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DNA Testing Could Help Make a Case for Reparations as More Blacks Trace Their Roots to Africa
The Atlanta Black Star ^ | January 25, 2016 | Manny Otiko

Posted on 02/01/2016 4:23:37 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

A new book by Columbia sociology professor Alondra Nelson says that using DNA technology to find their African roots is becoming increasingly popular among Black people. In an interview with NPR, Nelson estimates that about 1 million have taken the test so far. The tests have also been popularized through Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates' show Finding Your Roots, which traces the family history of famous Americans such as Oprah and Chris Rock.

Nelson told NPR that discovering their genetic roots was a way for Black people to fill in a missing part of their history.

"Part of what I learned in the course of doing the research is that I am an outlier in this regard. Many of the people I spoke to - whether they were 25 or 65, had lived their whole lives wanting to know where in Africa their ancestors were from," said Nelson, author of The Social Life Of DNA.

Finding out what African ethnic group they are related to has a profound effect on Black people who take the test. Some break into tears, others have a new sense of identity now they know what ethnic group they come from. Actor Isaiah Washington used DNA technology to trace his maternal line back to the Mende people of Sierra Leone. He was so moved by the discovery that he is now a dual citizen of Sierra Leone and American and also contributed $1 million to a foundation that is building a school in the country....

(Excerpt) Read more at atlantablackstar.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; History; Science
KEYWORDS: africa; afroturf; ancestry; astroturf; backtoafrica; blackkk; blackliesmatter; blacklivesmatter; blacks; cargocult; halfblack; helixmakemineadouble; redistribution; reparations; whiteprivilege
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1 posted on 02/01/2016 4:23:37 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

African or American ,pick one but not both


2 posted on 02/01/2016 4:26:26 PM PST by butlerweave
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What about the freed blacks that had slaves themselves?


3 posted on 02/01/2016 4:26:42 PM PST by digger48
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What about blacks who also have white ancestors? Do they pay reparations to themselves? And what about the blacks in America that owned slaves.....do they have to pay up? And what about the whites who owned no slaves?


4 posted on 02/01/2016 4:27:19 PM PST by DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

LOL!

They will discover they were sold into slavery by their own families!


5 posted on 02/01/2016 4:27:22 PM PST by zeestephen
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To: digger48

Maybe their white parts could pay back their african parts.


6 posted on 02/01/2016 4:27:45 PM PST by Defiant (RINOs are leaders of a party without voters. Trump/Cruz are leaders of voters without a party.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Try it.

CW-II is way overdue.


7 posted on 02/01/2016 4:27:49 PM PST by Da Coyote
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What, you mean reparations from the African tribes who kidnapped and sold your ancestors? Or the Muslim tribes who are still at it today? Hmmmm???


8 posted on 02/01/2016 4:28:03 PM PST by To Hell With Poverty (All freedom must be transported in bottles of 3 oz or less. - Freeper relictele)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

If DNA shows them to be 50% white, do they have to pay reparations to themselves?


9 posted on 02/01/2016 4:28:04 PM PST by SampleMan (Feral Humans are the refuse of socialism.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Don’t give a crap where their ancestors came from 4+ generations ago. We owe present day black people absolutely nothing beyond what we owe any other human being.


10 posted on 02/01/2016 4:29:00 PM PST by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s, you weren't really there....)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

They want money?

Here’s an idea.....WORK for it!


11 posted on 02/01/2016 4:29:06 PM PST by july4thfreedomfoundation (Politicians and diapers must be changed often and for the same reason.....Mark Twain)
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To: digger48

Anthony Johnson (1600-1670) comes to mind. In fact, he was the first slaveholder in the colonies.


12 posted on 02/01/2016 4:29:43 PM PST by 17th Miss Regt
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What about Africans who came here and were never slaves?


13 posted on 02/01/2016 4:29:46 PM PST by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Trace it to hell and back, I could not care.

I did not own any slaves and I ain't in the least responsible for what my ancestors did or did not do.

Keep it up with this reparation crap and we'll see CWII real quick.

Not one damned penny.

Pull up your stinking pants and get a job.

14 posted on 02/01/2016 4:29:47 PM PST by OldSmaj (Nearly 8 years of obamafail. How much more must we endure? It is not too late for impeachment!)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

reperspirations


15 posted on 02/01/2016 4:29:54 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
This is crazy. Is this study saying that African-Americans actually come from Africa? This should be in "breaking news."

Who'da thunk it.

More strange stories everyday.

Next we'll hear that Trump has won Iowa.

16 posted on 02/01/2016 4:30:03 PM PST by RoosterRedux (When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction. - Mark Twain)
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To: butlerweave
African or American ,pick one but not both

Ha! American blacks will pick America in a heartbeat. Do you want to live in a continent that has no running water, electricity, dangerous wild animals, and is ruled by military dictatorships and Kleptocrats? That's why I find it funny when blacks say America sucks, but never think about the alternative of living in abject poverty and misery. And the dirty secret is that Africans HATE blacks in America.

17 posted on 02/01/2016 4:30:57 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What about descendants of Union Soldiers killed in battle? They should get it all.


18 posted on 02/01/2016 4:31:09 PM PST by samtheman (Elect Trump, Build Wall. End Censorship.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Why not take the money from Africa? The slaves were captured by the kings of West Africa to get rid of their tribal competition. I’ve seen the palace of the Dabomey Kings in Benin. His throne had the skulls of captured kings embedded in it.

Or the slave traders, many of which were Muslim. The slaves went many places, not just America.


19 posted on 02/01/2016 4:31:21 PM PST by Vic S
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To: To Hell With Poverty

It was muslims back then selling fellow Africans into slavery.
And you are right, they still practice slavery today.
Mad Mo made it so.


20 posted on 02/01/2016 4:31:47 PM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Know Islam, No Peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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