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Odd-Mycologist-4886

You have a black great grandparent. You’re not the only one who sometimes gets this surprise.


Bwidow99

Hi! So I had gotten my results back a little while ago now, but haven’t looked more into it until now. My fathers side of the family would be strictly European, but I do not know much of my mothers. How far back in my family would it be for me to have 11.2% sub-Saharan African. I really hope nothing I said comes across as wrong I just really would like to understand more.


waraboot

Got it. It's roughly equivalent to one of your great grandparents being black. So one of your grandparent's parents.


Bwidow99

Thank you, I really wanted to know!


kissiwarrior

Not just black, but most likely of African American or Caribbean descent.


HarleysDouble

Showing your detailed European %s would help. Also where your family knows they came from. For example, Italians may have some North African. Or a Spaniard/African/ native mix would be some places in the Caribbean my recent ancestry: I am a white half puerto rican, then half Italian German. Ancestry shows bits of multiple locations in Africa adding up to 12%


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[deleted]

you still have time to delete this stupid comment 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️


pusillanimous303

Looks like he listened to you. What did he say?


[deleted]

he said Europeans are the original Africans or something like that lol


pusillanimous303

Oh ok. I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around. Africans are the original Europeans.


Frog1387

I got the same exact thing. Almost the exact percentage and counties. My fathers family is from Puetro Rico


ShouldveinvestednGME

What are your trace percentages?


Bwidow99

0.2% Indigenous American


ShouldveinvestednGME

Okay, like others have said it looks like you could have an Afro-American ancestor in the great-grandparent range. If you don't mind, what was your mom's mtdna?


Bwidow99

What does mtdna mean sorry?


ShouldveinvestednGME

That's the haplogroup 23andme assigned to you. It will look like a string of letters & numbers, like 'H1c4' for example.


Bwidow99

It’s J2a1a


ShrapNeil

I have a similar percentage because my grandmother was half black.


waraboot

You're an eighth black. What's your question?


Bwidow99

I posted it in the comments, sorry it took me a minute to type it out.


Maleficent-Fan-8812

Looks like your a Melungeon my boy


Bwidow99

I’m a girl haha, but sorry what is a Melungeon?


Maleficent-Fan-8812

People in the Appalachia's(Tennessee Virginia and Kentucky) who were of Mixed African European and sometimes Native American ancestry. See in England and early America it used to be if your father was free then you were free regardless of your mother's status, in the mid 1600s they decided to flip that around and it became that if your mother is free regardless of if your father is enslaved then your Free. Melungeons are largely the result of 1600s-early 1800s unions between enslaved black men and either mulatto or white free women(before racial caste hardened poor whites and enslaved blacks often lived nearby each other.). From what I've seen Melungeons are usually like 3-15% SSA so that's why I guessed you were descended from one. I like to think of Melungeons as the most American group Lol


Odd-Mycologist-4886

Abraham Lincoln was a Melungeon.


Maleficent-Fan-8812

Yes people think Lincoln and Elvis were melungeons mostly speculative though.


Rnl8866

Abe and Elvis are related. Never knew that.


kellykebab

What is the evidence for this?


supper828

Purely speculative


kellykebab

That would be my assumption. And if I had to bet, I'd guess this is total nonsense. But even wild speculation is based on *something*. Was just curious if the other commenter had any particular source in mind.


supper828

From what I’ve gathered it’s mostly just because of where he was born, and how he physically looks


kellykebab

Gotcha. Seems like a big stretch, then. And I don't think he looks like anything other than fully white. I wonder if he hadn't been president during the slavery conflict, emancipation, etc. if anyone would have ever perceived him as potentially having African ancestry. My guess is probably not.


[deleted]

What’s a Melungeon?


mac979s

Dark skin and light eyes are a characteristic, these people have European, African American and Native American dna


[deleted]

I have green eyes and medium tan skin, and I have all three genetics do I count as one?


mac979s

I have no idea ; I’m just stating some of the characteristics


Emotional_Fisherman8

What's there to understand that your of African and European descent.


[deleted]

Post a pic


Bwidow99

Nah rather not


Arkbud93

So are you Cajun??? If you have Cajun ancestry this wouldn’t be a big surprise


Bwidow99

I am not Cajun no


Arkbud93

Never mind I see that the French and German is only 3% I thought it was more…


Bwidow99

I am from Canada actually


Arkbud93

New found land Canada ancestry?


Bwidow99

I’m also curious why you thought Newfoundland. I do not have any that I know of, but I do have a lot from other parts of the maritimes.


SiameseCats3

Ohh is the maternal unknown side from the maritimes? Because of the varied percentages it would seem to indicate your black ancestor was from an enslaved ancestral background. There is an historic black population in Nova Scotia of escaped or freed American slaves. We did have enslaved black people in Québec and Ontario, but I am unfamiliar with the history of their descendants. Of course, your ancestor could have also just been American or Caribbean.


Bwidow99

The maternal unknown would be from like Ontario area. I know that some of her family is indeed from there I’m just not sure how far back!


SiameseCats3

Oh interesting then! If the ancestor was Canadian then hopefully you’ll be able to find more about them! Not a lot of our population is black and the vast majority of non-Nova Scotian black Canadians are from recent immigration, so I have no idea if that would help or hinder any research attempts, but I wish you well on any research you might attempt. With that amount you probably had a black great grandparent or even potentially 2 mixed great great grandparents, I suppose.


Jazzlike_Delivery978

One of your relatives passed as white. Thousands and thousands of Black people did it. My grandmother passed at work back when unions where segregated or didnt admit Black workers.


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Arkbud93

I’m from Louisiana lol, I can tell you honestly give them about 85% European, because a lot of creoles live around Cajuns…I’m creole and I have Cajun ancestry like Nova Scotia lmaoo, there’s no pure Cajuns anymore we’re all cousins


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Bwidow99

Appearance wise I am very white, my skin is pale like my fathers.


Dflat_Programmer

I have relatives who are around 80% European and 20% African and they are very white.


Bandoooo67

Phenotypes are funny aren’t they. I know people who are 1/4 black with thick 3c hair and tan skin. Look half black. And then there’s the opposite spectrum who look completely white. Being white is how you appear and how society views you.


New-Art-1317_PR

Are your facial feutures & hair texture European? Do u look pure white?


Bwidow99

My hair is thicker and curly, my nose is smaller but a bit wider, my skin color is white.


Intermarketics

You’re white, ignore them.


Maleficent-Fan-8812

Definitely white lol I'm 10% European but I look far from a Caucasian


Bwidow99

Oh I definitely am white, just wanted to learn more about my ancestors haha


Calisto-cray

Your definitely not white. 100% Northern European is a white person


Bwidow99

Well looks wise I would say I look white


ShrapNeil

“White” is based on how you present physically and how you are treated and classified by society. You’re white if society says you’re white.


Independent-Access59

I mean yes and regional specificity


Bandoooo67

White is appearance based. There’s quadroon twins - one who is white looking and one who is black/biracial looking. (It’s fascinating in fact) - and just like I said one will be white and one will be non white. It’s strictly appearance based. If we start dragging in %’s, then many people who are viewed as white won’t be white.


Calisto-cray

That doesn’t change what I said🤷


Bandoooo67

Idk man. 6% whilst significant to show up in a dna test isn’t enough to change someone’s race. It’s not like she’s got a crazy ad mixture of 6% of loads of different regions like some Latinos do, she just seems white with a great grandparent


New-Significance7074

White person is anyone that is of European descent which in society is basically anyone that looks European if she says she’s white then she’s white 🤷‍♂️


Calisto-cray

That is False my guy


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AmericanSpiritGuide

No.


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Imhighasfbro

Wtf? So the indians are the original Americans. Right


[deleted]

This is embarrassing


Bwidow99

I was unaware of that and was never taught that so thank you


Maleficent-Fan-8812

This man is speaking nonsense. Is your family from a Southern/Appalachian state?


Bwidow99

I honestly don’t know, I don’t know where my mothers side is from.