For $99, you might just be able to find out that you are ““
genetically speaking ““ of Native American descent.
Or black, or Latino, or Irish ““ basically, any other race
than the one with which you originally identify.
Genetic testing has been used for years to match potential organ
donors with sick patients and to match orphaned children with their
biological parents. Now, this matchmaking is being used by some to
define their racial identity.
Although one’s sense of identity is something often taught
in the home, startup DNA-testing companies such as Ethnoancestry,
DNA Tribes and
DNAPrint Genomics are making it possible for people to find out
their precise genetic makeup, for anywhere from $99 to $250.
According to The New York Times, however, individuals are using
such services for reasons other than mere curiosity, attempting to
qualify for the benefits available to minorities in terms of jobs
in the private sector, college admissions and scholarship
applications. One man’s seemingly white sons were found by a
DNA test to be 9 percent Native American and 11 percent African, a
result which he said he plans to use to obtain financial aid.
Another man, who practiced Christianity his entire life, is
trying to gain automatic citizenship to the state of Israel after
his DNA test showed Jewish ancestry. There are also a number of
people who have attempted to claim a portion of the revenues from
American Indian casinos after tests suggested Native American
lineage.
Systems of racial preference are praiseworthy but plagued by the
fact that racial identity is impossible to quantify. Manipulation
of such systems is not only shameless, it also undermines them. And
to further complicate the issue, these ethnic ancestry tests have a
margin of error that scientists say can be misleading.
Science should be used for the pursuit of knowledge, not
personal advancement within any possible loophole. It would be
naive to expect people to ignore opportunities that would give them
better pay or entrance into a better school; on the other hand,
corporate employers and college admissions officials can’t do
anything about it without taking on the hazy task of assigning a
numerical value to that which makes someone a certain race.
The very idea that one can test out of, or into, belonging to a
particular race is fundamentally flawed. These genetic tests are
applying an absolute science to something that is far too personal
to be measured empirically. In addition, if you’re at the
point where you’re taking a test to see if you are a member
of a specific race, then you probably don’t identify with
that race in the first place.
Moreover, testing might be able to create a balanced genetic
breakdown of all students in an incoming class, but it does not
guarantee a diversity of ideas and perspectives. Isn’t that
the purpose of having individuals from different ethnic
backgrounds, especially in an academic setting?
It’s difficult to address job or scholarship placement for
minorities without the whole premise being called into question.
But in addition to providing a diversity of perspectives,
advantages for minorities serve to bridge social inequality. This
latest case of DNA testing highlights the problem of defining
race.
Increasingly in the United States, race is a set of experiences
with which one identifies, not a matter of fractional
ancestries.