New Survey: The Social Construct of Race and Ethnicity -
One's Self-identity after a DNA Test
There is a new survey available asking for your perception
of your “Ethnic Percentages” after taking an autosomal DNA test. It focuses on
the chart or map that shows your percentages of various populations. This is
the first of its kind and is run by Western Michigan University at Kalamazoo.
Such surveys may be the start of gathering data on testers’ perceptions of DNA
testing. I greatly welcome more in other aspects of DNA testing.
The autosomal test is offered by the five major DNA
companies: Family Tree DNA, 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage and Living DNA. (At
Family Tree DNA, the test is called Family Finder.) Each of these companies has
some sort of map and/or pie chart listing the various population groups related
to your DNA results. This is often called “Ethnicity Percentages” by the lay
person. However, many testers view this information as belonging to a race or
ethnic group.
I urge all of you who have tested to take this first-ever survey
on the topic so there is a better understanding of the public’s insight of
their DNA results in the area of “Ethnicity Percentages”. The questionnaire is
a group of simple questions asking how you felt before and after taking the
test. You are anonymous.
But first, some background as often these terms are confused
and neither of them correctly apply to what you receive as a comparison in your
autosomal testing. Sadly, the word
“race” and “ethnicity” are incorrectly used by most of the testers and the
companies misuse the term “ethnicity”.
Perhaps, a better view of this can help those with questions/concerns
and the actual value of this portion of your test.
Race
Race is considered a group of people of a common ancestry,
often distinguished from others by physical characteristics such as skin, hair
type, bone structure, stature, etc. But what if a person has a black parent and
a white parent. What race are they then? What if a person has three white
grandparents and one black one? They are more white than black, but society
doesn’t view it as biological as it is. Another reason to consider the
biological view of race is that people are all 99.9 percent alike in their DNA,
making persons with different racial backgrounds more alike than different. The
old 1800 adage of a drop of “black blood” makes you black, continues today, but
only in the United States. Given this, race is often the result of a person’s
social beliefs and biases.
Race places a large role in countries that exercise
genocide. For example, the Rwandan
genocide was based on the width of noses.1,2
Geneticists tell us that the human population began in
sub-Saharan Africa where more melanin produced darker skin so there is
protection against the sun, etc. As people migrated away from the equator, they
evolved in order to adapt to the climate; therefore, less melanin was produced
so skin was lighter. Obviously, it took thousands of years and selective
breeding for the genes to alter.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity is defined as not a physical construct but shared
social, cultural and historical experiences.
An ethnic group shares common beliefs, values, and behaviors. Ethnicity
can then include people who may have different physical appearances, but who
share common believes and cultural or national experiences, including religious
or linguistic traits.
Ask yourself: What
makes my ancestor Irish or French or any other group of people? If a person
lives in a country for “x” number of years does that make them a particular
ethnic group? Then ask yourself does the British descendants living in South
Africa make them African when we tend to think an African has dark skin?
Understand that DNA, even your DNA, existed before political
boundaries were drawn and that people traveled much more than we may expect. For
example, the Tarim Basic mummies which were dated from 1800 BCE to the first
centuries BCE were found on the Silk Road in China in the 1900s. DNA testing
showed those mummies continually inhabited the Tarim Basin from 2000 BCE to 300
BCE and came from Europe, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley and other populations with
several haplogroups.3,4
As millions of people have taken a DNA test to determine
their “Ethnicity Percentages”, which is really termed bio-geographical
comparisons or regional percentages, some people are shocked by the result;
some are not. Some do not have ancestors from a particular population group, so
they feel the results is in error. Know
that we all have missing lines in our pedigree chart and some of these
comparisons to population in certain regions do go back way beyond what we can
find in man-made records. For example, my mother’s all-female line from a
branch of Scandinavians, but I have no one in my pedigree chart who is from
there as I am stuck in 1788 in Kentucky. I may never find someone from that
area. It could be many hundreds of years ago.
The old adage you can’t judge a book by its cover appears to
apply to people as well.
The Changes in your
“Ethnic Percentages”
What many testers do not realize is that each DNA genealogical
testing company selects their own group of populations or a particular region
with whom to compare you. Over time those groups will change as more is learned
about our DNA make-up and information is refined. The percentages within a
group may also change. It is important to note that this part of your DNA test
is not as scientific as calculating your shared segments on each chromosome.
This bio-geographical or regional comparison (often called “Ethnic
Percentages”) can be very beneficial to those who have family stories of being
Asian, African, Native American, Jewish, etc. if they test several family
members as every child inherits differently and some in a family may have
received enough of the sequence for that population or region than others. It
also helps adoptees or those with recent dead-ends on their pedigree chart
understand their heritage.
The Survey
The web link for entering this survey, "The
Social Construct of Race and Ethnicity: One's Self-identity after a DNA
Test," which is being conducted in association with Western
Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, is
here: Your
Self-Identity After a DNA Test Survey.
The University HSIRB letter is on the first page of
the survey as required, and the questions begin on the second page.
I urge all of you to complete the survey so the
geneticists and genetic genealogist can have a better understanding of your
view. I also urge you to write to your
testing company and ask them to remove the word “ethnicity” and call the
comparison what it really is…bio-geographical or, even better, regional
comparisons!
Best to all of you,
Emily
Footnotes:
1. ‘An Ordinary Man’ Navigates Rwanda’s Genocide
2. Remember Rwanda?
How Big Is Your Nose? The
Intervention in Libya! https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2011/3/30/958631/-
3. DNA Reveals These Red-Haired Chinese Mummies Come
From Europe And Asia
4. Tarim mummies
