"I Got Indian In My Family" – Not Likely
April 9, 2009 No Comments
African American studies scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. did an expansive study a few years ago (broadcast repeatedly on PBS) about black Americans’ roots in Africa. It included footage from a number of black luminaries including Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey, Tina Turner, Don Cheadle, Chris Rock, etc., and followed their genes to remote African villages, places where there ancestors came from. It was astonishing, but what was more astonishing was the fact that Gates’ studies (In PBS’ four-hour mini-series “African American Lives 2″) totally refuted the oft-repeated claim that many of us have Indian in our family. According to Gates, most of us don’t. The overwhelming majority, according to him.
Almost to a man, the people who had there DNA tested said the same basic thing: They all had faint visions of their great-grandmother “with straight white hair,” and prominent Indian features.
I too share those faint visions.
One of the reviewers of Gates’ DVD says: Can you imagine having been certain all your life that you were African-American and part Indian only to find out that you are actually more white than you are either of the other two strains of humanity?
Whoa. Heady stuff.
Turns out alot of African-Americans have European ancestry woven into them, and no wonder, having been intertwined with them for the past 400 years. The Indian thing probably adds some mystique to the racial palette, I assume. And it’s all good, but Gates’ research doesn’t necessarily back it all up.
