OPINION 4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015 Ethnic differences endure, divide and unite ‘A ll the colonies were leveled to the ground by the frequent strokes of the battering-ram, all the husbandmen routed, together with their bishops, priests, and people, whilst the sword gleamed, DQGWKHÀDPHVFUDFNOHGDURXQGWKHPRQ every side. Lamentable to behold, in the midst of the streets lay the tops of lofty towers, tumbled to the ground, stones of high walls, holy altars, fragments of found 17 different types of people human bodies, covered with livid clots of in Britain as of the late-19th century. coagulated blood, looking as if they had (Testees were elderly people, each with been squeezed together in a press; and four grandparents all having been born with no chance of being buried, save in the within a close distance of one another. This provides a fairly accurate snapshot ruins of the houses, or of population structure before the in the ravening bellies disruptions of 20th century wars and of wild beasts and mass migration.) birds ...” Although Irish, Welsh, Scottish and Dramatic stuff. Cornish people have each always regarded Though this sounds themselves as unique, historians tended like a scene from the to lump them together. The longstanding steamy HBO program belief was that a fairly racially uniform Game of Thrones, Matt population of aboriginal Celtic Britons it actually is about Winters became refugees in western fringes when the only account we have of the arrival of Anglo-Saxons in pushy Anglo-Saxons arrived en masse Britain in the Dark Ages. Written by the starting in about 450 AD. Now it looks like the native Britons monk Gildas (c. 500 to 570 AD), this for centuries was taken as a true report on and newcomers quickly re-established an “ethnic cleansing.” According to Gildas equilibrium, settling down and managing and legends, the civilized but morally to stay in one place. “Many of the genetic weak Britons of post-Roman times, clusters show similar locations to the tribal EULHÀ\SURWHFWHGE\.LQJ$UWKXUDQGKLV groupings and kingdoms around end of knights, eventually were slaughtered or the 6th century, after the settlement of the driven away into the western wastes by Anglo-Saxons, suggesting these tribes and kingdoms may have maintained a the godless hordes. Following publication of a long- regional identity for many centuries,” DZDLWHG VFLHQWL¿F SDSHU WKLV ZHHN ZH study authors say. 2WKHUNH\VWXG\¿QGLQJV now know once and for all include: that this was just so much Anglo- • The economically propaganda. Although Saxon successful people in the WKHUH ZHUH FRQÀLFWV KHUH central/eastern/southern and there, the Anglo-Saxon invaders “bulb” of England — the invaders appear to have appear to “BBC people” we are most been much more interested likely to see on TV — are have been in making babies than making war. much more the most mixed together and have the largest genetic interested contribution from the colossal genetic Anglo-Saxon migrations project published in in making still only 10 to 40 the journal Nature proves babies than (but percent of total ancestry). the endurance of tribal DI¿OLDWLRQVDFURVVWKRXVDQGV making war. “This settles a historical controversy in showing of years on the islands of Britain. And just about in time for that the Anglo-Saxons intermarried St. Patrick’s Day, the Wellcome Trust- with, rather than replaced, the existing funded People of the British Isles study populations.” • The Welsh appear more similar to the demonstrates that “Celtic” isn’t one type of people, but several. Even to this earliest settlers of Britain after the last ice day, some individual tribes that lived in DJHWKDQGRRWKHUSHRSOHLQWKH8. • There is no obvious genetic signature Britain since before the Roman invasion nearly 2,000 years ago continue to occupy of the Danish Vikings, who controlled their own discrete territories. (See www. large parts of England (“The Danelaw”) from the 9th century, or from the peopleofthebritishisles.org) Without testing in the Republic of Normans, who invaded in 1066 AD. Ireland or some genetically intriguing 7KLV¿WVZLWKODUJHVFDOHDPDWHXUJHQHWLF places like the Isle of Man, researchers testing in the past 10 years that found A Romary via Wikimedia Commons A statue in Morbihan, France commemorates Saint Gildas, the Briton monk whose writings incorrectly portrayed Anglo-Saxon migrations as an act of genocide. Source: Nature article This map of British Isles population structure in about 600 AD has been found to still have significant echoes in the population of the modern United Kingdom. Vikings, Normans and Anglo-Saxons were all about as alike as puppies from the same litter. • The analyses suggest there was a substantial migration across the English Channel after the original post-ice- age settlers, but before Roman times. DNA from these migrants spread across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but had little impact in Wales. This means the average British person is about a third French — pretty amusing considering the bias many Englishmen still bear against the French, and vice versa. U Western Washington — are most likely to PDNH PXWXDOO\ EHQH¿FLDO GHFLVLRQV WR act in the “right” way. He wasn’t incorrect in perceiving that a vein of tribalism runs through human affairs. Being a responsible modern person requires acknowledging that tendency, while not allowing it to warp our behavior. In Britain, the Anglo-Saxon heartland is far better off than the rest of the nation. Racial, regional and cultural differences in the U.S. are sources of pride, but also impediments to economic and social justice. Maybe one moral of the Wellcome Trust study is that those who mix best do better. We should aspire to nurture all that makes us unique, while giving Welshmen an even break. ncle Frank used to say, “I’m a racist. So’s everyone else, they just don’t want to admit it,” earning a cheerfully sharp elbow in the ribs from Aunt Lucille. — MSW