Reifying Race: Genetic Genealogy and the Maintenance of the Racial Hierarchy

• In Event: 345 - Regular Session. Race and Ethnicity: Race, Ancestry, and Genetics

Abstract

Reifying Race: Genetic Genealogy and the Maintenance of the Racial Hierarchy

Abstract

This paper explores the ways individuals that engage in genetic ancestry testing reify race. Through fifteen interviews and a year-long observation of a genetic genealogy discussion board, I find that instead of challenging our racial hierarchy, interpretations of the results of genetic genealogy tests ultimately reinforces our understandings of race. In my research, test results almost never challenge how subjects see themselves in racial/ethnic terms. Test results do, however, reinforce Eurocentrism, as individuals find themselves excited about more nuanced understandings of their already known white ancestry (for instance, instead of seeing themselves as Scottish, they now describe themselves as “Orcadian,” referring to islands off of Northern Scotland).

Author

• Kathleen J. Fitzgerald, Loyola University-New Orleans