I've commented on the African American Lives series a few times. One thing I've said in other threads is that these massively more data rich ancestry analysis tests aren't going to tell you anything you don't already know in 99% of the cases. That doesn't mean that it's not worth it to get tested, but if the kit costs you hundreds or thousands of dollars, most people are really better off passing I think. When these tests get down to the $10-20 range then I'll be sanguine if a friend of mine starts mooting the possibility of purchasing a kit. By analogy, I wouldn't get worked up over a $10 session with an astrologer, but I would get angry if a friend of mine was going to spend $250 on such a thing.
Over the past week I have noted is that Henry Louis Gates Jr. has been talking up the fact that he has a high proportion of European ancestry as if it was surprising. My first thought was, "Henry, who you foolin'?" Seriously, I watched his series Wonders of the African World, and walking amongst Africans Gates' white ancestry was rather stark. At one point Gates tells a "Persian" man in Tanzania who seemed to exhibit no evidence of Persian ancestry that in America he would have been considered black. The man was not pleased, but, I also assumed Gates was bringing this up because he himself was far less African looking than the putative "Persian."
In any case, here are some pictures:
In the first, you see Gates. In the second, you see in the foreground Jerry Rawlings, former head of state of Ghana, and the son of a Scottish man and a Ghanaian woman. Finally, you have Barack Obama, the son of a white American woman and a Kenyan man. In the latter two cases we have situations where we have individuals whose immediate forebears are white and black respectively. On physical inspection I can not conceive of how Gates would not have assumed he had a great deal of European ancestry, especially in light of the fact that he has journeyed in Africa and knows what the typical range of phenotype of Africans is. Below the fold are two men who were the first males to show up in a google image search for "Ghana."
Of course, phenotype is a small sampling of the full genotype, and I have noted before that a particular appearence does not necessarily imply a particular ancestry. Nevertheless, the probability that Gates had a lot of European ancestry (and that it shouldn't have surprised him) is rather high when you consider that the African American population as a whole seems to be about 20% European in origin. This number emerges out of historical studies, as well as classical genetic markers and more recent genomic analyses. All the vectors point to this figure. Because this is expectation, one assumes that there will be variance across the population, so some individuals will be African American socially, but predominantly European ancestrally.
The overall point is that sometimes genetics tells us a lot about human psychology. If I was an alien from another planet, and with these images as the only points of reference, I doubt I would assume that Gates was genetically closer to the Ghanaian men than he was to William Jefferson Clinton, pictured in the background of the Rawlings photo. But the reality is that Gates is a human being, even if he is a Harvard professor, so he isn't dragged around by his lying eyes.
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Gates' reactions don't make sense at all. One, what you said: he's obviously got European genes. But two: a rather tiresomely large part of the show was devoted to investigating a family legend of a white forebear. Turns out it wasn't true. This does not convince his father, who sez that science is "bullshit."
So why does Gates act surprised that he is part white when his family strongly believes in having a white paternal forebear? I sense a ton of ambivalence.
Turning to the science, his mtDNA is white (Jewish, in fact). How'd that happen? I thought the Euro genes in African Americans were form the daddy's side.
I thought the Euro genes in African Americans were form the daddy's side.
it is more common. that is, a higher % of Y tests show european than mtDNA, but, i think americans get the wrong impression from the high tide of white racism between 1800 and 1930 in regards to interracial (black-white) sex in the USofA. before we were a republic with full sufferage for white males (only by the 1820s) there was probably lot of intercourse (so to speak) between slaves and white indentured servants (often irish).
as for the jewish mtDNA, who knows? a DNA test is not sufficient by itself to 'prove' anything, but needs to weighed in its historical context, a serious problem at the 'interpretation' of these findings.
"Over the past week I have noted is that Henry Louis Gates Jr. has been talking up the fact that he has a high proportion of European ancestry as if it was surprising. My first thought was, "Henry, who you foolin'?" Seriously, I watched his series Wonders of the African World, and walking amongst Africans Gates' white ancestry was rather stark. "
I would no simplify things so far.
The appearance of people depends not only on their genetic makeup but ALSO on the conditions (clima, etc) under which they currently live.
I live in Africa and I would not conclude, at first instance, that there is something NOT AFRICAN in Gates appearance.
Black appearance differ from Whites not only in (un)fairness of skin but also the form of the nose, hair type etc.
Nobody can seriously label somebody as Black only on basis of the colour of the skin because this trait presents a large amount of variation in "pure" Blacks themselves. Other traits are necessary to do the "disambiguation".
Besides this point there is some variation between different regions of Africa.
When people from West Africa come to Southern Africa to participate in sports events one thing the hosts always have noted is that their visitors are (on average) significantly bigger and darker than themselves.
And the locals are Blacks themselves!
To make my point clearer: at first (only visual) inspection I would conclude that Rawlings and Obama have some NOT AFRICAN ancestry, but not Gates! (appearance of nose, mouth, etc + skin appearance).
I should add that I live in a society (Mozambique) and in a city (Maputo) where the number of race-mixed individuals (mainly mullatos) is large enough that you could not come here and not see them on a daily basis and almost everywhere!
The fact of the matter is that there are "pure" Blacks who appear to be fairer skinned than even most mullatos and you have to resort also to other signals to "disambiguate" between them.
I live in Africa and I would not conclude, at first instance, that there is something NOT AFRICAN in Gates appearance.
i didn't say there isn't something african in gates' appearence, rather, i said there is something caucasoid in it. that seems plainly obvious. as for phenotype, i am aware that it is more than skin color, own complexion intersects with that of some 'black' south africans. nevertheless, between rhodesia and the sahara it seems that the complexion of unadmixed africans exhibits a range where gates' own would not be included.
note: this comment was posted before the previous comment was read.
Diana,
I suspect the "Jewish" mtDNA Gates has could be from Melungeon ancestors.
Also, remember that many frontiersmen in the US South East like
Daniel Boone, were of Jewish Sephardic descent.
Here's more on Daniel Boone
Diana,
I suspect the "Jewish" mtDNA Gates has could be from Melungeon ancestors.
Also, remember that many frontiersmen in the US South East like
Daniel Boone, were of Jewish Sephardic descent.
Here's more on Daniel Boone
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Diana,
I suspect the "Jewish" mtDNA Gates has could be from Melungeon ancestors.
Also, remember that many frontiersmen in the US South East like
Daniel Boone, were of Jewish Sephardic descent.
Here's more on Daniel Boone