You cannot look at DNA and read it like a book or a map of a journey. For the most part these tests cannot tell you the things they claim to �

Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.

Germany’s history has established a unique context for biracial individuals. For one, foreigners that look different have a hard time being accepted as German citizens. While the most prominent political activists of the Afro-German movement were women, Afro-German men chose the venue of music to express their struggle for identity and acceptance. Their contribution to the Afro-German movement of the early 1990s emphasized German citizenship and a demand to be recognized as Germans (El-Tayeb, 2003). Afro-Germans do not enjoy the advantages of “uncontested national belonging that come with being white” (El-Tayeb, 2003, pg. 479). The Hip-Hop group Brother’s Keepers addressed this issue with their song “Fremd im Eigenen Land” (Stranger in your own country) (El-Tayeb, 2003). African Americans living in the United States do not typically struggle with this issue. Nationality of Americans is not defined by racial make up, but in national allegiance (Asante, 2005). As a consequence, Afro-Germans have a problem with “cultural location”: The dilemma they face because they are “born in Germany, are educated in Germany, and view themselves as German yet in the minds of their fellow citizens they are not truly German because they do not have pure German ancestry” (Asante, 2005)…

Hubbard, Rebecca R. “Afro-German Biracial Identity Development.” PhD dissertation, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010.

You cannot look at DNA and read it like a book or a map of a journey. For the most part these tests cannot tell you the things they claim to – they are little more than genetic astrology.

“It is well known that horoscopes use vague statements which recipients think are more tailored than they really are (referred to as the ‘Forer effect’). Genetic ancestry tests do a similar thing, and many exaggerate far beyond the available evidence about human origins. You cannot look at DNA and read it like a book or a map of a journey. For the most part these tests cannot tell you the things they claim to – they are little more than genetic astrology.”

Tabitha Innocent, “Sense About Genetic Ancestry Testing,” Sense About Science: Science and Evidence in the Hands of the Public, (March 7, 2013). 1. http://archive.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/resources/119/Sense-About-Genetic-Ancestry-Testing.pdf.

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Mixed Race Studies

You cannot look at DNA and read it like a book or a map of a journey. For the most part these tests cannot tell you the things they claim to – they are little more than genetic astrology.

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