# Is Shaun King (Daily Kos writer & Black Lives Matter activist) really white? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 19, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271 "2015-08-19T16:39:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/521 "2015-08-23T21:45:40Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > Outside of speculative theories of human history how does it relate to artificially restricting job opportunities or increased police contact or any racist actions by individuals, organizations or the state. > > Institutional bigotry doesn’t care if your grandfather 100 generations removed was born in X, they care if they an shove you in their artificial out-groups based scientifically insignificant cosmetic differences. > > So how about coming back with a cite that the various makeup of your recent ancestors genetic material means squat when it comes to advocating for reduced institutional bigotry? I honestly don’t even understand what you are talking about, but if you are asking how someone’s deep ancestry relates to whether or not they are discriminated against… well, if you don’t understand that, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to explain it. It goes back to how babby is formed. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/522 "2015-08-23T21:59:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > It should be no surprise that black people generally have more experience with other black people than whites generally do, so it should also be no surprise that the former or more attuned to nuances in family history. Not sure why that is particularly remarkable. And yet we have white people in this very thread pontificating about race as if they are experts on the subject. > [@John Mace](#): > > The whole way we use the term “biracial” is screwy. Let’s be real. When a person can’t have more than 10%-20% of a certain ancestry to be perceived by others as belonging to a certain race, then the _whole system_ is screwy. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/523 "2015-08-23T22:11:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yes. But keep in mind that we were talking about “biracial” people. That term usually is applied to people with parents of different races. Such a person can self-identify as African-American, but I think **monstro** was using the term to mean “parents of different races”, and I was responding in that context. Okay. I’ve heard some strange ideas about the term on this board, over the years, and I wanted to make sure things were clear. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/524 "2015-08-23T22:12:21Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > And yet we have white people in this very thread pontificating about race as if they are experts on the subject. Yes, we do. > [@](#): > > Let’s be real. When a person can’t have more than 10%-20% of a certain ancestry to be perceived by others as belonging to a certain race, then the _whole system_ is screwy. I won’t argue with that. I certainly didn’t think I was implying that the whole system wasn’t screwy by pointing out one aspect of it that was. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/525 "2015-08-23T22:17:02Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yes. But keep in mind that we were talking about “biracial” people. That term usually is applied to people with parents of different races. Such a person can self-identify as African-American, but I think **monstro** was using the term to mean “parents of different races”, and I was responding in that context. So this is all a misunderstanding I failed to quote to a previous post where people were asking why he didn’t collect $25K by subjecting himself to a genetic test. I will not opine on his genetic history, because it doesn’t matter. I am not saying race doesn’t matter, but it only maters because of bigiotry. The genetic history of a “biracial” doesn’t matter if they suffer the effects. There are still smaller communities in the US which follow the one-drop rule, while you may be as white as Marie Antoinette, your neighbors, knowing your lineage will still shove you into that out-group. Sure you could move to another area and escape this bias but institutionalized bigotry is never about fact. I am not arguing from a post-racial rose colored glasses standpoint. My point is that supporting the flawed idea that race has a genetic basis enables a belief that the concept of race is valid. With the limited genetic diversity of the entire human population the only thing that those speculative theories of human history demonstrate is that those of us who are from european decent came from very small seed populations and that the migrations were not common in history, we are just more inbred. Institutional racism is an ugly product of human behavior and we should make it completely clear that there is no valid genetic component, nor scientific evidence to justify that ignorant stance. It doesn’t matter if Shaun King as a drop of non-european blood, it doesn’t matter if lied, ad hominem attacks do not invalidate the reality of institutional racism. The sites in the OP are on a crusade to kill the messenger because the cannot logically justify their cultural position of privilege. So sorry if I lead you astray but I will not allow the bigots to claim that there is any scientific evidence to justify their and admittedly my privilege. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/526 "2015-08-23T22:37:52Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > I will not opine on his genetic history, because it doesn’t matter. I am not saying race doesn’t matter, but it only maters because of bigiotry. The genetic history of a “biracial” doesn’t matter if they suffer the effects. There are still smaller communities in the US which follow the one-drop rule, while you may be as white as Marie Antoinette, your neighbors, knowing your lineage will still shove you into that out-group. Sure you could move to another area and escape this bias but institutionalized bigotry is never about fact. Thanks so much for saying this! You reminded me of an excellent RadioLab story I heard last year called [“Ally’s Choice.”](http://www.radiolab.org/story/304341-allys-choice/) Synopsis: There’s this tiny Appalachian town where many of residents self-identify as African American despite looking white. Ally was raised in such a family, but she’s the “black sheep” in the family by refusing to call herself black. To my ear, it seemed like anti-black racism was driving her decision, rather than practicality (which I can totally respect). And I grieve for her child. But the story was totally fascinating. I’d heard of such communities before, but I’ve never heard from the people themselves. The folks who have a problem with Shaun King would probably have a heart attack if they learned there’s a whole town of Shaun Kings. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/527 "2015-08-23T22:58:14Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Do you know what the term “[deep ancestry](http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Ancestry-Inside-Genographic-Project/dp/1426201184)” means? Few, if any people in Cleveland have “deep ancestry” in Cleveland. “Deep ancestry” uses a definition of race that is entirely irrelevant to the social phenomenon of race in American culture and American history. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/528 "2015-08-23T23:03:12Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Thanks so much for saying this! You reminded me of an excellent RadioLab story I heard last year called [“Ally’s Choice.”](http://www.radiolab.org/story/304341-allys-choice/) > > Synopsis: There’s this tiny Appalachian town where many of residents self-identify as African American despite looking white. Ally was raised in such a family, but she’s the “black sheep” in the family by refusing to call herself black. > > To my ear, it seemed like anti-black racism was driving her decision, rather than practicality (which I can totally respect). And I grieve for her child. But the story was totally fascinating. I’d heard of such communities before, but I’ve never heard from the people themselves. > > The folks who have a problem with Shaun King would probably have a heart attack if they learned there’s a whole town of Shaun Kings. Due to Jim Crow Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma all used the one drop as a rule of law, most until 1967 when Loving vs. Virginia invalidated them. Many other states were effectively one drop states by law. Ally Manning’s mom in your linked podcast may have been legal classified as black in her youth. Racial classification is purely arbitrary with no real empirical underpinnings outside of self identification and external groupings of out-groups. Unfortunately the societal, legal and economic realities of those arbitrary groupings are very real. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/529 "2015-08-23T23:07:41Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > So this is all a misunderstanding I failed to quote to a previous post where people were asking why he didn’t collect $25K by subjecting himself to a genetic test. No, it’s a misunderstanding because the post I quoted had absolutely nothing to do with anything you posted. I was responding to someone else. > [@](#): > > I will not opine on his genetic history, because it doesn’t matter. I am not saying race doesn’t matter, but it only maters because of bigiotry. The genetic history of a “biracial” doesn’t matter if they suffer the effects. There are still smaller communities in the US which follow the one-drop rule, while you may be as white as Marie Antoinette, your neighbors, knowing your lineage will still shove you into that out-group. Sure you could move to another area and escape this bias but institutionalized bigotry is never about fact. I have no idea how “white” Marie Antoinette was, but if I were to list the many racial problems existing in the US, such places as you mention would be down near the bottom. Seems more like an imagined scenario than anything that has actually been documented to be a significant problem today. Or perhaps you can tell us just how many “black Marie Antoinettes” there are running around small town America. > [@](#): > > I am not arguing from a post-racial rose colored glasses standpoint. My point is that supporting the flawed idea that race has a genetic basis enables a belief that the concept of race is valid. With the limited genetic diversity of the entire human population the only thing that those speculative theories of human history demonstrate is that those of us who are from european decent came from very small seed populations and that the migrations were not common in history, we are just more inbred. Science is science, and coming in hear saying that tracing ethnic ancestry thru DNA is no more valid than using DNA to trace sports fans… well, that’s right up there with global warming deniers. You’re doing your side no favors by taking an anti-science stance. > [@](#): > > Institutional racism is an ugly product of human behavior and we should make it completely clear that there is no valid genetic component, nor scientific evidence to justify that ignorant stance. Being able to trace one’s ethnic ancestry thru genetics can be used for racists purposes, but it needn’t be. In fact, it’s used b thousands and thousands of individuals every year in the US. But maybe you should lecture Louse Gates about how racist he is by making the series [Finding Your Roots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Your_Roots) on PBS. Alternatively, you could educate yourself on the subject and learn the difference between race as a biological construct and being able to tie one’s own ethno-geogrphic origins to ones DNA. > [@](#): > > It doesn’t matter if Shaun King as a drop of non-european blood, it doesn’t matter if lied, ad hominem attacks do not invalidate the reality of institutional racism. The sites in the OP are on a crusade to kill the messenger because the cannot logically justify their cultural position of privilege. So sorry if I lead you astray but I will not allow the bigots to claim that there is any scientific evidence to justify their and admittedly my privilege. You are conflating two completely separate things, and in your anger are taking an unscientific stance with regard to what DNA can tell us. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/530 "2015-08-23T23:10:06Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Thanks so much for saying this! You reminded me of an excellent RadioLab story I heard last year called [“Ally’s Choice.”](http://www.radiolab.org/story/304341-allys-choice/) > > Synopsis: There’s this tiny Appalachian town where many of residents self-identify as African American despite looking white. Ally was raised in such a family, but she’s the “black sheep” in the family by refusing to call herself black. > > To my ear, it seemed like anti-black racism was driving her decision, rather than practicality (which I can totally respect). And I grieve for her child. But the story was totally fascinating. I’d heard of such communities before, but I’ve never heard from the people themselves. > > The folks who have a problem with Shaun King would probably have a heart attack if they learned there’s a whole town of Shaun Kings. To be honest, I don’t think the “people who have a problem with Shaun King” care about his ancestry. They just jumped at a chance to attack and humiliate the Black Lives Matter movement because they thought he was another Rachel Donazel(sp) and got humiliated when it blew up in their face(which is why I think Fox News) has dropped the story and it seems like only a few board newcomers are still at it. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/531 "2015-08-23T23:15:37Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace;18625396 Being able to trace one’s ethnic ancestry thru genetics can be used for racists purposes, but it needn’t be. In fact, it’s used b thousands and thousands of individuals every year in the US. But maybe you should lecture Louse Gates about how racist he is by making the series [Finding Your Roots] ([Finding Your Roots - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finding_Your_Roots)) on PBS. [/QUOTE] You probably didn’t see my post about the one drop laws before you posted this, but your stedfast adherence to the term “race” and your instance on providing pop-science cites is really not moving my position at all. The consensus among Western researchers today is that human races are purely sociocultural constructs. Maybe you could provide scholarly articles as cites? But either way I am avoiding the strawman here. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/532 "2015-08-23T23:18:20Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Where? Which post numbers? I’ve been advised to tell you that I’m not going to do your homework for you. But then, it’s easy to reply: **Gent**. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/533 "2015-08-23T23:19:20Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “Deep ancestry” uses a definition of race that is entirely irrelevant to the social phenomenon of race in American culture and American history. [No it doesn’t.](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/blog/understanding-haplogroups-tracing-deep-roots-with-dna/) ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/534 "2015-08-23T23:21:29Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > [No it doesn’t.](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/blog/understanding-haplogroups-tracing-deep-roots-with-dna/) Where on that page is the term “race” even used let alone defined? ---
**Author:** ![camille](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@camille](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/camille)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/535 "2015-08-23T23:21:39Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > To be honest, I don’t think the “people who have a problem with Shaun King” care about his ancestry. > > They just jumped at a chance to attack and humiliate the Black Lives Matter movement because they thought he was another Rachel Donazel(sp) and got humiliated when it blew up in their face(which is why I think Fox News) has dropped the story and it seems like only a few board newcomers are still at it. Yes. They tried the same stunt late last year with [Wesley Lowery](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/wesley-lowery), the Washington Post reporter: [**TheDC Investigates: Is WaPo’s Wesley Lowery Black?**](http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/01/thedc-investigates-is-wapos-wesley-lowery-black/) [**Why Does Everyone Want Wesley Lowery to Shut Up?**](http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/media/why-does-everyone-want-washington-post-reporter-wesley-lowery-to-shut-up.php) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/536 "2015-08-23T23:29:39Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > To be honest, I don’t think the “people who have a problem with Shaun King” care about his ancestry. **camille’s** links are exhibit A. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/537 "2015-08-23T23:38:01Z")
> [@rat\_avatar](#): > > You probably didn’t see my post about the one drop laws before you posted this, but your stedfast adherence to the term “race” and your instance on providing pop-science cites is really not moving my position at all. > > The consensus among Western researchers today is that human races are purely sociocultural constructs. > > Maybe you could provide scholarly articles as cites? > > But either way I am avoiding the strawman here. One last time: You are conflating two separate things: 1) The idea that the human species can be divided into one set of “races” corresponding to something that is biologically meaningful, and 2) Whether one can use DNA to understand one’s ethno-geographic ancestry and tie that the social construct of race as used in the US. The latter is done all the time. If it turns out that your ancestry is mixed in a certain way, your DNA is not able to tell you whether you are going to self-identify with one ethnic group or another, but it’s going to tell you which ethnic groups you came from, whether you choose to identify with them or not. This has nothing to do with the one drop rule, which has not been in use for many decades in the US. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/538 "2015-08-23T23:44:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > One last time: You are conflating two separate things: 1) The idea that the human species can be divided into one set of “races” corresponding to something that is biologically meaningful, and 2) Whether one can use DNA to understand one’s ethno-geographic ancestry and tie that the social construct of race as used in the US. The latter is done all the time. If it turns out that your ancestry is mixed in a certain way, your DNA is not able to tell you whether you are going to self-identify with one ethnic group or another, but it’s going to tell you which ethnic groups you came from, whether you choose to identify with them or not. > > This has nothing to do with the one drop rule, which has not been in use for many decades in the US. For #2, I think the point is that there are some “ethnic groups”, like “black people” in America, that seem to have nothing (or virtually nothing) to do with genetics. ---
**Author:** ![rat\_avatar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rat_avatar/32/255_2.png) [@rat\_avatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rat_avatar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/539 "2015-08-23T23:45:21Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > One last time: You are conflating two separate things: 1) The idea that the human species can be divided into one set of “races” corresponding to something that is biologically meaningful, and 2) Whether one can use DNA to understand one’s ethno-geographic ancestry and tie that the social construct of race as used in the US. The latter is done all the time. If it turns out that your ancestry is mixed in a certain way, your DNA is not able to tell you whether you are going to self-identify with one ethnic group or another, but it’s going to tell you which ethnic groups you came from, whether you choose to identify with them or not. > > This has nothing to do with the one drop rule, which has not been in use for many decades in the US. Wrong, First genetic data that shows where you came from does not relate to individual phenotypes like you claim. [ > [@](#): > > The fact that, given enough genetic data, individuals can be correctly assigned to their populations of origin is compatible with the observation that most human genetic variation is found within populations, not between them. It is also compatible with our finding that, even when the most distinct populations are considered and hundreds of loci are used, individuals are frequently more similar to members of other populations than to members of their own population. Thus, caution should be used when using geographic or genetic ancestry to make inferences about individual phenotypes. ]([Genetic Similarities Within and Between Human Populations - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1893020/)) And: > [@](#): > > “A final complication arises when racial classifications are used as proxies for geographic ancestry. Although many concepts of race are correlated with geographic ancestry, the two are not interchangeable, and relying on racial classifications will reduce predictive power still further.” And: > [@](#): > > “Since such racial classification is now seen to be of virtually no genetic or taxonomic significance either, no justification can be offered for its continuance,” So once again, justify your use of race, because none of your cites are using it in the way you are trying to, which is an abstract concept purely in a social, non scientific realm. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271/540 "2015-08-23T23:50:34Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > [No it doesn’t.](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/blog/understanding-haplogroups-tracing-deep-roots-with-dna/) That site says nothing that contradicts what I said. “Finding Your Roots” is a show about genetic ancestry. It doesn’t purport to tell people what race they belong to as race exists in American culture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-shaun-king-daily-kos-writer-black-lives-matter-activist-really-white/728271.md?page=28)