Guanimaa
08-20-2015, 04:11 AM
Many African Americans and Mexicans are distant cousins, indeed. There’s no doubt about that. I have known for quite awhile that many Mexicans have African ancestors. Transatlantic slave trade statistics show that at least 200,000 enslaved Africans were imported into Mexico from West Africa. They arrived in the Mexican territory during the three hundred years of the colonial period (1521–1821). Sadly, the indigenous and European heritages are what most Mexicans embrace; the African legacy is overlooked. When actor and comedian George Lopez took an admixture DNA test, his tests results revealed that he’s 55% European, 32% Native American, 9% East Asian, and 4% Sub-Saharan African. See this video clip of his DNA results announcement. Much can be read about Africa’s silent legacy in Mexico on the Internet. Here’s a link to one of many interesting articles on the subject.
The link between Africa and Mexico became more evident to me when a Mexican guy, Kamel Perez, appeared in my Relative Finder database on 23andme. What was quite surprising to me is that our connection is not very distant, in my opinion. He wasn’t my eighth, ninth, or tenth cousin. Because of the amount of DNA we share, 23andme predicted that we are fifth cousins. See image:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCqXz_Mq4Is/UbQGB2pIfyI/AAAAAAAAAo8/v-zvHnH5-EY/s1600/DNA_Perez.JPG
Although I have little hope of ever figuring out exactly how we are related, I want to give a visual perspective to how our common ancestor was likely born during the last quarter of the 18th century (late 1700’s). Kamel and I share 0.10% (8 cM) of DNA across 1 chromosome segment. As mentioned before, our predicted relationship is fifth cousins. Geneticists have calculated that fifth cousins share an average of 0.049% of DNA. We share twice that amount. The definition of fifth cousins is people who share the same 4th-great-grandparents. 4th-great-grandparents are just six generations back, and I have estimated that many/most of my enslaved 4th-great-grandparents were likely born during the last quarter of the 18th century. Here’s an example to show the relationship of fifth cousins.
Scenario 1: Kamel had an African ancestor who was indeed a “late import” into Mexico from West Africa and/or the Caribbean and may have been a sibling to one of my third or fourth-great-grandparents, who was transported to the United States. If that’s the case, then one of my third or fourth-great-grandparents was directly from West Africa or the Caribbean.
Scenario 2: The connection might be on my maternal grandmother’s father’s side. Interestingly, I bear a strong resemblance to my great-grandfather, John Hector Davis (1870-1935). His father, my great-great-grandfather, was named Hector Davis, who was born in 1842 in the Saluda area of Abbeville District, South Carolina. Grandpa Hector’s parents were Jack & Flora Davis, my great-great-great-grandparents, who were both born around 1815 in South Carolina, according to the censuses. They were all enslaved by John Burnett, who brought them to Panola County, Mississippi in 1861, shortly before the Civil War started. Hector and Flora are names of Spanish origins. What if Flora wasn’t really born in South Carolina? Or perhaps one or both of Flora’s parents had been born and enslaved in the Caribbean or Mexico and somehow was later sold and shipped to South Carolina, leaving children behind, and perhaps one of those separated children was Kamel’s third-great-grandparent who settled in Mexico. Interestingly, I also share DNA with a Jamaican, and 23andMe noted the following:
The rest can be found here:
http://rootsrevealed.blogspot.com/2013/06/african-americans-and-mexicans-are_9.html
The link between Africa and Mexico became more evident to me when a Mexican guy, Kamel Perez, appeared in my Relative Finder database on 23andme. What was quite surprising to me is that our connection is not very distant, in my opinion. He wasn’t my eighth, ninth, or tenth cousin. Because of the amount of DNA we share, 23andme predicted that we are fifth cousins. See image:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZCqXz_Mq4Is/UbQGB2pIfyI/AAAAAAAAAo8/v-zvHnH5-EY/s1600/DNA_Perez.JPG
Although I have little hope of ever figuring out exactly how we are related, I want to give a visual perspective to how our common ancestor was likely born during the last quarter of the 18th century (late 1700’s). Kamel and I share 0.10% (8 cM) of DNA across 1 chromosome segment. As mentioned before, our predicted relationship is fifth cousins. Geneticists have calculated that fifth cousins share an average of 0.049% of DNA. We share twice that amount. The definition of fifth cousins is people who share the same 4th-great-grandparents. 4th-great-grandparents are just six generations back, and I have estimated that many/most of my enslaved 4th-great-grandparents were likely born during the last quarter of the 18th century. Here’s an example to show the relationship of fifth cousins.
Scenario 1: Kamel had an African ancestor who was indeed a “late import” into Mexico from West Africa and/or the Caribbean and may have been a sibling to one of my third or fourth-great-grandparents, who was transported to the United States. If that’s the case, then one of my third or fourth-great-grandparents was directly from West Africa or the Caribbean.
Scenario 2: The connection might be on my maternal grandmother’s father’s side. Interestingly, I bear a strong resemblance to my great-grandfather, John Hector Davis (1870-1935). His father, my great-great-grandfather, was named Hector Davis, who was born in 1842 in the Saluda area of Abbeville District, South Carolina. Grandpa Hector’s parents were Jack & Flora Davis, my great-great-great-grandparents, who were both born around 1815 in South Carolina, according to the censuses. They were all enslaved by John Burnett, who brought them to Panola County, Mississippi in 1861, shortly before the Civil War started. Hector and Flora are names of Spanish origins. What if Flora wasn’t really born in South Carolina? Or perhaps one or both of Flora’s parents had been born and enslaved in the Caribbean or Mexico and somehow was later sold and shipped to South Carolina, leaving children behind, and perhaps one of those separated children was Kamel’s third-great-grandparent who settled in Mexico. Interestingly, I also share DNA with a Jamaican, and 23andMe noted the following:
The rest can be found here:
http://rootsrevealed.blogspot.com/2013/06/african-americans-and-mexicans-are_9.html