being given out to tribal members. (I suppose this could be considered some compensation for their original lands being stolen).

The conclusion: some of my ancestors were scoundrels. But you can't choose your ancestors.

The test showed no African ancestry, but I am sorry to say that a different ancestor owned two slaves. He went off to fight for the Confederacy, and his wife died. The slaves took care of the kids and kept them alive and in good shape (one of them being my ancestor).
The Davis who went to fight for the Confederacy apparently had an attack of good sense, and switched sides, joining the Union army. He died of smallpox before he could get back home after the war was over.

My brother-in-law took the test, and thought he might have some African ancestry. It turned out that he was partly East Indian!

[Oneironaut]

219. I would bet that's a pretty common story when it comes to the DNA tests.

People are told that their grandmother or grandfather was X% Native American, only to find out that they never were. This actually happened to me as well (though it was a great-great grandmother, and I expected the portion to be 0.5% at most, or something like that).

I did find out that I'm Irish, though, which was very surprising.

[MineralMan]

175. Personally, I can't think of any reason to do one at all.

Why would I? It wouldn't matter to me in any way, nor would it change anything. I just don't get why people are bothering in the first place.

[Arkansaw]

177. DNA

I am the family genealogist of a rather large family and have been working on it for about 30 years. Race was never important to my search but as my old tutor said, get the facts and let them tell the story.

A couple years ago at the family reunion I was talking to my two oldest aunts one 95 and the other 98 about DNA and the fact that if everyone had the test it may change the chart for some of the families because many time the father of the child is not the person on the birth certificate. My 95 year old aunt dug her toe in the grass and giggled and said “ they always said they didn't but many of them did”. Time may change the surroundings but people don’t change that much.

I found out that I am about 80% islander, British Isles that is, I was kind of disappointed that it wasn’t more exotic but the facts tell the story. I have records dating before the American Revolution and all the family I have found in America so far are southern.

[Lazy Daisy]

189. So which one of the DNA testing companies do you work for?

Personally I don't have it done because I think "they" are looking for something. And I'll be damned if I'm going to willingly give my information over to them, and pay for it to boot. I'm getting to an age where it won't matter, but my children and grandchildren......they'll have to live with the consequences of my actions.

[Ace Rothstein]

192. LOL

[Codeine]

199. Youve summed an entire thread up in three letters.

Well played, sir.

[RandySF]

201. I just sent my DNA to Ancentry.com

[Snackshack]

203. I think it is more,

A privacy concern than a racial one.

[GulfCoast66]

208. Nice story.

The white white people you work with say these things? Or you think the must feel that way... because???

Cause this southern white male has never heard that concern expressed.

Ever.

Really poor OP

[Spider Jerusalem]

209. I had my DNA tested for genealogical purposes, so did my parents

all three came back 99-100% European (with a "low-confidence" result of 1% European Jewish for me and 2% for my mother, which wouldn't be a terrible surprise, considering our German ancestry; that only shows up on ancestry.com though). I was kind of interested to see how many of my genetic relatives who no doubt think of themselves as "white Southerners" had detectable levels of specific African (Bantu, etc) ancestry, though.

[Loki Liesmith]

215. Why would they need to do a DNA test?

[RB TexLa]

218. My birth certificate says unknown for race so I've always

said I don't have a race. It's never been a problem for me. When others have made it a big deal I've simply decided they are not people to be concerned with or have in my life.

I have no reason to want to do a DNA test, nothing it would show has any meaning.

[applegrove]

220. Apparently whites in the south are on average 9% African American.

[LeftInTX]

294. I don't think so.

AA tend to have white blood. Not vice versa.

If the master was white and slave was black, then the child was raised by the mother. The child would then be assimilated in the black community.

It did not go the other way around, unless the slave owner wanted to raise a mulatto child in the white community. Or if a mulatto child escaped and joined a white community


My mom's family owned slaves. I have no AA blood. I have counted about 20 relatives who owned slaves. Most were well off. One family member owned 29 slaves. There is a black family that originates from them.

[Hekate]

221. Doing those ancestry tests is all the rage, or so the *commercials* tell you...

When you say "will not," you are making a whole lot of assumptions, it seems. Maybe some of them don't want to pay the money. Maybe some of them don't care. Maybe some of them have all the relatives they can handle. You really do not know, do you?

I won't, and I'm white. My husband won't, and he's white.

In my case, my late mother spent about 30 years doing very well researched family genealogies, finishing the fifth fat volume just before she died. You had to have known her, but when she worked on the Southern branch she was actually hoping to find evidence of an African American somewhere. Seriously. She would have told all her relatives, "Ha! So there!" Or words to that effect. But no luck. -- Anyway, I didn't even know there was a Southern connection in the family tree until she started writing them up.

So I've got 5 fat books of family history. And I know all about what ailed everybody my mother was related to and what they died of, because she told me that, too.

As for my husband, what are they going to turn up in his DNA? Europe is a graveyard for his family. He's the child of two Holocaust survivors who didn't want to stir the ashes. Aside from a brief family history he wrote when he was younger, neither does he.

Are you any the wiser now?

[FreeState]

226. I think your way off base and find this just as offensive

As stereotyping any minority.

It’s also easily disproved.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/white-nationalists-are-flocking-to-genetic-ancestry-tests-with-surprising-results/

[Iggo]

229. My sister wanted me to spit into one of those things.

My answer was, "I know where I come from."

(She got recessives, though...lol.)

[CTyankee]

236. My daughter gave me an Ancestry kit at Xmas to find out about my ancestry...

I got very sick right after xmas so I didn't do the spit thing. But I will do that soon.

I hope it is interesting and not just more of my family lore about English, Scottish, Scots-Irish stuff about my ancestry. It will be interesting...

[Catherine Vincent]

239. I did the 23 and me test

I was pissed I am 26 percent caucasian.

Just joking.

[phylny]

241. I have it easy.

My family came over from Italy in the late 1800s. I did the DNA test. I’m mostly Italian/Greek, some middle Eastern and a small slice of Turkish/Egyptian/Tunisian. Kinda cool.

[janx]

278. Agreed. n/t

[ileus]

250. How about, it costs money and doesn't give much info.

I've watched several of my friends post their results on FB, it's always goofy and doesn't reveal much info that's useful.

You may also want to consider probably 70% of more folks living today set foot on American soil many years after Slavery.

You may also want to consider many folks don't want / trust their DNA floating around on various servers for any agency to use.


Your idea that all whites who won't get a DNA test are racist is just wishful thinking. How many of these people you work with have you confronted about being racist for not getting a dna test? All of them? 14? 5? 2? None?

[DBoon]

257. we did a DNA test of our dog's ancestry

Turns out he is not part Lab as we thought, but is instead part Corgi.

He didn't really care.

[Codeine]

263. You just dont want to admit he was black lab. nt

[DBoon]

335. No

I don't want to admit he was half pit bull

Thug life and all that

[Tipperary]

336. Lmao!

[janx]

275. As he should not.

[jberryhill]

317. My German Shephard / Chihuahua mix was nonplussed about it as well

[mahatmakanejeeves]

323. That combination doesn't always turn out well.

[Lithos]

260. I'm not planning on taking such a test

Primarily because I'm not convinced about the privacy aspects - particularly with it being shared with an insurance company. Otherwise, I already know I'm a mongrel whose genetics are likely more than Western Europe.

L-

[samir.g]

282. I'm seeing the opposite, white people are loving those tests

Tons of the white people are getting those and trumpeting the results, like they are overjoyed to finally have some sort of heritage to show off.

[leftstreet]

293. Bingo

Can't believe no one has mentioned that yet

[janx]

287. Thank you, Comrade

[janx]

289. Congratulations, Comrade

[marlakay]

291. I did a test my daughter

Real into the ancestry thing. Has our tree pretty far back.

Did 23andme. Said I was 100% European, mostly Irish and British with 14% French and German.

Didn’t really surprise me, wouldn’t have bothered me if I had any from anywhere else.

Found out 1/2 my ancestors came to America early in 1600’s and the Irish part in the mid 1800’s.

[Hekate]

295. Pretty much how it was for my mother's side of the family. Dad's side was a bit different...

...with his grandparents on his mother's side coming in from Alsace Lorraine (Dad was born in 1918, so that gives you the range); and his father's side more of a puzzle. Mom-the-genealogist traced his family name to 1750 on the East Coast, and was never able to "get them across the water." I found out after she passed on that that was about the time a lot of Scots-Irish came over, so that might be the case with old James.

Interesting things pop up when you delve into your family. If any tintypes/daguerrotypes/photos exist from the mid-1800s you can sometimes discern striking family resemblances among your kin today. In the case of Dad's ancestor James, I was struck by the persistance of the names James and Robert, right down to Dad's brother Bob. On Mom's side, the matrileneal name Anne has persisted for generations.

And my people evidently had the itchy feet typical of so many early Americans: we don't seem to stay in one spot for more than a generation or two.

I grew up knowing I looked like my immediate relatives, but growing up among Asians and Polynesians I had no idea I looked "Irish" until I visited Boston in my 30s. Visiting Ireland in my 60s was amazing. Whatever the English Dissenters who came in the early 1600s looked like, the stamp on our faces now is that of the Irish who came at the time of the Famine. Other things as well seem to have travelled along the genes.

This is a weird, weird thread. Someone used the term "DNA shaming." I'm beginning to think what we've spotted is that nearly-mythological beast "reverse racism." There is nothing wrong with learning about your family history -- every human being has a story they are entitled to, neither less nor more than any other's story.

[LeftInTX]

296. Americans of northern Euro ancestry

Have Euro DNA.

Very few have SSA DNA. Sone have 1% due to out of Africa. I have 0 African DNA. I have about .5% NA, but it is probably due to ancient DNA, not due to family relations with NA.

I tested my mine because I'm half Armenian, but look European. I get teased about it. My Mid East DNA is 47%.

My mom is 100% Scotts Irish from the South. I found they owned slaves.

Most white southerners do not have African American DNA. Most African Anericans have at least 10% white DNA. That is because offspring with slave owners were considered black or mulatto. They were assimulated within the AA community, not the other way around.

Sure, there are exceptions and some of mixed race were raised white, or they escaped ans assimulated in the white community.

I don't think your co-workers are worried about AA or NA DNA. They are probably convinced that their DNA is "boring".

I wouldn't have tested if I wasn't half Armenian.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

305. This is satire, right? Wasn't there a story recently

about a woman in an "academic environment" who was doing a racist blog and when caught she said it was satire? I thought this might be related to that.

[Sherman A1]

307. As you have information

as to what is in people's hearts and heads, please tell me, A white guy who has been doing genealogy research for over a decade and has the means to afford the test why I haven't had it done?

[Fix The Stupid]

313. If I were a russian troll, this is exactly the kind of OP I would post. Jus' sayin. N/T

[redstatebluegirl]

319. Oh please no troll here just

A crazy old broad who needs to keep my crazy thoughts to myself. It popped in my head and I posted never again taking on race on here not smart.

[Squinch]

325. Take on race all you want. Just dont be posting

Last edited Mon Mar 12, 2018, 12:52 PM - Edit history (1)

weird and unfounded accusations about people here.

You made a lot of comments about the responses to this thread that had absolutely no foundation in the actual responses in this thread. I've liked your comments in the past but have to agree with this poster who is saying your comments are reading like they're intentionally divisive.

[Tipperary]

337. This. eom

[redstatebluegirl]

347. I think the frustration and anger this President has brought on me is

making me nuts. This is not normal for me, I think I need a long break from Politics, news everything. Not sleeping well, not eating right. When I had the conversation I had with the two coworkers when I told them I had done the test it pushed me over the edge. Sorry to have offended, it is not my normal way of doing things.

[Hekate]

333. Hm. You got on your hobbyhorse and rode it all over the place, maintaining your POV that ...

(1) the majority of white people are deep-down racists who fear the "truth"
and (2) that you can tell just by looking at people who among them is "100% white" and who is not.

You stuck to your story without deviation through the whole thread.

All I can say is "Cool story, bro."

[Tipperary]

339. For a highly educated academic, your grammar and punctuation skills are lacking.

And, um, “broad?” Seriously?

[janx]

342. Completely different voice.

Well done.

[alarimer]

318. Those tests are mostly bullshit

They might be fraudulent and they raise privacy implications. But the main thing is that they do not have enough information to tell that a particular gene is from a particular place. So before slandering people as racist because they won't do those test, assume that some people just haven't fallen for the scam that is ancestry DNA tests or they have privacy concerns about the whole process. I won't do it for those reasons. And I simply do not care who my ancestors were. Beyond 2-3 generations in the past, it DOES NOT MATTER.

"It sure looks like science," says anthropologist Jonathan Marks of the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, one of the authors of the study. "Well, it is science. It’s done by scientists, and it’s done on DNA samples. And it produces real data."

But, Marks points out, these companies are preying on the public because they simply don’t have enough comparative information to pinpoint a gene on a world map. They might match your DNA to some group on some continent, but what they don’t tell you is that you would probably also match the group next door if only they had some of those samples as well.

More insidious, these companies pretend to trace your unique ancestry through mitochondrial DNA, but that’s simply not possible. A few hundred years, a few generations, and every person's history is a genetic mishmash. One little gene isn't going to inform anybody about anything.

As Marks puts it, "That’s the beauty of this scam. The companies aren’t scamming you. They’re not giving you fraudulent information. They are giving you data, real data, and allowing you to scam yourself."

https://www.livescience.com/2084-dna-kits-secrets-scientific-scam.html

[BannonsLiver]

320. I took one

Also found out my ancestors owned a plantation in present day North Carolina that likely had slaves. What should I do about that?

[LeftInTX]

345. I found out my "poor Southern" ancestors

were not poor in 1850. Plantations and slaves.

The poor part came after the Civil War.

Good gosh, they also had hordes of kids. My 3rd g grandfather had 24 adult kids, all conceived out of wedlock. One of his sons was a NC state senator, so the NC legislature "legitimized" all 24 of them. I thought this was fascinating.

[NRaleighLiberal]

324. I forgot to comment on this yesterday, but will now.

I've done quite a bit of traditional genealogy and do find it interesting.

I don't consider paying that fee a good use of my money right now (we are both self employed and are careful with our spending).

Though it would be interesting to get genealogical/origin information, I want no part in knowing propensity for this or that affliction. My feeling is that knowing such things would change how we look at our future. I'd simply rather now know if I was in some genetic bullseye for a particular disease that I really can't do anything about.

So, knowing that part of my family came from Kent area in the UK, to Cape Cod, (and that Sir Walter Raleigh is a very very distant relative) - and that another part is from Austria - and the two other parts are from Normandy France, via Quebec, into Michigan, into New England - all done spending fascinating hours on line with Ancestry.com - that's plenty enough for me. I know from a family reunion that I am 1/16 Jewish. It's all fun stuff - realizing that one is a kind of genetic mixmaster!

[mia]

326. Just stop.

This post reeks of bigotry. It does nothing to further the cause of the Democratic Party.

[Tipperary]

331. I think it is clear that the purpose of the op is the opposite of that. eom

[GetRidOfThem]

328. I am white and did mine!

North Africa, and even some Ashkenazy... all in the mix with my mostly German and some Irish immediate ancestry...

Fun to do!

[MountCleaners]

346. I think white people who get it done probably have interesting ancestry

My ancestry is all over the place - my DNA is from five continents. I'm always suprised when white people post their DNA and they're 100% Northern European. I live in a big city and so many "white" people here are NOT 100% from Northern Europe. Then I go on ancestry and see the same thing, and I wonder why there aren't more mongrels like me.

I'm glad I got it done. I'm majority European, but I always felt left out among white people. My skin is pale but they're always telling me I'm "exotic" and "ethnic" or they ask, "what are you?" Kids at school used to call my brother "Taco" or "Ayatollah", alternately. They couldn't decide if he was Iranian or Mexican! Turns out we do have some Iranian DNA!