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 ...
;)
Dindus owe Americans for the multitude of death, destruction and welfare than anything that ever transpired back in the slave days.
Pull your pants up and quite whining.
My grandson is taking a civil service exam for a gov’t job. He is now also a black LGBT person and expects to land the position. Of course I am the one who told him to become a black LGBT, at least for employment reasons. Obama does not look white and my grandson does not look black.
Tell you what, I will pay reparations to every slave I ever owned. Just to be generous, I'll pay for any my parents owned. Wait, even better, I'll cover any slaves my grandparents owned. Let's see, that comes to exactly ZERO.
There is no-one in America today that has ever owned slaves. There is no-one in America today who has ever been a slave to another American. Though there may be some former slaves that escaped parts of Africa or Muslim countries where slavery still occurs.
Reparations for past wrongs. Like so many liberal ideas it sounds good until you start to consider the very real consequences. Hey, why not demand reparations from the British for all the taxes and resources they extracted from the new world before we fought them off for our independence? Why limit ourselves? Why not demand reparations from the Jews for persecution of Christians? From Egypt for the enslavement of Jews and Moses' slavery? You see lib lurkers out there, where does it stop, where do you draw the line? How can you draw a line and still call yourself fair? Why favor one persecution over another? Wait, I feel persecuted by you for even suggestion this burden on me, which I had absolutely nothing to do with. Pay me.
No one’s denying y’all came from Africa.
We just want you to go back.
-PJ
Just because someone traces their roots to Africa, or even a known slave, doesn’t mean they are personally owed any money. That’s just racist looking for free money.
Case for reparations from whom?
While the idea of reparations are silly. The thought that people actually owned another human being is downright evil. Especially for “Christians” of the time.
They will discover they were sold into slavery by their own families!
Muslims sold a bunch of them themselves.
Since Obama’s black half is not descended from any U.S. slaves but his white half is descended from slave owners should he pay reparations? If not, does Obama’s white half have to pay reparations to his black half?
Neither my wife nor I are descended from any slave owners. Do we have to pay reparations? My wife and children are descended from Comanche Indians. Do they get a credit?
They spelled “repatriation” incorrectly, but this should still help with that effort.
Haha. My pre-Civil War ancestors owned slaves, and I am related to the Bantu people of southeastern Africa.
I will consider my reparation payments to myself settled.
Reparations is such a stupid idea. Given the prevalence of slavery throughout history, probably most of us have both slaves and slave owners in our heritage. I think that only living slaves have any kind of right to demand reparations from their captors. Trying to demand money because of what people who are now dead did to other people who are also now dead is ludicrous.
620,000 men gave their lives in war for the slaves. Nothing more is due.
Some people have a work allergy.
Give them a choice.
1) take the money and you renounce your citizenship and will be deported to Africa, and you can never return....ever.
2) let it drop and be an American.
Good point about LBJ.
His “War on Poverty” has cost us approximately $21 TRILLION dollars since it began.
No ghettos have been closed down. Blacks are still disproportionately responsible for violent crime, with most of their victims being black themselves.
Still not good enough. Well, that being the case, we should shut down the welfare state and go back to the early 20th Century in regards to economics.
All of that Fed land? Give 40 acres of that and a mule to anybody who screams for reparations, like Sherman promised. Sherman’s descendants can help administer the mess, for that matter.
The ones that are here were never slaves either. But to humor the notion, what about whites that came over after the Civil War (e.g. the majority)?
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