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Subject: Re: [DNA] Any study on Mexico Y-dna? are they mostly EuropeanorIndian?
Date: Sat, 16 Dec 2006 09:23:56 EST
In a message dated 12/16/2006 6:04:02 AM Pacific Standard Time,
writes:
> The term isn't universal. Unlike the similarly structured and generally
> misleading 'African American' it includes the problem that 'Mexican
> American'
> could well be a reasonable description of Mexicans of native American
> descent
> rather than of European (eg Spanish) descent. If it's in general use in the
> USA it's a first for me. In case you're guessing, yes I think the whole
> thing
> is bloody stupid - but, as you say, that's for elsewhere.
Ah, I think I'm beginning to understand the source of your confusion. In the
USA we say "German American," "Irish American," "Italian American," "Japanese
American," "Polish American" in the same way, a person who traces his heritage
to a certain country. In the case of "Mexican American," it still means the
country, but that country itself has a mixture of ancestral origins.
The Y chromosome and mtDNA would be tracing only one of many ancestral lines,
and it's only recently that DNA testing could be used to distinguish European
or Native American components. Thus when we say "Mexican American" we aren't
making any statements at all about the Y or mtDNA aspects, just that the
person's ancestry can be traced to the country of Mexico.
Ann Turner
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