OPINION
Page 6 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
March 19, 2018
Volume 28 Number 6
March 19, 2018
ISSN: 1094-9453
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MY TURN
n Dmae Roberts
My DNA
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or years, I believed my mother. When I was a percent from Polynesia. I’m actually AAPI, not just
child, she said my great-grandmother Ida AA! Smaller percentages of my DNA are from
Mae Tutor was one-quarter Cherokee. It Scandinavia, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Eastern
seemed plausible. My father’s side of the family Europe. But I also have ancestry from Central and
lived in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the tragic end point South Asia as well as the Iberian Peninsula. My
of the Trail of Tears, when thousands of Native DNA map includes areas around the world. The
Americans died during a forced march in 1838 and results also showed that the white side of my family
1839.
line settled in Mississippi and
I remember asking my
Louisiana as well as the South
grandmother when I was a
in general.
teenager about her part-
So what does this all mean?
Cherokee mother and seeing
I’ve lived in Oregon since I was
her shocked face as she
10
years
old.
Being
fervently denied any of her
interrogated about my entire
relatives would be “Indian.”
family line whenever I
My grandparents were very
mentioned to strangers that
racist, and my grandmother
I’m biracial became my norm.
especially didn’t treat her Pictured is a screenshot image of an AncestryDNA
I’ve had people, both white and
Taiwanese daughter-in-law report generated for Dmae Roberts.
Asian, deny my ethnicity on
with anything kinder than judgemental tolerance. the spot, right to my face. As a creative defense
My grandmother’s denial was so emphatic, so mechanism to the microaggression and frank
emotional, I thought for certain it must have been rudeness of some people, I wrote and produced
the truth, one seated deeply in shame about our documentaries and essays about being a “Secret
family history.
Asian Woman.” It’s taken decades to not just
It was a point of pride for me that I could in some embrace my own ethnicity, but to be vocal about it
small way be part Cherokee. Many years later, I and defy people’s expectations of their perception of
was drawn to finding out if the golden nugget of what Asian American means to them.
family lore was indeed true.
With the results from the test, I now have proof
As a biracial Asian American who grew up in that I really am more Asian (and Pacific Islander)
mostly white Oregon, I also wanted to prove myself than white. I feel a measure of vindication. It’s
to all the people who denied my Asian-ness. A while almost like I received my “race card” of approval,
back, I completed a DNA test through the National and all the doubters and naysayers can just open
Geographic Genographic Project. The results didn’t their minds a little more to embrace what it means
tell me much, though, except that 10,000 years ago to be AAPI.
my ancestors split off from Africa and turned more
There are many DNA tests available out there. I
right toward Asia than left to Europe.
chose AncestryDNA because they offered a dis-
Two months ago, I took the AncestryDNA test at count. (How Asian is that?!?) Another website,
ancestry.com. It was more detailed — and 23andMe.com, costs a little more but might possibly
surprising. It turns out my mother lied to me. But reveal more detailed information for AAPIs.
that wasn’t the most surprising part of the test. I
Generally I was pleased with the test results, but
suspect my mom, who had much friction with my I believe AncestryDNA provided vague results for
grandmother, wanted to tease her by telling me she the AAPI part of me. While the breakdown for the
was part Cherokee. Perhaps she wanted to European side is very detailed, “Asia East” can
obliterate my grandmother’s belief in the “purity” of encompass Russia, China, North Korea, South
her whiteness. Whatever her reasoning, my family Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Japan,
mythology has been forever altered. I have no Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos,
Native-American roots.
Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, and Palau.
However, contrary to what many people think That’s much too general, in my opinion. But as more
when they see my face, I am more Asian than white. AAPIs participate in these DNA tests, the sample
My ethnic origins are 44 percent from Asia East, 31 pool will enlarge and hopefully results will become
percent Great Britain, eight percent western more specific. I still feel validated in many ways,
Europe, and — what surprised me most — four and I’m happy I checked into my ancestry.
F
Opinions expressed in this newspaper are those of the authors and not necessarily those of this publication.