The Term African American

[Sista]

Originally Posted by Ch2tf

I wasn't precluding that race is a "science" and I'm well aware that it is a sociological construction..

Sociological construction, please break down what that means to you? I would like to make sure that I am comprehending at the same perception, frame of mind as you? I just want to be sure of what that means to you, sociological construction?

Originally Posted by Ch2tf

I used the term race because it was the term floating around in the thread. So to clarify, according 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.

Am I to get from this that Whoopi had a higher percentage of European decent as oppose to African decent? Because when I saw the show, it said nothing about percentages, only decent.

I am going to have to ask you for the source for which genetic testing center did Henry Louis gates use because I have researched many DNA testing centers and none of them have the worlds population of DNA on file let alone a subsection. It is not an easy thing to approach foreign people and ask them for their blood, so you can store it in your bank.

Any way, that wouldn't be an easy thing to do even if you had an interpret present. Some people will give up their blood for such a cause but not all of them. This is why most DNA testing centers do not have certain blood types and therefore cannot tell you about your ancestry if they do not have A DNA match for you on file. DNA testing centers for genetics makes that very clear before they test you for your DNA match.

Any way, how could it on one hand be world's population and sub section at the same time? Doesn't sound to specific or clear. I detect a huge flaw. Is it worlds population or a sub section of the world?

I need a source to check this out for my self.
As I finish up this post, I am googling, trying to find that source for my self, have any suggestions on where to start?

Originally Posted by Ch2tf

And Sista, I do remember the special-very well in fact-and Whoopi was indeed surprised/shocked/unprepared for the results of her comparison.

What exactly was the comparison?