Posted on 04/12/2006 3:07:14 AM PDT by Pharmboy
Alan Moldawer's adopted twins, Matt and Andrew, had always thought of themselves as white. But when it came time for them to apply to college last year, Mr. Moldawer thought it might be worth investigating the origins of their slightly tan-tinted skin, with a new DNA kit that he had heard could determine an individual's genetic ancestry.
The results, designating the boys 9 percent Native American and 11 percent northern African, arrived too late for the admissions process. But Mr. Moldawer, a business executive in Silver Spring, Md., says they could be useful in obtaining financial aid.
"Naturally when you're applying to college you're looking at how your genetic status might help you," said Mr. Moldawer, who knows that the twins' birth parents are white, but has little information about their extended family. "I have three kids going now, and you can bet that any advantage we can take we will."
Genetic tests, once obscure tools for scientists, have begun to influence everyday lives in many ways. The tests are reshaping people's sense of themselves — where they came from, why they behave as they do, what disease might be coming.
It may be only natural then that ethnic ancestry tests, one of the first commercial products to emerge from the genetic revolution, are spurring a thorough exploration of the question, What's in it for me?
Many scientists criticize the ethnic ancestry tests as promising more than they can deliver. The legacy of an ancestor several generations back may be too diluted to show up. And the tests have a margin of error, so results showing a small amount of ancestry from one continent may not actually mean someone has any.
Given the tests' speculative nature, it seems unlikely that colleges, governments and other institutions will embrace them.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Show me the money/DNA/Tonto Kowalski ping list...
What about giving preference to someone who just pretends he is a native american so he can get a professorship? At least with the DNA testing there is some objectivity involved. I sort of like the idea of parents playing the game by the rules the affirmative actionistas set up.
I'm native American. I was born here.
Oprah found out that she wasn't Zulu ! (SOB !)
The host's , (Henry Louis Gates, Jr.) story was rather interesting.
Yes--I read his op-ed piece on this in the NY Times (free--online, that is).
I was referring to Ward Churchill. I personally think affirmative action is wrong and would love to see it eliminated; however, if they are going to make the rules, I like to see people game the system because it shows how ridiculous AA is.
The purpose of the adoptive father is equally revolting.
None of us can know what might really have gone on out behind the barn 200 years ago.
So9
Indeed...that's the way it's been for a while. In the near future, they just might turn to genotyping rather than eyeballing the person for the determination.
Adolph Eichmann could have really used something like this...
...or it might have done Eichmann and a few of his SS buddies in.
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I would LOVE to do something like this. Mine would probably look like a checkerboard.
When they get the price down, I will think about it.
a small amount of ancestry from one continent may not actually mean someone has any.In addition, random genetic remains from the colonial period are bound to color (so to speak) the reference samples. What is 9 per cent of 23 chromosome pairs anyway? ;') Thanks for the ping.
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Wouldn't that just burn their britches for the Bubbas to find out that they aren't 100% white. Does that mean they would have to lynch themselves?
Yes, that thought's given me a chuckle too.
Let's see if I have this straight. We need affirmative action to remedy the injustices of slavery. The premise here is that even 8 or more generations after slavery was abolished, the effects are still being felt. Since the great(X8)grandparents had few opportunities, their offspring were impoverished and so on, generation after generation. (Or if we're blaming it on lack of civil rights legislation, subtract a few generations.) But an adopted child, presumably, will inherit the cultural advantages of his adoptive family, not the disadvantages of his genetic family. So if someone with no cultural history of discrimination needs affirmative action, then they are admitting that there is some inherent genetic deficiency. If this is the case, then we will never be rid of affirmative action.
So, is this a cultural/opportunity problem or an issue of genetics. I'd be happy to go with one side or the other, but you can't have it both ways.
I knew you were. I forgot to delete your name from the "to" line.
I'm still learning how to freep.
IMHO this shows that affirmative action is wrong, it is impossible to make adjustments using a mixed origin.
Me too.
Thought we had gotten rid of that, "Just one drop" nonsense. Guess not.
The best way to get a bad law changed is to get it enforced.
If he had wanted to adopt [a] minority child[ren] ... there are plenty who are in need of loving homes.If he had known that the parents of these twins he adopted were NOT white ... would he have adopted them?
Just wondering ...
Seems like nothing more than shameless opportunism to me.
Yes. Does a 9% non-white applicant rate 100% financial aid or only 9% financial aid? Or, no financial aid, at all? How would this work in the real world?
Don't waste your time trying to convince a shameless opportunist of that! They want "it" every which way that will give them an advantage.
So what do you do when you find the ancestors of 78% of your genome stole the land from 12% of your genome, and then enslaved the other 10% of your genome?
Well the 91% certainly owes reparations to the 9%.
Can we call our percentage of other races by different names? "Hi, I'm 72% Bradley, 16% Latrell, 4% Domingo and 8% BearCrapsinWoods."
Excellent! The ultimate internal conflict...
That's what I tell people when they ask what my ancestry is. They usually respond, "You don't look native American."
"Sure I am. I was born in Ft. Benning, Georgia. My ancestors came from England, but I'm a native American."
Then that means that Ms. Pearl Duncan is not black/Afr-American.
I don't know how the African part of it works but for most college grant purposes the AmeriIndian part is worthless. You have to have one verifiable ancestor (usually a grandparent) on the rolls of a federally recognized tribe to claim AmeriIndian status.
(your tribe may vary. Check local listings for more details. Not valid outside of the United States. All sales are final. Do not use as door stop. )
Did you know that the first ones to settle Japan were the Ainu, a Caucasian people?? So all those Oree-entals better move on outta there, we're coming home!
/sarc
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