When White Nationalists Get DNA Tests That Reveal African Ancestry
Aug 17, 2017
For white nationalists, DNA tests are a way to prove their racial purity. Of course, their results don’t always come back that way. And how white nationalists try to explain away non-European ancestry is rather illuminating of their beliefs.
Two years ago—before Donald Trump was elected president, before white nationalism had become central to the political conversation—Aaron Panofsky and Joan Donovan, sociologists then at the University of California, Los Angeles, set out to study Stormfront forum posts about genetic ancestry tests. They presented their study at the American Sociological Association meeting this Monday. (A preprint of the paper is now online.) After the events in Charlottesville this week, their research struck a particular chord with the audience. MORE!
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/white-nationalists-dna-ancestry/537108/
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So here is the deal: If you were to take one of these "big deal" DNA testings, and you found out the roots of your being are—WHATEVER—what would you do immediately after learning?
Okay. Now would you do after some time for reflection?
It's a good seed and a good question.
I would be fascinated to learn that there's something exotic in my genes, since as far as I know there's nothing but very boring Scandinavian and English/Irish farmers.
I am firmly convinced that skin is skin. I watch the commercials on DNA testing, and I am amazed at how people feel usually improved by learning what "ground" they hail from long ago. Ultimately, I come away thinking if we would all just get back to not letting skin matter—tribalism dies.
The end effect? A utopian thought. You can visit "brothers and sisters" in the most remotest part of the world and be received without a hostility based on appearance.
Lastly, racists do not have a grasp on how much good living they let escape them when they turn a world of decent, wholesome people into hostiles.
I remember when a White Nationalist DNA results were shown on a national TV show...11% sub saharan...The guy didn't know whether to shit or go blind.
I know of some who proudly touted their pure European heritage and ultimately found out in an ancestry search that they also had Native American ancestry. It was a shock to find that they were not as 'pure' as they thought they were. Some embraced it, others could never accept it.
When White Nationalists Get DNA Tests That Reveal African Ancestry
Mass suicide?
Nope. Now that would be self-defeating wouldn't it?
Mass suicide?
Your account is right here in the article above:
presented their study
"I t was a strange moment of triumph against racism: The gun-slinging white supremacist Craig Cobb, dressed up for daytime TV in a dark suit and red tie, hearing that his DNA testing revealed his ancestry to be only “86 percent European, and … 14 percent Sub-Saharan African.” The studio audience whooped and laughed and cheered. And Cobb — who was, in 2013, charged with terrorizing people while trying to create an all-white enclave in North Dakota — reacted like a sore loser in the schoolyard.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold on, just wait a minute,” he said, trying to put on an all-knowing smile. “This is called statistical noise.”
Then, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center , he took to the white nationalist website Stormfront to dispute those results. That’s not uncommon: With the rise of spit-in-a-cup genetic testing, there’s a trend of white nationalists using these services to prove their racial identity, and then using online forums to discuss the results."
Oh, to be white ... like Jesus himself.
My former Sister-In-Law's prided herself on being a true Southern Belle of pure white ancestry. However, when she had a DNA test done to find out if she had any Irish ancestry, she was shocked beyond words to find out that she had African ancestry as well as English, but, no Irish.
To prove that the DNA test was false and to save face, she had a trace done on her family ancestry. Turned out that her Great-Great Grandmother was a slave of a Southern land owner and her Great-Grandmother from him.
She finally had to admit the truth and it was a very telling blow for her, as she could not longer tout her pure white Southern heritage.
I'd love to know what percentage of "White" Americans have at least a bit of "Black".
In fact... The nation would probably be better off if everyone had a bit of everything!
"The nation would probably be better off if everyone had a bit of everything!"
I'd be willing to bet that at least 80% of those living in America now have a varied ancestry. Some may know and won't admit it, others may not realize it, and others may know and embrace it.
There are those who only see skin color or ethnic background. It is indeed how we live our lives and what is in our hearts that matters the most.
08/18/17 01:54:26PM @ raven-wing:
There are those who only see skin color or ethnic background.
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And, doing so has certainly gotten this country in trouble once before! It's called a civil war and in it the ridiculous happened. Families, blood turned and moved away from blood, in an attempt to stand against the cresting tide of knowing. It would be very telling if someone was to take a deep-dive into all the social constructs this county (atknown, the world) needed in place to keep one household of slaves under control! Staggering.
It's past time to really live Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream. Where it's all about content of character and nothing about race in our dealings with each other.
© A. Mac/A.G.
One more …
Taken at a Peace vigil I recently attended.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Great pictures, Mac.
The tragedy in life is not in death, but, what we let die inside of us while we live.
08/20/17 06:47:22PM @ a-macarthur.
So peaceful. Just what is needed right now.
It would be very telling if someone was to take a deep-dive into all the social constructs this country (atknown, the world) needed in place to keep one household of slaves under control!
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Black slaves were prohibited from carrying firearms by a 1639 Virginia law, which prescribed 20 lashes for violations of the statute. There was one exception: with his master’s permission, a slave could bear firearms to defend against Indian raids.
In 1664, slavery was legalized in New York and New Jersey.
In 1705, Virginia law began to define more clearly the status of slaves as property. Slaves could be used both as collateral for borrowing money and as assets in the payment of debts. Creditors, in fact, had first claim on slaves in settlement of debts; even slaves who had been freed could be re-enslaved if necessary to settle their former master’s debts. In addition, one third of her deceased husband's slaves, including those who had been promised their freedom, could be claimed by the widow of a slaveholding husband.
In 1774, slave import
ation was prohibited in Georgia, Connecticut and Rhode Island in an effort to hurt the British slave trade. In 1776, Delaware prohibited the importation of slaves.
New York enacted a slave code in 1715, which declared that any slave caught 40 miles north of Albany would be executed based on the sworn oath of two witnesses, to deter runaways from escaping to Canada. That year, Rhode Island legalized slavery.
A year after the Stono Rebellion, South Carolina passed the Negro Act in 1740, which made it illegal for slaves to gather in groups, earn money, learn to read or raise food, and gave slave owners the right to kill rebellious slaves.
MORE!Fascinating seed!
Timelines are very useful in acquiring perspective.
The next (and last) item in the Original Article is:
In 1774, slave importation was prohibited in Georgia, Connecticut and Rhode Island in an effort to hurt the British slave trade. In 1776, Delaware prohibited the importation of slaves.
I've posted a couple of seeds recently about abolitionists so I kinda sorta have their timeline in the back of my head, too. It's fascinating to see these two tendencies rushing through the decades towards the collision that would come in 1861.
08/21/17 04:16:47AM @ bob-nelson
In 1774, slave importation was prohibited in Georgia, Connecticut and Rhode Island in an effort to hurt the British slave trade. In 1776, Delaware prohibited the importation of slaves.
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So fascinating! The evidence is clear that greed and compassion is threaded through the states. We are such a smashing together of "contrast-folks." On one hand we love the warm aspiration of achieving lofty creeds and on the other hand we wrestle with throngs of our citizenry who would snatch the cold-blooded nature of a snake away from it for their own use!
That said, through it all, we must never forget that we are a lovely, admired, concerted, people who crave and incrementally seek after its better angels.
That said, through it all, we must never forget that we are a lovely, admired, concerted, people who crave and incrementally seek after its better angels.
WTF??
08/21/17 11:56:20AM @ bob-nelson:
WTF??
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WHAT?!
08/18/17 01:20:32PM @ bob-nelson
Race is simply a social-construct anyway.
There are lots of physical characteristics. Height, hair color, eye color, hair texture, shape / size of nose, ... They can be mixed and matched almost at random. It's crazy to try to select any set as being significant.
And then there's the insane "one single drop" rule, which completely ignores the actual genotype.
So you are right: "race" is a totally artificial notion.
08/18/17 04:40:39PM @ bob-nelson:
a totally artificial notion.
>>>
I will admit when I look at the recent Vice video of those Alt-right bigots, I can not help thinking, an maybe aching a little bit, by imagining who they could be if they did not channel "race." So sad. So lost.
They are "sad" unless they have power. Then they are terrifying.
08/19/17 01:14:10AM @ bob-nelson:
They are "sad" unless they have power. Then they are terrifying.
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You are so right. Thank you for keeping your focus on the prize! I sometimes get so emotional over waste of any young talent. I forget in those moments that these youth have made a Faustian bargain with white supremacy. It is a dangerous thing to get wrapped up in them emotionally!
That should read "Sister-In-Law's Mother. My keyboard needs more coffee.....(sigh)
08/18/17 01:23:16PM @ raven-wing:
Oh that poor woman. Shattered dreams and all. Well, on the positive side she can reinvent herself in the South! I think that honesty will be her best and less stressful route. I hope she drops what is now a facade and live and love her truth!
She was never able to truly accept the fact that she had African ancestry, but, no longer bragged about her "pure" white heritage. She died many years ago still feeling some regret that she was not as pure as she thought she was. However, it was not a surprise that should not ever really come to terms with it, as she was raised in an ere when having any African bloodline was worse than death.
08/18/17 02:07:17PM @ raven-wing,
That is truly sad. She could have been a pioneer of sorts and changed many hearts and minds looking for a single example to follow. Alas, so sad. Now, see how your memory of her is rendered? It is a lesson to us to try to live as good as we can in the skin and spirit we all have (and share).
I could not agree more, calbab. That is how I try to live my life. I see other human beings as my Brothers and Sisters. We are all children of the same Spirit who created all living things here on earth.
No child is born with hatred or prejudice.
08/18/17 02:32:09PM @ raven-wing:
No child is born with hatred or prejudice.
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So the changes in our children ideology and behaviors about different people emanate from the overt and covert signals we adults send (and I am not talking about mass communications either). Children are such little receptors once they tune in.
On Tuesday, the noisiest bigot in the country, our president, sent out such a potent hate-filled transmission that it nearly blew out our television screens! It called a 'blackout' in the White House even to now as people are bailing - feeling unwanted, irregular, and out of place.
One more 'jolt' like that from President Donald Trump and we will have no choice but to call for Congress (and the Courts if necessary) to end his displays of bigotry. Children's social health is at risk!
"So the changes in our children ideology and behaviors about different people emanate from the overt and covert signals we adults send (and I am not talking about mass communications either). Children are such little receptors once they tune in."
Indeed, words of others do matter in the children's mind set. However, IMHO, it is the prolonged exposure to racist, hateful and prejudice remarks that is the worst, usually from parents, friends, or other people, or their environment that influences the child's thinking most, as it ingrains in the child's mind that which they feel they are expected to emulate in their own life.
Some children learn to move past that ideology as they grow older, but, there are those who will forever adhere to that thinking.
Just my personal opinion.
08/18/17 08:31:22PM @raven-wing :
"IMHO, it is the prolonged exposure to racist, hateful and prejudice remarks that is the worst, usually from parents, friends, or other people, or their environment that influences the child's thinking most, as it ingrains in the child's mind that which they feel they are expected to emulate in their own life.
Some children learn to move past that ideology as they grow older, but, there are those who will forever adhere to that thinking.
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So true. Your opinion is spot on!
Always known I'm a Heinz 57 variety. Blood is red. All of it is, no matter who you are. I won't do the DNA thing for the same reasons I don't have an Alexa type device in my house.
What matters, as far as I'm concerned is, what is in your heart, not the color of skin. For anyone to use color as a yardstick to measure by is simply an idiot.
08/18/17 01:41:11PM @ spikegary:
Here! Here!
08/18/17 01:05:14PM @ badfish:
Ooooh! I would love to see tape of that. Can you locate and give?
08/18/17 01:56:50PM @ spikegary:
So smart!
Of all the idiocy of bigots and white supremacists this is the most enjoyable and amusing to me. This idea that anyone is racially "pure" is beyond ignorant.
Just one question - Are we supposed to assume there is no such thing as a white african?
Hmmmm
08/18/17 09:18:13PM @jeremy-in-nc :
Just one question - Are we supposed to assume there is no such thing as a white african?
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Ahh! The circle widens and the plot thickens! Nice, Jeremy, cool!
YES! YES! YES! There are white Africans and they are beautiful people!
Are we supposed to assume there is no such thing as a white african?
I guess you'd need to define "white" to try to figure that out.
I'll go with the same skin tone as Nancy Pelosi, the President or me.
Im a Mutt
08/18/17 11:47:58PM @ oldusafguy.
Oldusafguy, mutts are friends of mine!
Im a Mutt
We are all mongrels.
Not true Atheist, I'm registered with the BIA as a BFI.
I'm almost afraid to guess what BFI stands for.
LOL, I'm sure that you are, just let your imagination run amuck.
Big Frikkin Independent?
Nope, nothing to do with politics Spike...LOL
Hint, think Will Sampson
FROM THE ARTICLE: MORE!
Panofsky, Donovan, and their team of researchers analyzed 3,070 Stormfront posts spanning more than a decade—all from forum threads in which at least one user revealed the results of a DNA test. Some of the results were 100 percent European, as users expected. But often—surprisingly often, says Panofsky—users disclosed tests results showing non-European ancestry. And despite revealing non-European ancestry on a forum full of white nationalists, they were not run off the site.
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Now ain't that the damn kicker? You can 'come out' to Stormfront with your failing lack of meeting stringent standards and not get tossed! What is going on over there?! Oh, the hypocrisy!
Hey Stormfront! You might as well diversify. "Purity" you are not!
And there's no such DNA as "100% European" or any other ethnically pure DNA:
08/19/17 01:07:11PM @ atheist, I love the expression: "incredibly complex history of mixing and mating and migration." It just does not get any clearer than explaining the "wanderlust" of people. We are beautiful, "AIN'T WE?"
Sometimes you look at the startling beauty of many a certain combo of genes and you just have to go: "Awesome!"
It makes you wonder why some humans have to "F" the whole ideal with their malcontent and diseased state of mind.
If you choose to try to understand the complexities of race and how they are categorized you have to look no further than what the U.S. government has done trying to ID what is Native American/Indian/American Indian. Of course the government's goal was to eliminate us as a people, but what actually happened was that there are ''Indians'' that are not considered Indian by the government. How can that be you say, well once government sets the ground rules, FUBAR is generally what happens. Especially when the goal was something other than what was voiced as their goal.
A ''for instance''...would be me. According to the U.S. government I'm 50% American Indian and 50% something else...Well the 50% something else is only because the government wishes it to be. Now if I move across the border to Canada I'm 50% First Nations, and 50% Indigenous. Confusing you yet?
It get's better, my DNA reads a very high % of American Indian far more than 50%..but but, I'm only 50% according to the U.S. government. Now I slip back across the border into Canada (I'm not illegal by doing this, but that's a whole other story). The Canadian government states that I'm 50% First Nations (Indian) and 50% indigenous...WTF...there is a difference between Indian and Indigenous!!! I'm now 100% First Nations and Indigenous.
Now if we go to the names of the tribe in the U.S. that I'm enrolled in, it's called the Chippewa, and in Canada it's called the Oijbwe (Ojibwa, Ojibway)...All of which are incorrect because the government decided to change our actual names to something that they could understand and pronounce..Oh my this is really getting complicated. In reality Chippewa/Ojibwe is really ''Anishinaabe"...Meaning the First or Good people...Ojibwe is a bastardized French word with the nearest interpretation being ''To pucker'' which comes from the way we make the seams on our moccasins. Chippewa is because the British couldn't pronounce Ojibwe..
Is your head spinning yet? It get's even better...In the U.S. I'm 50% Chippewa/Ojibwe/Ojibwa/Ojibway/Anishinaabe/50% something. Now we move to Canada. I step across the border and bingo I've been changed again. But at least in Canada they are a lot more accurate.
I'm Ojibwa (First Nations) and Metis (Michif)....100% errrr, Indian and Indigenous.
At this point I'm going to stop since I imagine that your head is doing the ''Bettlejuice'' thing.
Please carry on with the race discussion. It's entertaining for me.
That's all very clear, K...
Thanks so-o-o-o much!!
RE: 08/20/17 08:27:13AM @ kavika.
You bring such NEEDFUL perspective (along with Raven) to my world. What enlightenment you offer us! I am new around NT, and my mind tingles with what you and Raven's share with me, us. It really does!
calbab, Pepetikwe chipwa kawacheyn piikishkwew Li Bon Michif nishtotamohwe. (come sit and talk to the good Metis and I'll explain more)....LOL now there is a language for you calbab...It's called Metis or Michif a combination of Ojibwe/Cree/French...
Or we could try Anishinaabe but we have to decide which alphabet to use, the single vowel or the double vowel..
I need a lot of coffee right now, cuz this is getting confusing. LOL
RE: 08/20/17 12:35:56PM
HA! I love it! Can't speak that way, however I LOVE IT!!!
K is a show-off.
RE: 08/20/17 12:35:56PM @ kavika,
I'm thinking of starting off with something simple in your beautiful native tongue like: "Hello! How are you?" Kavika! (-:
In Anishinaabe it would be, ''Boozhoo, aniish na?'' (greetings, how are you?)
In Michif it would be, ''Tansi, tawnshi kiya?'' (hello, how are you?)
calbab,
if you would like to know more about the history of the Cherokee and their language, here are some links that can give you some good insight about them as a people. The Wa-ya (Wolf) is my Spirit Guide, and the Awahili (Eagle) is my Counselor. The Raven is my Anidohi (Messenger).
Cherokee history:
Cherokee language and history:
Hope you will find them interesting.
08/20/17 03:23:26PM @ raven-wing:
calbab, if you would like to know more about the history of the Cherokee and their language, here are some links that can give you some good insight about them as a people.
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Thank you, and I have saved them for review and reflection. (-:
You'e very welcome, calbab. (smile)
Great explanation, Kavika.
LOL my head is spinning right now.
Mine too, but, I'm doing my best to learn it all. (smile)
Come on, A Mac., you're better than this.