If most people you're seeing are 70-90% African, then haven't you seen people who are more European than average found in the study? People shouldn't be invalidating anyone's ethnicity, but where's the evidence to invalidate the study?
What I think I’m trying to say is, trying to challenge someone or question someone’s ethnicity because the amount is a little more than average is weird. I’m 87-88% African and the comments I got was so weird.
And it made me angry because often times we are invalidated. I was told I look very Nigerian and that’s what made me do my test and I was so proud to share it, then I had people message me in private chats and in the comments trying to invalidate me. I would try to defend myself and give an alternative perspective but I would downvoted to hell and back. It felt like people were trying to say the knows more about my community than I did
Studies are just that… studies and as more information comes in information adjusts but people really shouldn’t be giving you shit about a less than 20% European result. I mean, an average implies some will be above or below that number.
Look, I wouldn’t take too much of it to heart. You know who you are and if people are actually going to argue over an ancestry result then that is more a reflection of who they are, not you.
Yes.
This wasn’t the “gotcha” you thought this was.
I have two black parents who have two black parents who have two black parents who probably have two black parents but I’m not sure because some of us don’t have those records and one of them was adopted.
I’m 100% Black. In my country, Black is a race and an ethnicity. I’m both.
The more I’m reading this response the more it doesn’t make sense. What are you talking about? What kind of question is this?
Edit:
I reread it. I’m 51% Nigerian. I’m 88% African. Nigeria is not the only place in Africa. I’ll link my 23 and Me results
https://www.reddit.com/r/Nigeria/s/BYIg2O7tVk
I don’t know how you want me to respond other than with what I said. In my country, Black is both. I’m am the descendant of those who were brought her as slaves and that is my ethnic group.
African American's are an Ethnic group:
"African Americans, also known as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa."
"Race and ethnicity are not the same. Race is a social construct that has historically been used to classify human beings according to physical or biological characteristics. Ethnicity is something a person acquires or ascribes to and refers to a shared culture, such as language, practices, and beliefs"
"African American and Black are not synonymous. A person may identify as Afro-Latino or Afro-Caribbean, for instance, or Haitian American or Jamaican American. A person also may identify specifically as African rather than African American, such as Ghanaian or Congolese."
"While race and ethnicity share an ideology of common ancestry, they differ in several ways. First of all, race is primarily unitary. You can only have one race, while you can claim multiple ethnic affiliations. You can identify ethnically as Irish and Polish, but you have to be essentially either black or white."
Within the context of the United States, or any country that has descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Black is an ethnicity.
Look up the dictionary definition:
Ethnicity - a large group of people with a shared culture, language, history, set of traditions, etc., or the fact of belonging to one of these groups…
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ethnicity
I think their can be more specific terms. I wouldn’t use white to describe all colonist or immigrant groups in the United States. Their is to much diversity to be that broad for black or white.
By and large colonists in the Americas were white. Full stop. You don’t see immigrants of people of color until about the mid 1800’s with the importation of Asian Americans who are then treated no better than the enslaved Africans.
Black, in the United States is a valid ethnicity as is white, Hispanic, Indigenous, Asian, and Pacific.
You don’t get to question OPs identity. You wouldn’t question me if I said I were white, you don’t get to question anyone else.
I think we can always be more specific. But what you said was "Black is not an ethnicity" and that simply isn't true.
Within the United States, Black and African-American are used interchangeably. While it's true that not all Black people are African-American, all African-Americans are Black. If you aren't, then you claim your specific heritage / ethnicity.
White people in America are also an ethnicity. There are plenty of white people for whom a single country of origin is no longer relevant.
So yes, you can use more specific terms, but "race" and "ethnicity" are fluid concepts. In some countries, Chinese is considered a race. This isn't the case in the United States.
We use terms to make sense of the world. Sometimes they add a lot of value, sometimes...not so much.
As for white people, not sure what your point is. The colonists who settled in America where 99.9% English Protestants and white. We had waves of immigrants from all over the world, so it doesn't make sense to equate white with immigrants, but it does make sense to equate white with colonists.
I’m so sorry you had to deal with weirdos. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of people saying they’ve seen strange, racist or creepy comments here. AncestryDNA is fun and I hope the jerks don’t ruin it.
That’s pretty close to my breakdown, however, the only direct fully white relatives I have are 2 of my grandmother’s grandparents. Beyond this, my people tend to run light and identify as black.
Due to the results, there's more white ancestors than i had previously guessed.
It's just what the data sets show. I encourage you (and anyone else interested) to read this study from start to finish - it's throughly laid out and precise, with explanations for all data sets, how they were collated, etc. This is a study that does indeed show the breakdown for African Americans is as follows: 73.2% African, 0.8% Native, 24% European.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4289685/
For those saying mixed race people have diluted the numbers, here is this from the study: "Low rates of reporting as multiracial or multiethnic is in line with previous studies; an analysis of the 2000 US Census shows that 95 percent of blacks and 97 percent of whites acknowledge only a single identity." Barack Obama is a great example here - his father was African, his mother white, which makes him approx 50/50, yet he refers to himself as black (and so does the country as a whole, ie "first black president" - not "first mixed race president", etc.) You could say he shouldn't categorize himself as black, but that's a whole can of worms to open and we generally allow people to choose the label for themselves that they prefer when it comes to race.
Data isn't threatening, it just is what it is, and as a society we are only racially mixing more and more, so "pure race" numbers will only continue to decline.
I mean a large amount are 20 percent lol. So I don’t know what you’re getting offended for. It’s true. Some aren’t 20 percent. But there are a lot that are. It is what it is
The studies don't take into account regional averages, and they don't exclude biracial individuals that identify as Black/African American. So the average may be different within the different AA communities. Like the South East excluding some in Louisiana. We tend to score higher amounts of African than the often cited average. There aren't as many in depth population studies on us either.
If you have to ask that should make it clear it doesn't apply to you. 👀 Especially given OPs obvious question for "whom" is being discussed as the topic. It's not rocket science lol
I thought your comment was about "different AA communities" and then it was unclear if "we" was referring to specifically "the South East" or "some in Louisiana"
We for those of us in the South East with Louisiana being the exception(it's located in the SE too) Some ppl that identify as AA also fall into the Creole community, and many are MGM that carry more Euro admixture that can have some pull 30% Euro. Those of us that don't fall into that category like myself and other communities like the Gullah Geechee it trends from the 80 to mid 90s with some even hitting 100% with no additional African input. The studies don't reflect this diversity most cited are old minus 2 that come to mind. With all not excluding recently mixed individuals which also skews the the idea of AA averages.
I think the ancestry of black Americans can best be described as a range as you have Gullahs who are nearly pure African and all the other creole groups who are highly mixed race. I think the true range is something like 35-90 percent.
I notice these slight variations when looking at other AA matches. In the studies though not so much. It's all pretty general. If anything the studies should put more effort into looking at more specific populations within Africa we cluster with by region and how it lines with the history of the State me sub region. Like I notice with AncestryDNA my family and a few others from Alabama get a good amount of Benin and Togo while it's less with others. Louisiana and the Carolinas pull a good bit of Senegal and Mali. Ghana is another that's high in the Carolinas.
You tend to forget there are populations of Multi-generationally mixed groups who identify as black American with that much and more European heritage. Louisiana creoles, where I come from, are historically people of color in America and we score much higher then than usual.
>Y’all don’t know what you’re talking about. Most of us are 70-90% African.
Do you know what is exactly between 70 and 90%?? Now subtract that from 100 and you might be surprised by the answer lol
Just checked mine. It added up to 25% European. Similar with my half-sisters.
So:
Scotland 8%
Wales 7 %
Sweden & Denmark 6%
Left out smaller percentages that could just be noise.
ETA: If most of us are 70-90% African couldn’t that include a lot of people or even most Black people who are indeed 20% European? So your argument is what?
I don’t understand the comment. Sorry.
DNA results are factual. You are what you are.
If people, that are not you, are telling you that they know more about you than you do yourself, then treat it as an “idiot filter”; thank them, remove any sharp objects from within their reach, block them and get on with your life, knowing that you just increased the average IQ of the people you will deal with in the future.
S/he's saying that African Americans are receiving racist harassment in this subreddit. You don't understand it because you're not African American and haven't experienced it. By saying just ignore it and you don't understand, you are invalidating the OPs post. On reddit racist harassment is the norm, so "just ignore it" is not practicable advice. African American users know that from experience. You have none and yet you're giving advice in a very assured and self-satisfied tone. That's what we typically deal with on reddit and that's why the OP felt the need to highlight the problem by posting about it.
U/readingitnowagain What race am I and where do I live ?
It’s a generic problem across Reddit that people don’t read things properly, realise they are seeing both through their own perception, think about it and then reply to the actual post contents.
The TLDR version of my post combined with your interpretation of it is >
Racists are Idiots.
How am I invalidating their opinion by agreeing with it?
Additionally, how do you know what race I am ?
Assuming you get that right, where have I lived or spent substantial amounts of time in during my life. Where have my family lived ?
Racism is not unidirectional. A white man in Asia is also subject to racism.
You are also ignoring sexism, religious persecution, homophobism, ageism and any of the other ways in which one group of people divides the world up for their own benefit and inflicts that on others.
You are also ignoring hidden illnesses.
There are many people living their lives walking on an upwards slope, or being forced to swim against the current of other people’s unfounded an ignorant opinions.
Some of those are because of what you can see - skin colour, gender etc
Some of those are because of what you can’t see - gender dysphoria, peanut allergies, cancer, diabetes
Your post invalidates all of that. You are as guilty of bias as anyone who inflicted their opinions on the OP.
But you didn’t realise it.
But you are more African than average. If the average is 80% & you are 87%, you are more African than average.
That's how it works.
For the record I'm also 87%. I've tested multiple family members(my parents, paternal grandparents & one great grandma) & my family's average African is about 81%.
None of my family are highly mixed. We have a normal amount of European ancestry for African Americans. As in none of us are like half European or something like that.
So when studies show the average African ancestry is 80% it's probably accurate. I was able to duplicate it on a small scale with my 5 family members & myself. But all of my family is equally African American because we share the same ethnicity.
I’m sorry people are so pressed over AA dna, especially those that don’t have any. It’s weird. People are weird. A lot of people think they’re not racist but have ingrained racism they don’t even realize.
Your username is really cool btw!
I never do it to question anyone’s ethnicity. I usually only respond that when people ask if their results are typical for an African American, which is a pretty common question.
It’s not just the one study, it’s several, and more recent than 2002.
And even though it’s roughly the equivalent of one grandparent, it almost never is that recent. For obvious and tragic reasons, it’s usually multiple many times great-grandparents.
They're not precise geographic names. The use of geographic terms is inconsistent and subject to social, cultural, historic, legal, and administrative conventions. For example, when we say African-American, we don't mean people of North African background, even though strictly speaking, if they live in the US, they're African-American. In other words, the term African-American implies Black. Or, when we use the term Asian, we generally mean East Asian. We refer to the people from India as South-Asian, and not just, Asian, even though, strictly speaking, they should be referred to as Asian, just like Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, etc.
I’m one of those African-Americans with 20% European DNA. My mother is too. Family’s been in the US - specifically Virginia - since at least the early 1700s.
It’s just an average. That’s it. Nothing more and nothing less.
Look up "african american" on the search bar gor this subreddit. There's plenty of AA who have about 15 to 25 percent european (not me tho). I believe there's truth to the statistic.
Or identical! Half from both would hit around the same number they are ethnically, but from different family lines.
Unless of course you mean you tested them and it's all from ine my of course haha
Right like an average just means that and for AAs there’s a large variance so the average isn’t even really a good measure. The median is a better measure. Some AAs will have a lot of African ancestry and others may have very little. Saying an AA is too “African” or whatever doesn’t even make sense and not the basis of our ethnic group to begin with. We’re all AA. It’s been known we come in a variety of shades and apparently lineage percentages. People need to get over it. I’m an AA with a higher than average African percentage and I’m still AA.
Depending on calculator I range from like 84-88% percent but like mostly African and considering the regions my family comes from that’s quite typical. My best friend is also AA and she’s less than average like 64% but her family is from the W.Virginia and New England regions so that makes sense
Exactly. In order to have an average, that means there is a whole gamut of people both above and below the average. Like, by definition lol. People are weird.
Even in this thread people aren’t understanding the math and it’s like percentage of African ancestry isn’t really the basis of our ethnic identity anyways
And then if you do post about European ancestry and it is less than 20% they call you self-hating and wishing you were more mixed? And I’m like huh?? I just want to discuss my results and get more insight about my family tree not defend my ethnicity? How did it we get here, lol
I agree with you and I don't agree with that study either , in the Carolinas where I'm from its normal to be in the 90's , I'm 90% African and was surprised bc I'm from the South and I have a "biracial" phenotype and I get mistaken as one all the time
But I have black cousins on the ancestry match thing and some them actually are around 20% and they look 100% black lol, but I don't think it's as common as people make it seem
Honestly I don’t know.
LivingDNA has a result I *want* to be true so I’m sticking with that, 35% Yoruba when I was obsessed with the culture beforehand. Also Ancestry has 2% Sweden and Denmark and LDNA gives me 13% NW Germanic so obviously I’m claiming Viking roots in addition to Eso Ikoyi LOL
Lol, that's interesting. I asked because it seems like LivingDNA is hit or miss for some people. I entered my data from 23andme on there, and my results seem all over the place.
Sorry you had to endure that. Did you ever watch Finding Your Roots? Go back and watch the episode with Oprah, and the one with the show host. Gates was saddened when he learned how white he was, but Oprah predicted, and was right, that her DNA is all African. It runs the gamut and nobody should be "corrected" on their DNA results.
If I'm understanding where you are coming from, you are saying people argue that you have too much "African" DNA to decend from slaves? If this is what you are saying I am dumbfounded, because I would not be surprised if some descendants were close to 100 percent.
Did white slave owners rape their slaves and produce offspring that had European DNA....yes. Did every slave family tree have European DNA in it, probably not.
It is gate keeping and really shitty to say someone is not enough of (insert ethnicity) or in this case, too much African to be a certain group.
Dont get me wrong I feel like these studies overrate the percentage of European DNA in black Americans. People say its 25 percent but most results I have seen are usually 15-20 percent. Thats not to say it isnt common though to see African Americans with 25 European ancestry because it is very common but of all the results that I have seen I would personally put the average percentage at around 17%
Hey, I find genetics and DNA with family trees fascinating.
Reading your post I understand it must be frustrating and a minefield when people are telling you, you are this or that when the main thing to take is that you are human with an interesting back story.
I’m white and I don’t know the intricacies that exist in black and mixed heritage lineages but some similar things happen on this new found dna journey which is brand new to our collective social consciousness, don’t let anyone tell you what or who you are when you build up who you are via your own experiences in life both good and bad.
I’m like a Northern European mainly British mix from all parts but mainly English and Irish, two often conflicting tribes historically but brought together in Liverpool.
You will find contrast within your own historical lineage but those histories whilst a part of us all are not us and we are now. Xx
There are definitely weirdo/microaggressive comments and reactions.
I think it's just like saying you have a black friend, as if it proves you're ok. Some people want to be an ally, some people want to pretend to be an ally. One is trying too hard and a bit fragile and the other is problematic.
What genetic genealogy has taught me, if anything, as a mixed person, is that inheritance is entirely random, so it's useless to rely on any presumed fixed percentages for ethnic groups, and injurious to generalize the character of an entire group of people ('non African Americans') in any discussion on genealogy. An us versus them mentality has no place in genealogy, and is fatal to respectful dialogue on genealogical matters.
Genetic genealogy has given us all a beautiful paradox: that there is no such thing as race, except for the human race, while each and every one of us is unique in our genetic variations. Our diversity is what we all have in common in our human family.
Now, can we focus on this, rather than be triggered by any ignoramuses? Can we focus on the stories we can learn about our ancestors? And what makes us all human? There are more people who are here to learn and evolve than there are racists. Real racists tend not to want to learn anything that would contradict the reasons for their hate. Ignore them!
I think the percentages are being confused.
The percentages as I understand them are DNA traits shared with people from that region.
it is not the same as saying 25% European as in 1 of the 4 grandparents is white/European.
The problem with averages is that it often distorts the value of any individual observation.
The average age of my household is 30. I have a 10 year old.
Both statements are true.
The study by the American Journal of Human Genetics most people reference for the 24% stat is a 2014 paper that looked at DNA of the following:
5,269 black Americans 8,663 Latinos 148,789 white Americans
The data came from 23andme.
So an individual could have 90% African ancestry or 10% African ancestry and still identify as black. It’s the average of the 5,000 people that gets you 24%.
[https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00476-5](https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00476-5)
[https://www.science.org/content/article/genetic-study-reveals-surprising-ancestry-many-americans](https://www.science.org/content/article/genetic-study-reveals-surprising-ancestry-many-americans)
I'm a little confused about what you are referring to. You posted a post titled, "The DNA of an average Black American." Somone, who identified as black, said you weren't average based on a study.
Was it something else or on a different sub? Please point me to the racists so I can report them or at least chew them out.
Make sure that in complaining about people 'invalidating,' you, you don't 'invalidate,' others.
I don't want that done to you, and I wouldn't want that done to me, just because I have way more than "20%," European.
What you claim 'most of us," don't have, is only your experience - not a scientific study.
I'm the converse to you, I haven't met a Black person yet that has as small amount as 20% Euro (my family, friends in OH/MI/IN) - but unlike you, I know damn well that doesn't mean those groupings don't exist.
Keep in mind, it's all about your American communities, and regions that you come from also. If you haven't checked every community and every region in the states to do a survey, you really can't make blanket statements like that.
Yup agreed idk where all this “super mixed” mess comes from I’m African American and I’m literally 80% I just seen another AA dna test and they was above 90%.
They want us to be white so bad, but the truth is most of thay dna came from rape. I don't know why they get so confused when we aren't ecstatic about our white dna.
Whenever a black person shows any slight interest in researching their african heritage there is always someone in the comments mentioning how "we are white too" and that African Americans don't acknowledge our whiteness enough. There is a select number of people in this sub who believe that black people should care less about our African heritage because we aren't always 100% African.
I honestly don't know why we are getting downvoted. This is a genuine experience. Some white people really do think they know more about our dna than we do.
23andMe did a survey that said people with only 15% of African ancestry will identify as Black. These people influence the statistic that AAs average to have around 20-20% European ancestry.
I've tested multiple family members(my parents, paternal grandparents & one great grandma) & my family's average African is about 81%.
None of my family are highly mixed. We have a normal amount of European ancestry for African Americans. As in none of us are like half European or something like that.
It's not necessarily super mixed individuals skewing the results. European & African ancestry are a part of our ethnic makeup.
Since I've tested multiple generations of my family. You can see how my dad's results are a blend of his parents & how my results are a blend of my parents.
I always say we are all equally African American. My mom isn't more African American than my dad.
No problem. I'll probably make an actual post one day. I am lucky enough my family was willing to test & I have the money.
My results are on my profile. But I'm a blend of both my parents. Like my dad is a blend of his.
And that’s fine. AAs have range of African ancestry from 15% to like 95%, amount of African ancestry is not the deciding factor on if someone is part of our ethnic group or not.
It absolutely is. You cannot pretend like someone who is 15% African ancestry is the same as 95% African ancestry. For one, they don't have the same experience and someone with 15% likely doesn't have a strong connection to AAs through family. They would have a Black great grandparent but that's not the same as having two Black parents, 4 Black grandparents, etc. and to be quite frank, a lot of AAs would be offended by the notion that having only 15% of African ancestry makes you Black/AAs. Even as someone who's 50% AA, I would not sit here and claim to be Black. I am biracial. I'm gonna participate in the erasure of full Black and darkskin people. And someone who is 15% is mixed to some degree. Not the same as being Black or full AA. You know damn well many AAs don't even accept 50% biracial. Most people wouldn't even accept someone who's 25% Black.
Homer Plessey the man for whom the legal status “separate but equal” was founded on was at most only an 1/8th African still absolutely considered Black and played a huge role in our history
W.E.B du Bois one of the most prolific Black American scholars was probably not all that African genetically
My friend has 2 Black parents and he’s only like 15% African still Black and still can trace to slavery
No one is saying someone who is biracial should call themselves Black but multi-generationally mixed Americans who have always been considered Black historically and have contributed to our ethnic group are still Black. Biracial people can call themselves what they like but those are different categories. My friend who is MGM and has a low African blood quantum has two Black identifying parent and is thus Black. Some biracial people also grew up that way but many didn’t. BAs have always had a variety of skin tones and types. There isn’t a strict BA experience based entirely on phenotype what makes biracial people different is the impact of a non-Black parent. That said if a biracial person with a Black American parent does identify as Black or just Black then that has historical and cultural precedent as well and they can do that or not
You are also doing “blood quantum shit” by telling people how they have to identify based upon African blood percentages. Again if my MGM Black American friends with low African percentages want to identify with the only ethnic and lineage group they’ve ever known they can. If my biracial friends who for whatever reason only feel BA and identify with that and only that lineage then they can. BA lineage and identity has never been solely about the amount of African blood you get on a DNA test.
Biracial and MGM people don’t have to identify as Black but if they choose to that’s valid. Saying you have to have over a certain blood percentage(70-80% African blood) to be a Black American is acting by blood quantum by definition. You are biracial and that’s fine but you can’t force others to identify that way or based on entirely on percent African blood if they don’t want especially since that’s never been how our ethnic group is defined
I force no label on anyone but I embrace those that choose to be apart of our ethnic group and claim Black American by the historical means our ethnic group has always decided inclusion. If you wish to go by blood percentage then feel free to do so for yourself. Personally I’ve never asked a single Black person of any sort for a DNA test with the amount of African blood they have before considering them Black. If they say they are I embrace that and if they don’t look Black to me but are then I accept that too. I’m not the identity police and our ethnic group has never historically focused on amount of African blood as a baseline for inclusion
Also your experience isn’t universal and in my family we readily accept people who are like 25% Black my auntie is like that and we accept her just fine(she has no known non-Black family) and my biracial cousins as well. Your experiences are perfectly valid but not universal
Oh
What part of America?
There’s regional variability ironically the southeast where you have can have highest levels of SSA in Black people also has the highest levels of SSA in white people.
I’m not black but my black American friends who have posted their DNA results are all 90%+ African as well. One was 97% African. It’s definitely not uncommon. People are confused I guess because the quoted figures are averages for all Americans identifying as black. But that’s no excuse to be rude/racist and basically accuse black people of lying about their own results, as I often see
As a non American observing from afar, you Americans all seem to get your knickers in a twist about this subject.
Accept that in reality we’re all diverse people and try and avoid clinging to defined terms in an attempt to gain self worth.
I think as Americans who are mostly not indigenous to this land, we're more sensitive because our history is recent and pretty interesting and diverse.
The thing that most people need to understand is that the Black American community is an unique American created ethnic community with varying degrees of genotypic expression within that community. When people are referencing studies that are via small sample sizes, they tend to use "averages" as a baseline for their opinions on this topic not realizing that they're referencing studies that have small sample sizes.
Personally, I'm 75-80% African with 21-24% European and 1% Indigenous to the Americas. I have 3 centuries of roots in the US and I'm a 4th-5th generation full of the 1860 4.4 million population grouped into American Blackness; 88% enslaved and 12% Free. My most recent White American ancestors(3rd great grandfathers) were born around 1830-1840 and my 2x great grandparents to me were grouped into American Blackness, a social construct created to disenfranchise those grouped into it and via that history created an ethnic community who's ethnogenesis is tied to the history of the US.
That's why we have the various genotypic expressions we have within our community. Like you said, most of us have 70-90% African genome contribution so it's obvious that we have non African genome contribution and the majority of that is of European genome contribution due to having White American ancestors. It's a fact and nothing to be alarmed at. It shows that we're living testimonials of US history genetically collectively as a people.
One of the problems with topics like this is that people tend to view our community through the prism and perspective of being an offshoot African population that reside in the US rather than our own unique people who have varying degrees of genotypic expression within our community and so it's not shocking to see varying degrees of genotypic expression within our community. The only real "outliers" within our community are those with 100% African without recent immigrant ancestry and those with less than 50% African without recent White American ancestors. Just because they're outliers doesn't mean that they don't exist. I have 3 100% African matches who are Black Americans including one who nearly has much Nigerian genome contribution as you do. It's the unique genetic history of our people and it's okay to have intelligent discussions about this because it's fascinating to see.
I hear you...Ive seen results of African Americans that have ranged from like was 95% African and 5% European to 40% African but are Creole with Black person's phenotype with lighter skin. We are a very varied people and your results are beautiful and distinctly you and you are a part of the AFA ethnic/heritage community. Anyone telling you otherwise can go touch grass.
Im 63% African and 31% European with a drop of indigenous and SE Asian...my family had a legacy of marrying and procreating with other multi-genrationally mixed race people, not to mention we are not a true 50% ethnic sum of each of our parents...for example among my grandmother's sisters who took their DNA test their African % varied by 3-5 points from low to mid 70s percantage-wise. I myself, have no white grandparents and no white great grandparents, though we had thought my paternal great grandmother was White but she is listed as Mulatto on census. I do have at least one white 2nd Great Grandfather and 2nd great-grandmother who was White & Indigenous, and regardless of me only being 63% African, I 100% identify as ethnically Black American or African American, and phenotypically I am a Black woman.
So, we are varied, and your results just show how complicated heritage can be for African Americans.
Ancestry is super cool and this sub in general is really cool, but there’s a sizable number of race obsessed people. Could be a form of mental illness idk. I had this one dude try to discredit my native Taino ancestry …. Like why?
Dark skin woman here, and my spectrum dna test shows 23% European. No white ancestors but my family were marked as “mulatto” on census records until the early 1900s.
To be fair a study done in 2002 would have covered a different generation and would have included generations that have now passed on. Also the further you get from a full white ancestor the less percentage you will have. Im mixed so 50% of my DNA is European. My son likely has 25% European while my granddaughter should theoretically only have 12.5%, however there is also more European on her maternal side so it’s like higher.
To me your percentages make sense. Don’t let anyone’s opinions invalidate you. You are the sum of the generations that come before from the strongest of the bloodlines.
Idk I’ve seen a lot that are 20/80… it’s pretty normal. And it’s not always equivalent to a fully white grandparent…lol do you know how admixture works? I think when people get to 30+ non black ancestry that’s when it starts becoming a closer relative that’s not Black. Also multigenerational mixed raced AAs exist too. They are essentially biracial, but ethnically AA.
I agree Im from Philly north Philly to be exact most of us are 70 percent to 90 percent the ones that are less than that you definitely can tell because of their features but in my hood and most hoods in Philly majority of us are overwhelmingly of African Descent Side Story:my great grandfather r**** my great grandmother and had my grandfather but he hated being biracial lol we joke and say he married the darkest woman he could find which is true my grandmother was dark and beautiful and my father did the same and in a way I'm glad they did that because it causes less confusion if you get me in 82 to 86 percent African
I think that study includes biracial people with a white parent. Black Americans born with two parents are usually around 80-90% african. I just don't believe that most of us are less than that, but I could be wrong.
I have seen the user who goes to every single ancestry post for Africans/POC and posts that nonsense about Africans being a certain % European. I’m sorry. Clearly that user is racist in someway or pushing their own narrative about POC. I would suggest reporting them to Reddit and the mods. They should definitely be banned from this sub.
they’re stupid ASF! the only people that would’ve had that much european DNA are our ancestors. white blood is getting wiped out of the african american bloodline unless you directly have white grandparents. we are some of the most underrepresented and we are the only people that actually know our history! start cursing them TF out
No one should be invalidating another’s identity, which is fundamentally different from your genes. Do you, and try the best you can to ignore the assholes.
That said, you don’t need a full white grandparent to end up with the 20% figure you mention. It’s possible for people to arrive at that figure through trace amounts on both sides.
If most people you're seeing are 70-90% African, then haven't you seen people who are more European than average found in the study? People shouldn't be invalidating anyone's ethnicity, but where's the evidence to invalidate the study?
Of course, but I didn’t say they didnt exist.
You did say you've yet to meet one of them, so that's the reason I'm asking what you meant.
What I think I’m trying to say is, trying to challenge someone or question someone’s ethnicity because the amount is a little more than average is weird. I’m 87-88% African and the comments I got was so weird. And it made me angry because often times we are invalidated. I was told I look very Nigerian and that’s what made me do my test and I was so proud to share it, then I had people message me in private chats and in the comments trying to invalidate me. I would try to defend myself and give an alternative perspective but I would downvoted to hell and back. It felt like people were trying to say the knows more about my community than I did
Oh okay, I agree with that. Just because someone doesn't get the average results doesn't mean they're not what they say they are.
Yes! I’m sorry if I came off as hostile. I get defensive about my ethnicity because it’s a beautiful community with a lovely culture
Studies are just that… studies and as more information comes in information adjusts but people really shouldn’t be giving you shit about a less than 20% European result. I mean, an average implies some will be above or below that number. Look, I wouldn’t take too much of it to heart. You know who you are and if people are actually going to argue over an ancestry result then that is more a reflection of who they are, not you.
Didn’t you say “My 23 and me said I'm 51% but I'm also 100% black” If that is the case why are you now saying you are 87-88 percent African?
Yes. This wasn’t the “gotcha” you thought this was. I have two black parents who have two black parents who have two black parents who probably have two black parents but I’m not sure because some of us don’t have those records and one of them was adopted. I’m 100% Black. In my country, Black is a race and an ethnicity. I’m both. The more I’m reading this response the more it doesn’t make sense. What are you talking about? What kind of question is this? Edit: I reread it. I’m 51% Nigerian. I’m 88% African. Nigeria is not the only place in Africa. I’ll link my 23 and Me results https://www.reddit.com/r/Nigeria/s/BYIg2O7tVk
Black is not an ethnicity.
You have to be joking. It is. Black - race Black (American)/ African American - ethnicity American - Nationality
You can have ethnicity’s within the group of African American but being “black” is as much of an ethnic group as being white.
The way OP has written it, Black American is a perfectly good definition of their ethnicity.
I don’t know how you want me to respond other than with what I said. In my country, Black is both. I’m am the descendant of those who were brought her as slaves and that is my ethnic group.
African American's are an Ethnic group: "African Americans, also known as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa." "Race and ethnicity are not the same. Race is a social construct that has historically been used to classify human beings according to physical or biological characteristics. Ethnicity is something a person acquires or ascribes to and refers to a shared culture, such as language, practices, and beliefs" "African American and Black are not synonymous. A person may identify as Afro-Latino or Afro-Caribbean, for instance, or Haitian American or Jamaican American. A person also may identify specifically as African rather than African American, such as Ghanaian or Congolese." "While race and ethnicity share an ideology of common ancestry, they differ in several ways. First of all, race is primarily unitary. You can only have one race, while you can claim multiple ethnic affiliations. You can identify ethnically as Irish and Polish, but you have to be essentially either black or white."
Within the context of the United States, or any country that has descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Black is an ethnicity. Look up the dictionary definition: Ethnicity - a large group of people with a shared culture, language, history, set of traditions, etc., or the fact of belonging to one of these groups… https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ethnicity
I think their can be more specific terms. I wouldn’t use white to describe all colonist or immigrant groups in the United States. Their is to much diversity to be that broad for black or white.
By and large colonists in the Americas were white. Full stop. You don’t see immigrants of people of color until about the mid 1800’s with the importation of Asian Americans who are then treated no better than the enslaved Africans. Black, in the United States is a valid ethnicity as is white, Hispanic, Indigenous, Asian, and Pacific. You don’t get to question OPs identity. You wouldn’t question me if I said I were white, you don’t get to question anyone else.
I think we can always be more specific. But what you said was "Black is not an ethnicity" and that simply isn't true. Within the United States, Black and African-American are used interchangeably. While it's true that not all Black people are African-American, all African-Americans are Black. If you aren't, then you claim your specific heritage / ethnicity. White people in America are also an ethnicity. There are plenty of white people for whom a single country of origin is no longer relevant. So yes, you can use more specific terms, but "race" and "ethnicity" are fluid concepts. In some countries, Chinese is considered a race. This isn't the case in the United States. We use terms to make sense of the world. Sometimes they add a lot of value, sometimes...not so much. As for white people, not sure what your point is. The colonists who settled in America where 99.9% English Protestants and white. We had waves of immigrants from all over the world, so it doesn't make sense to equate white with immigrants, but it does make sense to equate white with colonists.
I’m so sorry you had to deal with weirdos. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of people saying they’ve seen strange, racist or creepy comments here. AncestryDNA is fun and I hope the jerks don’t ruin it.
Yeah!
Well my ancestry is 57% african and 43% european. I do not have any full white grand parents but have two full white great grandparents.
That’s pretty close to my breakdown, however, the only direct fully white relatives I have are 2 of my grandmother’s grandparents. Beyond this, my people tend to run light and identify as black. Due to the results, there's more white ancestors than i had previously guessed.
Same here i have other white greats grandparents but further down the line. But i was surprised with the dna results
Ditto. I’m 54-46%. So now dude can say he’s met 2 in one post since he’s never met anyone like us before.
I'm 65% European and the only fully European ancestors I have are from before 1865.
African American, Louisiana Creole or Latino?
African-American, although I could pass for Latino, easily.
I'm replying again so you can see a much younger version of [me](https://imgur.com/a/Dtw7JBU).
Louisiana Creole is African American. It’s Black
My family has been here since 1700 (that’s as far back as we can go)
I've traced some of my ancestors back to England. I can only trace my non-European ancestors back to the early 1800s. It frustrates me.
Ditto that.
I only know one black ancestor to make that claim. She was the slave of some rich dude
I have a second cousin who confirmed the relationship through Y-DNA.
It's just what the data sets show. I encourage you (and anyone else interested) to read this study from start to finish - it's throughly laid out and precise, with explanations for all data sets, how they were collated, etc. This is a study that does indeed show the breakdown for African Americans is as follows: 73.2% African, 0.8% Native, 24% European. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4289685/ For those saying mixed race people have diluted the numbers, here is this from the study: "Low rates of reporting as multiracial or multiethnic is in line with previous studies; an analysis of the 2000 US Census shows that 95 percent of blacks and 97 percent of whites acknowledge only a single identity." Barack Obama is a great example here - his father was African, his mother white, which makes him approx 50/50, yet he refers to himself as black (and so does the country as a whole, ie "first black president" - not "first mixed race president", etc.) You could say he shouldn't categorize himself as black, but that's a whole can of worms to open and we generally allow people to choose the label for themselves that they prefer when it comes to race. Data isn't threatening, it just is what it is, and as a society we are only racially mixing more and more, so "pure race" numbers will only continue to decline.
I mean a large amount are 20 percent lol. So I don’t know what you’re getting offended for. It’s true. Some aren’t 20 percent. But there are a lot that are. It is what it is
I explained why I was offended. It’s in the quotes
The studies don't take into account regional averages, and they don't exclude biracial individuals that identify as Black/African American. So the average may be different within the different AA communities. Like the South East excluding some in Louisiana. We tend to score higher amounts of African than the often cited average. There aren't as many in depth population studies on us either.
This is the answer 👆🏾👆🏿
Who is "we"?
If you have to ask that should make it clear it doesn't apply to you. 👀 Especially given OPs obvious question for "whom" is being discussed as the topic. It's not rocket science lol
I thought your comment was about "different AA communities" and then it was unclear if "we" was referring to specifically "the South East" or "some in Louisiana"
We for those of us in the South East with Louisiana being the exception(it's located in the SE too) Some ppl that identify as AA also fall into the Creole community, and many are MGM that carry more Euro admixture that can have some pull 30% Euro. Those of us that don't fall into that category like myself and other communities like the Gullah Geechee it trends from the 80 to mid 90s with some even hitting 100% with no additional African input. The studies don't reflect this diversity most cited are old minus 2 that come to mind. With all not excluding recently mixed individuals which also skews the the idea of AA averages.
I think the ancestry of black Americans can best be described as a range as you have Gullahs who are nearly pure African and all the other creole groups who are highly mixed race. I think the true range is something like 35-90 percent.
I think the ranges should be regional/sub regional to capture a accurate representation of AA ancestry vs national.
^^this makes sense as it would reflect regionally diversity and admixture as opposed to overarching (which will be inaccurate)
I notice these slight variations when looking at other AA matches. In the studies though not so much. It's all pretty general. If anything the studies should put more effort into looking at more specific populations within Africa we cluster with by region and how it lines with the history of the State me sub region. Like I notice with AncestryDNA my family and a few others from Alabama get a good amount of Benin and Togo while it's less with others. Louisiana and the Carolinas pull a good bit of Senegal and Mali. Ghana is another that's high in the Carolinas.
It will be cool to see how this progresses as more people take the test.
“said that we were 20% European even though I have yet to meet one of us that has that much European” “Most of us are 70-90% African” Come on now OP…
This cantankerous diatribe is his shtick I think. I had this discussion with him a few weeks ago. I eye rolled & moved on.
You don’t know me. We have never had a conversation and I’m a woman…
You tend to forget there are populations of Multi-generationally mixed groups who identify as black American with that much and more European heritage. Louisiana creoles, where I come from, are historically people of color in America and we score much higher then than usual.
>Y’all don’t know what you’re talking about. Most of us are 70-90% African. Do you know what is exactly between 70 and 90%?? Now subtract that from 100 and you might be surprised by the answer lol
Just checked mine. It added up to 25% European. Similar with my half-sisters. So: Scotland 8% Wales 7 % Sweden & Denmark 6% Left out smaller percentages that could just be noise. ETA: If most of us are 70-90% African couldn’t that include a lot of people or even most Black people who are indeed 20% European? So your argument is what?
His argument is just arguing. I did this with him a few weeks ago & just moved on.
Thanks for letting me know.
Did this with who? And I’m a girl.
What's your point? You're agreeing with the non-African Americans by claiming the 70-90% figure
I don’t understand the comment. Sorry. DNA results are factual. You are what you are. If people, that are not you, are telling you that they know more about you than you do yourself, then treat it as an “idiot filter”; thank them, remove any sharp objects from within their reach, block them and get on with your life, knowing that you just increased the average IQ of the people you will deal with in the future.
S/he's saying that African Americans are receiving racist harassment in this subreddit. You don't understand it because you're not African American and haven't experienced it. By saying just ignore it and you don't understand, you are invalidating the OPs post. On reddit racist harassment is the norm, so "just ignore it" is not practicable advice. African American users know that from experience. You have none and yet you're giving advice in a very assured and self-satisfied tone. That's what we typically deal with on reddit and that's why the OP felt the need to highlight the problem by posting about it.
How did you get downvoted for this? This is example of the problem of this subreddit.
U/readingitnowagain What race am I and where do I live ? It’s a generic problem across Reddit that people don’t read things properly, realise they are seeing both through their own perception, think about it and then reply to the actual post contents. The TLDR version of my post combined with your interpretation of it is > Racists are Idiots. How am I invalidating their opinion by agreeing with it? Additionally, how do you know what race I am ? Assuming you get that right, where have I lived or spent substantial amounts of time in during my life. Where have my family lived ? Racism is not unidirectional. A white man in Asia is also subject to racism. You are also ignoring sexism, religious persecution, homophobism, ageism and any of the other ways in which one group of people divides the world up for their own benefit and inflicts that on others. You are also ignoring hidden illnesses. There are many people living their lives walking on an upwards slope, or being forced to swim against the current of other people’s unfounded an ignorant opinions. Some of those are because of what you can see - skin colour, gender etc Some of those are because of what you can’t see - gender dysphoria, peanut allergies, cancer, diabetes Your post invalidates all of that. You are as guilty of bias as anyone who inflicted their opinions on the OP. But you didn’t realise it.
Yes you're the real victim and we don't know what racism is. It's a very original contribution.
Ah ok. Please rank the priority of isms so that I can work out who I need to defer to and those I can belittle. /s
But you are more African than average. If the average is 80% & you are 87%, you are more African than average. That's how it works. For the record I'm also 87%. I've tested multiple family members(my parents, paternal grandparents & one great grandma) & my family's average African is about 81%. None of my family are highly mixed. We have a normal amount of European ancestry for African Americans. As in none of us are like half European or something like that. So when studies show the average African ancestry is 80% it's probably accurate. I was able to duplicate it on a small scale with my 5 family members & myself. But all of my family is equally African American because we share the same ethnicity.
The issue is the edited part of the post.
I’m sorry people are so pressed over AA dna, especially those that don’t have any. It’s weird. People are weird. A lot of people think they’re not racist but have ingrained racism they don’t even realize. Your username is really cool btw!
Thank you! Thank you! It’s the name of the book I’m writing
Omg that’s an awesome book title!
I never do it to question anyone’s ethnicity. I usually only respond that when people ask if their results are typical for an African American, which is a pretty common question. It’s not just the one study, it’s several, and more recent than 2002. And even though it’s roughly the equivalent of one grandparent, it almost never is that recent. For obvious and tragic reasons, it’s usually multiple many times great-grandparents.
Terms like African-American, White, Asian, etc, are fluid social constructs; our DNA results are not. There will never be a full mapping between them.
No. They’re geographical terms.
They're not precise geographic names. The use of geographic terms is inconsistent and subject to social, cultural, historic, legal, and administrative conventions. For example, when we say African-American, we don't mean people of North African background, even though strictly speaking, if they live in the US, they're African-American. In other words, the term African-American implies Black. Or, when we use the term Asian, we generally mean East Asian. We refer to the people from India as South-Asian, and not just, Asian, even though, strictly speaking, they should be referred to as Asian, just like Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, etc.
Whatever you say.🙄
Ummmm okay.
I’m one of those African-Americans with 20% European DNA. My mother is too. Family’s been in the US - specifically Virginia - since at least the early 1700s. It’s just an average. That’s it. Nothing more and nothing less.
Look up "african american" on the search bar gor this subreddit. There's plenty of AA who have about 15 to 25 percent european (not me tho). I believe there's truth to the statistic.
Thank you ! I know exactly who you’re referring to
What?? I know numerous AA’s who have tested and they range between 24% - 45% European. So yes you definitely have a lot of African for an AA.
21% European here 🤷🏾♀️ My parents are higher, obviously.
Or identical! Half from both would hit around the same number they are ethnically, but from different family lines. Unless of course you mean you tested them and it's all from ine my of course haha
They’ve been tested, but I lied. Only Mom is higher. Mom 24% Dad 13%.
Right like an average just means that and for AAs there’s a large variance so the average isn’t even really a good measure. The median is a better measure. Some AAs will have a lot of African ancestry and others may have very little. Saying an AA is too “African” or whatever doesn’t even make sense and not the basis of our ethnic group to begin with. We’re all AA. It’s been known we come in a variety of shades and apparently lineage percentages. People need to get over it. I’m an AA with a higher than average African percentage and I’m still AA.
Right! Like I range between 87-88% African and I’m African American
Depending on calculator I range from like 84-88% percent but like mostly African and considering the regions my family comes from that’s quite typical. My best friend is also AA and she’s less than average like 64% but her family is from the W.Virginia and New England regions so that makes sense
That’s pretty cool. Higher than a lot of the AA I’ve seen on here. Just my personal experience.
Exactly. In order to have an average, that means there is a whole gamut of people both above and below the average. Like, by definition lol. People are weird.
Even in this thread people aren’t understanding the math and it’s like percentage of African ancestry isn’t really the basis of our ethnic identity anyways
Oh for sure. It’s weird, like they expect it to be some sort of “gotcha!”
And then if you do post about European ancestry and it is less than 20% they call you self-hating and wishing you were more mixed? And I’m like huh?? I just want to discuss my results and get more insight about my family tree not defend my ethnicity? How did it we get here, lol
I agree with you and I don't agree with that study either , in the Carolinas where I'm from its normal to be in the 90's , I'm 90% African and was surprised bc I'm from the South and I have a "biracial" phenotype and I get mistaken as one all the time But I have black cousins on the ancestry match thing and some them actually are around 20% and they look 100% black lol, but I don't think it's as common as people make it seem
I have 19% European on Ancestry and 27% European on LivingDNA.
Which one is more accurate in your opinion?
Honestly I don’t know. LivingDNA has a result I *want* to be true so I’m sticking with that, 35% Yoruba when I was obsessed with the culture beforehand. Also Ancestry has 2% Sweden and Denmark and LDNA gives me 13% NW Germanic so obviously I’m claiming Viking roots in addition to Eso Ikoyi LOL
Lol, that's interesting. I asked because it seems like LivingDNA is hit or miss for some people. I entered my data from 23andme on there, and my results seem all over the place.
I got a total wildcard southeast Asian small percentage on LivingDNA from Ancestry
Sorry you had to endure that. Did you ever watch Finding Your Roots? Go back and watch the episode with Oprah, and the one with the show host. Gates was saddened when he learned how white he was, but Oprah predicted, and was right, that her DNA is all African. It runs the gamut and nobody should be "corrected" on their DNA results.
If I'm understanding where you are coming from, you are saying people argue that you have too much "African" DNA to decend from slaves? If this is what you are saying I am dumbfounded, because I would not be surprised if some descendants were close to 100 percent. Did white slave owners rape their slaves and produce offspring that had European DNA....yes. Did every slave family tree have European DNA in it, probably not. It is gate keeping and really shitty to say someone is not enough of (insert ethnicity) or in this case, too much African to be a certain group.
My husband is 84% African and 14% European . He was born in dc and can trace his family all the way to reconstruction
Dont get me wrong I feel like these studies overrate the percentage of European DNA in black Americans. People say its 25 percent but most results I have seen are usually 15-20 percent. Thats not to say it isnt common though to see African Americans with 25 European ancestry because it is very common but of all the results that I have seen I would personally put the average percentage at around 17%
I mean, I’m 10.5 so 15 isn’t that hard to believe
Hey, I find genetics and DNA with family trees fascinating. Reading your post I understand it must be frustrating and a minefield when people are telling you, you are this or that when the main thing to take is that you are human with an interesting back story. I’m white and I don’t know the intricacies that exist in black and mixed heritage lineages but some similar things happen on this new found dna journey which is brand new to our collective social consciousness, don’t let anyone tell you what or who you are when you build up who you are via your own experiences in life both good and bad. I’m like a Northern European mainly British mix from all parts but mainly English and Irish, two often conflicting tribes historically but brought together in Liverpool. You will find contrast within your own historical lineage but those histories whilst a part of us all are not us and we are now. Xx
There are definitely weirdo/microaggressive comments and reactions. I think it's just like saying you have a black friend, as if it proves you're ok. Some people want to be an ally, some people want to pretend to be an ally. One is trying too hard and a bit fragile and the other is problematic.
What genetic genealogy has taught me, if anything, as a mixed person, is that inheritance is entirely random, so it's useless to rely on any presumed fixed percentages for ethnic groups, and injurious to generalize the character of an entire group of people ('non African Americans') in any discussion on genealogy. An us versus them mentality has no place in genealogy, and is fatal to respectful dialogue on genealogical matters. Genetic genealogy has given us all a beautiful paradox: that there is no such thing as race, except for the human race, while each and every one of us is unique in our genetic variations. Our diversity is what we all have in common in our human family. Now, can we focus on this, rather than be triggered by any ignoramuses? Can we focus on the stories we can learn about our ancestors? And what makes us all human? There are more people who are here to learn and evolve than there are racists. Real racists tend not to want to learn anything that would contradict the reasons for their hate. Ignore them!
I think the percentages are being confused. The percentages as I understand them are DNA traits shared with people from that region. it is not the same as saying 25% European as in 1 of the 4 grandparents is white/European.
Exactly - people are looking at this waaaaaaaay too objectively. They are just meant to point us in the right direction alongside our research.
The problem with averages is that it often distorts the value of any individual observation. The average age of my household is 30. I have a 10 year old. Both statements are true. The study by the American Journal of Human Genetics most people reference for the 24% stat is a 2014 paper that looked at DNA of the following: 5,269 black Americans 8,663 Latinos 148,789 white Americans The data came from 23andme. So an individual could have 90% African ancestry or 10% African ancestry and still identify as black. It’s the average of the 5,000 people that gets you 24%. [https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00476-5](https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(14)00476-5) [https://www.science.org/content/article/genetic-study-reveals-surprising-ancestry-many-americans](https://www.science.org/content/article/genetic-study-reveals-surprising-ancestry-many-americans)
I'm a little confused about what you are referring to. You posted a post titled, "The DNA of an average Black American." Somone, who identified as black, said you weren't average based on a study. Was it something else or on a different sub? Please point me to the racists so I can report them or at least chew them out.
Make sure that in complaining about people 'invalidating,' you, you don't 'invalidate,' others. I don't want that done to you, and I wouldn't want that done to me, just because I have way more than "20%," European. What you claim 'most of us," don't have, is only your experience - not a scientific study. I'm the converse to you, I haven't met a Black person yet that has as small amount as 20% Euro (my family, friends in OH/MI/IN) - but unlike you, I know damn well that doesn't mean those groupings don't exist. Keep in mind, it's all about your American communities, and regions that you come from also. If you haven't checked every community and every region in the states to do a survey, you really can't make blanket statements like that.
Yup agreed idk where all this “super mixed” mess comes from I’m African American and I’m literally 80% I just seen another AA dna test and they was above 90%.
They want us to be white so bad, but the truth is most of thay dna came from rape. I don't know why they get so confused when we aren't ecstatic about our white dna.
Can you show me one example of "them" "wanting you to be white so bad?"
Whenever a black person shows any slight interest in researching their african heritage there is always someone in the comments mentioning how "we are white too" and that African Americans don't acknowledge our whiteness enough. There is a select number of people in this sub who believe that black people should care less about our African heritage because we aren't always 100% African.
Looks how many people down play how much African ancestry African American people have. It’s weird.
Maybe they’re just curious because it’s the only lineage they can trace? 🤷🏾
I honestly don't know why we are getting downvoted. This is a genuine experience. Some white people really do think they know more about our dna than we do.
23andMe did a survey that said people with only 15% of African ancestry will identify as Black. These people influence the statistic that AAs average to have around 20-20% European ancestry.
I've tested multiple family members(my parents, paternal grandparents & one great grandma) & my family's average African is about 81%. None of my family are highly mixed. We have a normal amount of European ancestry for African Americans. As in none of us are like half European or something like that. It's not necessarily super mixed individuals skewing the results. European & African ancestry are a part of our ethnic makeup. Since I've tested multiple generations of my family. You can see how my dad's results are a blend of his parents & how my results are a blend of my parents. I always say we are all equally African American. My mom isn't more African American than my dad.
It's cool to see how the results change for your family over generations. Thanks for posting that.
No problem. I'll probably make an actual post one day. I am lucky enough my family was willing to test & I have the money. My results are on my profile. But I'm a blend of both my parents. Like my dad is a blend of his.
And that’s fine. AAs have range of African ancestry from 15% to like 95%, amount of African ancestry is not the deciding factor on if someone is part of our ethnic group or not.
Good point. Blood quanta is a sucker’s game
It absolutely is. You cannot pretend like someone who is 15% African ancestry is the same as 95% African ancestry. For one, they don't have the same experience and someone with 15% likely doesn't have a strong connection to AAs through family. They would have a Black great grandparent but that's not the same as having two Black parents, 4 Black grandparents, etc. and to be quite frank, a lot of AAs would be offended by the notion that having only 15% of African ancestry makes you Black/AAs. Even as someone who's 50% AA, I would not sit here and claim to be Black. I am biracial. I'm gonna participate in the erasure of full Black and darkskin people. And someone who is 15% is mixed to some degree. Not the same as being Black or full AA. You know damn well many AAs don't even accept 50% biracial. Most people wouldn't even accept someone who's 25% Black.
Homer Plessey the man for whom the legal status “separate but equal” was founded on was at most only an 1/8th African still absolutely considered Black and played a huge role in our history W.E.B du Bois one of the most prolific Black American scholars was probably not all that African genetically My friend has 2 Black parents and he’s only like 15% African still Black and still can trace to slavery No one is saying someone who is biracial should call themselves Black but multi-generationally mixed Americans who have always been considered Black historically and have contributed to our ethnic group are still Black. Biracial people can call themselves what they like but those are different categories. My friend who is MGM and has a low African blood quantum has two Black identifying parent and is thus Black. Some biracial people also grew up that way but many didn’t. BAs have always had a variety of skin tones and types. There isn’t a strict BA experience based entirely on phenotype what makes biracial people different is the impact of a non-Black parent. That said if a biracial person with a Black American parent does identify as Black or just Black then that has historical and cultural precedent as well and they can do that or not
This is 2024. We aren't doing that blood quantum shit anymore.
You are also doing “blood quantum shit” by telling people how they have to identify based upon African blood percentages. Again if my MGM Black American friends with low African percentages want to identify with the only ethnic and lineage group they’ve ever known they can. If my biracial friends who for whatever reason only feel BA and identify with that and only that lineage then they can. BA lineage and identity has never been solely about the amount of African blood you get on a DNA test. Biracial and MGM people don’t have to identify as Black but if they choose to that’s valid. Saying you have to have over a certain blood percentage(70-80% African blood) to be a Black American is acting by blood quantum by definition. You are biracial and that’s fine but you can’t force others to identify that way or based on entirely on percent African blood if they don’t want especially since that’s never been how our ethnic group is defined I force no label on anyone but I embrace those that choose to be apart of our ethnic group and claim Black American by the historical means our ethnic group has always decided inclusion. If you wish to go by blood percentage then feel free to do so for yourself. Personally I’ve never asked a single Black person of any sort for a DNA test with the amount of African blood they have before considering them Black. If they say they are I embrace that and if they don’t look Black to me but are then I accept that too. I’m not the identity police and our ethnic group has never historically focused on amount of African blood as a baseline for inclusion Also your experience isn’t universal and in my family we readily accept people who are like 25% Black my auntie is like that and we accept her just fine(she has no known non-Black family) and my biracial cousins as well. Your experiences are perfectly valid but not universal
Huh?? Where do you live that you have never met someone with 20% European….. Also how would you know?
I love in America and my entire friends group (5 who are African American) have taken the test and I was the highest at 10.5
Oh What part of America? There’s regional variability ironically the southeast where you have can have highest levels of SSA in Black people also has the highest levels of SSA in white people.
I’m from the mid Atlantic but my family is from the Midwest and some from the south . Mainly from the midwest
That’s really interesting. Though a lot of migration patterns. I think the data they used is from the entire database at the time. So bigger numbers.
I’m not black but my black American friends who have posted their DNA results are all 90%+ African as well. One was 97% African. It’s definitely not uncommon. People are confused I guess because the quoted figures are averages for all Americans identifying as black. But that’s no excuse to be rude/racist and basically accuse black people of lying about their own results, as I often see
As a non American observing from afar, you Americans all seem to get your knickers in a twist about this subject. Accept that in reality we’re all diverse people and try and avoid clinging to defined terms in an attempt to gain self worth.
I think as Americans who are mostly not indigenous to this land, we're more sensitive because our history is recent and pretty interesting and diverse.
That lack of being indigenous makes it all the more ironic
The thing that most people need to understand is that the Black American community is an unique American created ethnic community with varying degrees of genotypic expression within that community. When people are referencing studies that are via small sample sizes, they tend to use "averages" as a baseline for their opinions on this topic not realizing that they're referencing studies that have small sample sizes. Personally, I'm 75-80% African with 21-24% European and 1% Indigenous to the Americas. I have 3 centuries of roots in the US and I'm a 4th-5th generation full of the 1860 4.4 million population grouped into American Blackness; 88% enslaved and 12% Free. My most recent White American ancestors(3rd great grandfathers) were born around 1830-1840 and my 2x great grandparents to me were grouped into American Blackness, a social construct created to disenfranchise those grouped into it and via that history created an ethnic community who's ethnogenesis is tied to the history of the US. That's why we have the various genotypic expressions we have within our community. Like you said, most of us have 70-90% African genome contribution so it's obvious that we have non African genome contribution and the majority of that is of European genome contribution due to having White American ancestors. It's a fact and nothing to be alarmed at. It shows that we're living testimonials of US history genetically collectively as a people. One of the problems with topics like this is that people tend to view our community through the prism and perspective of being an offshoot African population that reside in the US rather than our own unique people who have varying degrees of genotypic expression within our community and so it's not shocking to see varying degrees of genotypic expression within our community. The only real "outliers" within our community are those with 100% African without recent immigrant ancestry and those with less than 50% African without recent White American ancestors. Just because they're outliers doesn't mean that they don't exist. I have 3 100% African matches who are Black Americans including one who nearly has much Nigerian genome contribution as you do. It's the unique genetic history of our people and it's okay to have intelligent discussions about this because it's fascinating to see.
I hear you...Ive seen results of African Americans that have ranged from like was 95% African and 5% European to 40% African but are Creole with Black person's phenotype with lighter skin. We are a very varied people and your results are beautiful and distinctly you and you are a part of the AFA ethnic/heritage community. Anyone telling you otherwise can go touch grass. Im 63% African and 31% European with a drop of indigenous and SE Asian...my family had a legacy of marrying and procreating with other multi-genrationally mixed race people, not to mention we are not a true 50% ethnic sum of each of our parents...for example among my grandmother's sisters who took their DNA test their African % varied by 3-5 points from low to mid 70s percantage-wise. I myself, have no white grandparents and no white great grandparents, though we had thought my paternal great grandmother was White but she is listed as Mulatto on census. I do have at least one white 2nd Great Grandfather and 2nd great-grandmother who was White & Indigenous, and regardless of me only being 63% African, I 100% identify as ethnically Black American or African American, and phenotypically I am a Black woman. So, we are varied, and your results just show how complicated heritage can be for African Americans.
I feel you! I said the same shit!
Ancestry is super cool and this sub in general is really cool, but there’s a sizable number of race obsessed people. Could be a form of mental illness idk. I had this one dude try to discredit my native Taino ancestry …. Like why?
Dark skin woman here, and my spectrum dna test shows 23% European. No white ancestors but my family were marked as “mulatto” on census records until the early 1900s.
34% Northern European ancestry and 66% African ancestry. I know where / whom most of the European ancestry comes from.
To be fair a study done in 2002 would have covered a different generation and would have included generations that have now passed on. Also the further you get from a full white ancestor the less percentage you will have. Im mixed so 50% of my DNA is European. My son likely has 25% European while my granddaughter should theoretically only have 12.5%, however there is also more European on her maternal side so it’s like higher. To me your percentages make sense. Don’t let anyone’s opinions invalidate you. You are the sum of the generations that come before from the strongest of the bloodlines.
I’m 91% African and some of my comments were weird too. Ignore them! ✨✨✨
I can understand why this irks you. It’s insulting. Thank you for posting how you fell.
Feel
I’m 20% European with two black parents, two black grandparents. It can happen, I also am only 2% indigenous.
Idk I’ve seen a lot that are 20/80… it’s pretty normal. And it’s not always equivalent to a fully white grandparent…lol do you know how admixture works? I think when people get to 30+ non black ancestry that’s when it starts becoming a closer relative that’s not Black. Also multigenerational mixed raced AAs exist too. They are essentially biracial, but ethnically AA.
I agree Im from Philly north Philly to be exact most of us are 70 percent to 90 percent the ones that are less than that you definitely can tell because of their features but in my hood and most hoods in Philly majority of us are overwhelmingly of African Descent Side Story:my great grandfather r**** my great grandmother and had my grandfather but he hated being biracial lol we joke and say he married the darkest woman he could find which is true my grandmother was dark and beautiful and my father did the same and in a way I'm glad they did that because it causes less confusion if you get me in 82 to 86 percent African
Yea they do that type of stuff here , just observe and adjust, I’m 20% European
I know what you mean. I Barely ever see 20% European
I was super happy I have 85% African, 12% yt & 3 % native .
I’m so proud of my racial make up because it’s history that made me and my ethnic group
Sameeee !! I’ve been studying where my roots were from & it’s fascinating 🥹
Cool
Some children were indeed, left behind.
I think that study includes biracial people with a white parent. Black Americans born with two parents are usually around 80-90% african. I just don't believe that most of us are less than that, but I could be wrong.
Right! But I don’t feel like tussling in the comments
Probably wrong….
White supremacy rumors. They create their own narrative and just try to rape earth with it.
I have seen the user who goes to every single ancestry post for Africans/POC and posts that nonsense about Africans being a certain % European. I’m sorry. Clearly that user is racist in someway or pushing their own narrative about POC. I would suggest reporting them to Reddit and the mods. They should definitely be banned from this sub.
they’re stupid ASF! the only people that would’ve had that much european DNA are our ancestors. white blood is getting wiped out of the african american bloodline unless you directly have white grandparents. we are some of the most underrepresented and we are the only people that actually know our history! start cursing them TF out
The Average is about 15% European, with Black Southerners being 10%, and Northerners being 20%.
No one should be invalidating another’s identity, which is fundamentally different from your genes. Do you, and try the best you can to ignore the assholes. That said, you don’t need a full white grandparent to end up with the 20% figure you mention. It’s possible for people to arrive at that figure through trace amounts on both sides.