Are all humans of African descent?

[ZombieHorde]

Poll question: Are all humans of African descent?

This poll was inspired by a TV show I saw concerning the Human Genome Project and some posts I read on DU.

The Human Genome Project claims all humans come from African ancestors.

Is our ethnicity more about genetics, social constructs, or self identity? All three seem relevant to me.

I am Hungarian and Irish, my appearance is "white guy," but genetically, I am also African, but am I of African descent?

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml

[ElmoBlatz]

1. Well we had to come from somewhere

And the evidence points to the origins of man being in Africa. Yes, we are all African Americans.

[virgogal]

2. I think you mean descent. We know Africans are decent.

[ZombieHorde]

3. Yes, thank you, my subject line was correct, but my poll options were a mistake. nt

[endless october]

4. mitochondrial Eve was African.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

fairly convincing evidence for African human origin.

[Forkboy]

5. I'm of Godzillian descent, than you very much.

;)

[ZombieHorde]

6. Although Godzilla is anti-nuke, he does demonstrate the awesome side of nukes. nt

[Forkboy]

9. The Big G has his upside and downsides.

:)

[FarCenter]

7. Non-Africans are descended from Northeast Africans of about 3000 generations ago

Our ancestors migrated from the vicinity of Ethiopia and Somalia into Yemen and Arabia.

Today's populations within Africa and recent migrants from Africa may belong to genetic groups that have earlier roots in Africa. There is more genetic diversity inside Africa than outside.

[roguevalley]

22. They are finding humans may have left a couple of hundred thousand

years earlier and used boats to spread around.

[Better Believe It]

8. The modern human species started in Africa but that doesn't make us all African-Americans

Africa is our common ancestral home.

[Hekate]

10. Cradle of humanity, etc. Ethnicity, however, is a social construct, in my experience...

I periodically get in trouble for saying this, but cultural/ethnic identity is quite malleable.

Hekate

[defendandprotect]

11. Cradle of humanity in a "black" EVE . . . yes . . .

We are all people of color, of course . . .

No one is white -- check you skin against this paper!

The Native American also points out that you can get white/cream/pink from

"black" skin . . . but not the reverse --

[aquart]

12. You just found out?

Hell, even if you believe in the Garden of Eden, wtf do you think that was?

[ZombieHorde]

20. I was told in school years ago, but the subject was not explained the way the TV show explained

the subject.

[burning rain]

13. Yes.

That doesn't mean it's appropriate to call yourself an "African-American" or "person of African descent" in normal discourse, though, because the accepted definitions for those terms include the connotation of "black" despite the strict denotation (sort of like how "anti-Semitic" in accepted usage means "anti-Jewish" despite the etymology, the strict denotation). Humor, science talk, making a point against (pseudo-)scientific racism, sure, but not normal discourse. ;-)

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. That would certainly explain the size of my ......

[kayla9170]

15. Nice poll.....a needed history lesson for some........

Thanks for the link.......... And for those who do not know....the Motherland is the continent of Africa.

[1]

16. i thought we all descended from monkeys. monkeys are ubiquitous, right?

[roguevalley]

23. we are primates descended from a common ancestor with the great

apes. monkeys are not closely related to us and there are some in both hemispheres.

[Bitwit1234]

17. Anyone doing genealogy research

knows that life started in Africa and spread out across the world. You can tell which part of the world you ancestors came from, by the mtDNA of your mother. As far as can be determined there were seven tribes. My ancestors went thru the steppes and on to England and then the US> But I have no other DNA except European and some Native American. So everyone came from one branch of that separation. The women who represent these branches are called the Daughters of Eve.

[Sebastian Doyle]

18. If you believe the biblical account, we're all Iraqis.

The Garden of Eden was supposedly located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Only one place on Earth that could be.

[David Zephyr]

19. We all came from Africa. This is not even open for debate.

We are all Africans.

[Ozymanithrax]

21. The record shows that, as a species, we evolved in Africa and moved out.

But I don't see that it makes any difference. I think culutre and family plays a far bigger role determining who I am.

[Loki]

24. I am a blonde, fair skinned white woman from the midwest.

My immediate family tree comes from Europe and my ancient family tree is haplogroup H which comes from the line of Mitochondrial Eve from the eastern coast of Africa from 150,000 to 170,000 years ago. We traveled up through Africa through the Middle East until we reached into Europe and Asia, then spreading eastward to populate what is known today as modern Europe. From there in Germany, Holland and the British Isles, my maternal line migrated into the Americas where we reside today. I am proud that this is my heritage and we are all truly a human family.

[ThomWV]

25. I don't know, did Noah's Ark land in Africa as the great flood receded?

Bwahahahahahahahah!

[AngryAmish]

26. Oh, sure. The Orcs, on the other hand...