No, You’re not “From Ireland” because a DNA Test Says So
Commercials for DNA testing kits often provoke me to shout at the TV. One company advertises, “Maybe you’ll discover you’re from Ireland and have the same eye color and occupation as one of your ancestors.”
No, maybe one of my ancestors is from Ireland, but I’m from Illinois. And I would expect to have the same eye color as one of my ancestors, wouldn’t I? After all, how many possibilities are there?
The all-time worst one begins with a man speaking English with an American accent: “Growing up, we were German….”
The man then proceeds to explain how he wore lederhosen and danced. Then he had his DNA tested and found out, “The big surprise was, we weren’t German at all — 52% of my DNA comes from Scotland and Ireland.” As a result, he said, “I traded in my lederhosen for a kilt.”
Maybe this is supposed to be humorous. Maybe I’m too pedantic. Clearly the testing company wanted visuals for the commercial. But to me, this commercial and others like it reveal so much that’s wrong with people’s expectations of DNA testing.
DNA vs. Culture
Most obviously, your DNA makeup has nothing to do with your culture. You’re not from someplace because your DNA shares characteristics with other people found in that geographical area. DNA can’t determine the foods you like to eat, the clothes you wear, or the traditions you follow. If you choose to wear a kilt after finding out your ancestors lived in Scotland, go ahead. But it’s still not your culture.
Culture is difficult to define, but here’s how I usually describe it to my students: Cultures emerge among large groups of people who share common languages, lifestyles, beliefs, values, customs, manners, and so on. Cultures can influence the way we dress, our hairstyles, the music we listen to, the foods we eat, the sports we play, and how we interact with friends, neighbors, and strangers.
Culture changes over time (look at your parents’ yearbook, or better yet, your grandparents’) and is often geographically centered. A person can be influenced by more than one culture (or subculture) simultaneously.
But one thing cultures are not is inherited.
“Wait a second,” you might say. “I have this recipe for Irish soda bread that originally came from my great-grandmother.” Okay, sure. But the recipe was handed down and learned. It’s not in your DNA.
Cultures persist over time because they are learned by new generations and new members of the group. They spread from one region to another because people emigrate and take their cultural practices with them. But immigrants are also influenced by the dominant culture of their new home and by the cultures of other immigrants. Over time, cultural traditions get diluted, altered, fused, misappropriated, repurposed, and misunderstood. Often, they disappear.
For instance, nobody in Germany wears lederhosen today, except as a costume.
DNA and Identity
I have no specific objections to popular DNA testing, in general. I understand why people want to have it done. It’s a fact that today’s population of the American continents consists mostly of people whose ancestors originally came from other regions of the world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 90% of the country’s population is descended from people from Europe or Africa. Over the space of many generations of settlement, several factors have made ancestral lines unclear for some. Families have been torn apart by hardship, devastated by war, dissolved and denied by choice. For African Americans, slavery and generations of discrimination have made tracing a family tree difficult. And, people who were adopted as children through closed adoption processes often have little or no information about their birth parents.
I sympathize with Americans who are curious about their genetic roots. Through DNA testing, people have found long-lost relatives (for better and worse) and learned essential health information. It’s also understandable that people are proud of their heritage and wish to learn more.
But the results of a DNA test cannot tell you what your culture is or who you are. Look around you — that is your culture. Who you are? That’s up to you.
