I had thought I was finished, for the time being, my discussions on DNA and its impact. Then the New York Times Large Print Weekly for April 17-23 (2006) came and it had an article related to DNA. So I have decided to add to the DNA comments.
Alan Moldawer adopted twin sons who are now of college age. Matthew and his brother Andrew have always thought of themselves as white, as was Mr. Moldawer. It was admitted, though, that the twins had tan-tinted skin. After Matt had applied for college, Mr. Moldawer thought that perhaps it might be advantageous to have DNA studies done for Matt. The result is that the twins were designated 9% Native American and 11% northern Africa. Whether this will be useful in obtaining financial aid for the boys is not clear.
John Haedrich, a Christian, used DNA tests to claim Jewish ancestry and Israeli citizenship. Americans of every shade are using their DNA tests to claim Indian health services and casino money.
Pearl Duncan has larger ambitions. She is trying to claim a castle. She was a descendant of Jamaican slaves. She already had a record trail which carried her ancestry back to her mother’s great-great-grandfather, who was a Scottish slave owner. Now she has a DNA test which confirms that she has a 10% British Isles ancestry. Armed with all of this, she contacted her Scottish cousins who had built an oil company with their common ancestor’s fortune. The family collectively has eleven castles which were obtained through the labor of Ms. Duncan’s ancestors. Though her quest is playful, she does insist that the Scottish cousins recognize that their ancestors were slave owners, a point that they would like to forget.
Probably, we are all familiar with the case of Thomas Jefferson. The DNA evidence is not always accepted, especially if it upsets previous ideas.
These examples are showing that the future impact of DNA studies will be significant in many ways and the field of DNA work is only in its infancy. [I have told college students that this century will be remembered as 'the years of DNA' and that they should study as much as possible about the subject.]
The patriotic societies will need a policy on DNA. Will this be an allowable path for admission? What if a member should have DNA which is inconsistent with the paper trail? The paper trail has only a certain probability of truth and should not be regarded as absolute. DNA could be more truthful.
We have Germanna descendants of all shades of skin color.
(24 Apr 06)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.