I think I mentioned to you that my brother and I were planning to work together to use genetic testing to learn more about our actual racial makeup. It is a little controversial for black people because the only acceptable answer to a question like: "what are you?" -- a question many of my family members of multiple generations have faced regularly -- in America is: African-American or Afro-American or Negro or Colored or whatever we are calling ourselves in that generation.
Say anything else and you get accused of lacking solidarity as the union folks would put it. Of being ashamed of your race. Of wanting to be different or better than other black people. Being light-skinned is not easy. Despite what some who are darker-skinned may believe, the "one-drop rule" is still very much in effect out there.
My grandmother has a great story for when people used to confront her about her ancestry. If they pushed past the I'm Colored or Negro or whatever, she would say well, let's just say I am Heinz 57 Varieties! I guess I would probably say Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors. As America has diversified, I seem to get the what are you question more often these days. Especially with the blond hair. Mine is dyed, but blond hair actually runs in the family. On both sides.
I've read that some black people cry when they get their results. I don't know if that will happen to me. For black people, safely getting answers to the question of "what are you" beyond some oral history and vague suspicions is a new opportunity in American history. There were a lot of good reasons not so long ago why people sometimes papered over their origins in order to fit in a little better. Even now, American society at times even today seems to demand that you "pick a side" with whites on one side and blacks on the other --if you aren't one of those then you have to choose which side you're going to be on or have it chosen for you. We will know we have really gotten over racism when there is just one side: the human side.
My brother did some investigating and learned that our assumption that we could test one of us and get basic answers is false. The two of us could have very different percentages of African, Middle Eastern, Native American and European genetics. That was a bit of a jolt. We do look different it's true. Still, it will feel strange if the difference is significant.
Also, to get the full picture ultimately, we would need to test my brother's sister and one of my mother's brothers. That just opens up a whole new dimension of family politics. Sigh. Perhaps it's best to just take one step at a time. The kit should hopefully be arriving next week and then there's a wait of several weeks for results. Stay tuned.
jin tian yangguang mingmei,shi ge da qingtian, wo xihuan. bu zhidao ni xihuan bu.
Posted by: Cheap Louis Vuitton | November 23, 2010 at 09:45 PM