Trump ally Scott Brown suggests Elizabeth Warren take DNA test to prove heritage

boing
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Way to stick to the issues that matter.

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Oh, hell yes. I have been on a tear of making soba noodles from scratch this summer.

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Scott Brown’s only contribution to society was that Cosmo centerfold where he had that “yeah, he’s kinda hot
if he were my professor, I’d do him for a better grade” vibe.

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Playing to their racist-ass demographic. It works!

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Give Fallujah Your Salutations.
Genuine Fancy Yemeni Sandals.
G-d Feels Your Sadness.

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If we keep this going, ‘GFYS’ might become the tabula rasa of acronyms on BB.

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That’s some Gritty Fine Yantra Sap right there.

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GTFO!

Golly, Tex - Fantastic Otters!

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Gumby Forgives Your Sins

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So, on topic


The Cherokee nation’s first contact with Europeans was in 1540, and became a regular thing in the 1600’s. Thanks to the strange diseases brought by the Europeans, the Cherokee have been dying due to Europeans for hundreds of years longer than many other native tribes who lived further away from those early explorers, traders, and settlers. Often those who managed to survive through life-threatening illness were the “half breed” children who had some European genes in them. Also, thanks to location, the Cherokee gene pool further diversified with the addition of Africans (former slaves) as well.

Long story short, there’s no such thing as a 100% DNA Cherokee tribe member these days. That’s why the Dawes Roll and other documentary proofs are used: the point is whether or not your family has been treated like Cherokee over generations, not what is in your DNA profile.

In addition, geneticists can’t tell you which tribe you belong to via DNA. Even if you test positive for certain known markers, all it says is that you have Native genes in you, not which tribe or exactly how much of a percentage you are.

And finally, if your “100% Cherokee grandmother” was enrolled but in fact had only 1-3% verifiable Native DNA, you might not have any reasonable sized segments of that heritage pass down to you but she’s still your grandmother and she still grew up in the tribe with her family. Conversely (and this is the more common scenario), if your dark skinned grandmother’s family claimed to be part Native (to hide the fact one of her grandparents was an African slave, for example), you might grow up believing what your entire family told you but in fact when you do DNA testing you find out you have 3% West African heritage instead (or Italian, or Jewish
).

Basically, a DNA test will probably not give a definitive answer to the question. Doesn’t mean she’s lying. She might be telling the truth, or she might be telling the truth as it was told to her. She might even test positive for Native DNA, but it’s actually from a different tribe. It’s just not as conclusive as people think.

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We needed this. Thank you.

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Lauren :+1:

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One of my first ‘DIY’ memes; thanks.

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It also functions in reverse compared to most other forms of racism, where if one has any black, Jew, Asian etc one quickly gets labeled with a broad brush by people who express complete disinterest in the specifics of one’s lineage. Native Americans are the only group I know of who routinely get told to “prove it”.

The rest of the Americas don’t seem to have this specific problem to such a degree. The Mestizo people to the south and the MĂ©tis to the north (my peeps) are commonly acknowledged to exist as real ethnic populations. The US has always taken great pains to deny mixed native ethnicities as having any existence or validity. Probably because it would greatly increase the footprint of native culture, and is comprised of people who mostly are not on reservations.

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Godzilla Feels Your Sadness?

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Yes, but questioning someone’s racial heritage is different even from questioning their religion or birthplace. Could you imagine someone questioning a black identified politician about “just how black are you? I’ll bet you’re only 1/4 black, a poser, here take this test.”

That said, the whole kerfuffle itches my narrow Libertarian stripe that says Government simply shouldn’t be in the race business at all. If it wasn’t, then the ingredients of someone’s melting pot would simply be of no interest. There’s other ways to help the disenfranchised, and as someone living in a VERY diverse city where kids of all sorts of mixed races are approaching a sizable chunk of the schools, the situation of trying to keep track of race will soon become untenable and ridiculous, not to mention fraught with ugliness like the Warren thing, where the fact is no one should care about a tiny fragment of heritage either way except her family.

Hey, my Ukrainian grandfather emigrated here from Brazil. I have the papers. Doesn’t that make me Latino and my kids could put it on their college applications so they’re not just more Jewish kids from NJ? What about Argentinians of German or Italian descent, they’re Latino too, right? This is the rabbit hole that leads to perpetuating “racial differences” rather than rising above them, and allows scum like Trump to drive wedges.

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Giant Fingers, Yuge Steak

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That, and forbidding or disapproving of ‘race-mixing’ keeps white supremacy alive and well.

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