Last February, associate editor Toni Coleman looked into whether DNA tracing was an expensive waste of time, given the increasing popularity of African-Americans setting out to learn their African lineage.
In Toni’s “Regaining a Lost Heritage,” conflicting arguments ensued on the part of scholars. Dr. Rick Kittles of the University of Chicago and co-founder of African Ancestry Inc. said he had the largest and most comprehensive database of African DNA samples. However, Dr. Bruce A. Jackson, co-director of the African-American DNA Roots Project at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, said it was not possible to match African-Americans to specific regions and tribes in Africa because of Africans’ genetic diversity and migrationpatterns.
Fast forward one year later and it’s doubtful that these two scholars are any closer to coming to any type of agreement, but one thing is for certain, DNA tracing is still as popular as ever, as is tracing one’s genealogy through historical records, which are much more accessible now because of the Internet.
In “The New Genealogy,” senior writer Ronald Roach reports on what could be considered an update or part two to Toni’s 2007 piece. Ron points to the revelation of slavery ties between the family of the Rev. Al Sharpton and the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond as just one example of genealogy getting media attention. Just last fall, Lynne Cheney, wife of the vice president, said that while tracing her husband’s genealogy, she found that Dick Cheney and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama may share a common ancestor eight generations ago.
But these examples also shine a spotlight on something that people always knew, but perhaps didn’t have the DNA proof or historical documentation to prove, and that is evidence of mixed heritage. Historically, because of the “one drop rule,” Black ancestry was seen as a great disadvantage for Whites. But as time goes on, more people are embracing their diverse lineage. Probably the most high-profile and ongoing example of this is the controversy surrounding whether President Thomas Jefferson fathered a child(ren) with his slave Sally Hemings. There are still Jefferson descendants who do not recognize Hemings’ descendants as “family,” even though a group of descendants from both sides began holding joint family reunions almost 10 years ago.
