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At the Roots: Genealogy, Genetics, and Race in American Popular Culture

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Abstract:
The growing interest in genealogy for African Americans is one expression of a longstanding desire to find answers to questions about ancestors, family, and heritage left by the deleterious effects of American slavery. At the Roots: Genealogy, Genetics, and Race in American Popular Culture traces the ideological function of what I term the etiological impulse, an insatiable drive for origins, by examining African Americans’ genealogical narratives. These narratives, which emerge on television and in literature, represent a quest for personal and collective identity and are influenced by advancements in modern genealogical practices. The Genomic Age has given rise to genetic ancestry testing, a controversial new genealogical tool that is popular among African Americans in search of their origins. This new scientific tool, while claiming to highlight human similarities, has inadvertently revitalized old notions of biological races and racial essence. The present genetic arena is also indicative of the legacy of black women’s reproductive abuse that stems from slavery. Taken together, the four chapters of this dissertation outline the internally contradictory effects of the etiological impulse, the conditions under which this ideology is created, the ways in which this imperative is perpetuated and the future implications of its continued significance for African American genealogical narratives.
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Thesis (Ph.D. -- Brown University (2015)

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Citation

Wilson, Miel Mason, "At the Roots: Genealogy, Genetics, and Race in American Popular Culture" (2015). American Studies Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0W37TQ5

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