The Term African American

[DSTRen13]

Originally Posted by Ch2tf

I wasn't precluding that race is a "science" and I'm well aware that it is a sociological construction. I used the term race because it was the term floating around in the thread. So to clarify, according the the special, Henry Louis Gates Jr., a well known author and Harvard University professor, compared the DNA a group of well know celebrities against the DNA of a subsection of the WORLD'S population (the basis of the comparison is that currently there is a "file" of the DNA of the world's people that has been compiled since the advent of genetics/DNA testing). The DNA, or rather the portion of a person's DNA that has been shown to related to ethnicity/heritage was compared to the "samples" that were currently housed and given the volunteers as a possible window of their culturo-historical roots.

And Sista, I do remember the special-very well in fact-and Whoopi was indeed surprised/shocked/unprepared for the results of her comparison. And while I do recognize that no test is fail proof, motivations, etc. I do lend a measure of validity to research and "testing" completed by HLG, supported by Harvard University, and presented via PBS. But that's just me. If it was that great television, it would have been broadcasted on other stations besides PBS .

I'll have to see if I can find a copy - do you know the name of the program? It sounds interesting.

[Ch2tf]

Originally Posted by DSTRen13

I'll have to see if I can find a copy - do you know the name of the program? It sounds interesting.

It was called "African-American Lives" and was a mini series that aired in February 2006. HLG didn't rely solely on the DNA testing, he also worked with the geneologies, oral histories, public documents, and his personal knowledge of Af-Am history and the slave trade to support or disprove each other/the DNA comparison.

[Honeykiss1974]

FYI (for everyone) - I saw the one with Oprah and it was great (and emotional). If memory serves me correctly, they are selling the DVD for each of the series. I seem to remember seeing that at the end of the show.