Did you know that in legal terms, if you are 1/32 nd of any race, you can stand up in court and swear you are a member of that race?

That means that about 6 generations back you had one ancestor among 32 of that race. I was interested in a story about a white American businessman who had his DNA tested, and discovered that he had a tiny fraction of african blood in his ancestry, and then promptly applied for a special government program to help minorities in business. It seemed to me that he was cheating someone who actually WAS black out of that benefit...but legally, this guy qualified and he did receive the government benefit.

I traced my own tree back that far, and found ancestors born in the 1700's.

Elizabeth Warren, US Senator from Massachusetts, just had her DNA tested and she is not nearly up to the legal limit of 1/32nd (.0313%) native american. She is between 1/512th or .019 % native american but it doesn't even reach that level without rounding up. The actual percentage was .097% or 1/1024th. Apparently the Boston Globe botched their math in their original reporting when they stated that there is VERY strong evidence of her ancestry. This percentage puts her native american ancestor about 10 to 12 generations back, in the early 1600's.

Elizabeth Warren may or may not have used her so-called minority status to land a job at Harvard. Harvard claims she did not. However, Warren taught at a University out west which featured Warrens minority status prominently in their faculty newsletter. At times during her career she filled out applications stating she was white, and at other times she did not.

Just remember, folks, if you are even a smidge of any minority, it is legal to cash in on government money and other benefits and take it away from someone who actually needs it.

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basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

Whereas most of us of Mexican descent are at minimum 50% Native American and many of us full blooded Indigenous, yet we're not recognized as Native. 🧐

LunadelobosIAMTHEDRAGON · F

@basilfawlty89 Are you KIDDING me?
That's kind of absurd, IMHO.

basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

@LunadelobosIAMTHEDRAGON It is true. Most Mexicans don't get counted as indigenous, despite that most of us have Indigenous heritage. People from Southern Mexico are often 90% indigenous by genetics.

4meAndyou · F

@basilfawlty89 Legally, (if there are government benefits at stake) all you need is 1/32nd provable DNA of any minority group offering benefits to claim those benefits.

basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

@4meAndyou Yeah, but remember, while there are some Indigenous Mexican people that overlap with Indigenous groups in the US like the Sonora, Navajo, etc. most of ours aren't found in the US, like Nahuatls, Mayans, etc.

4meAndyou · F

@basilfawlty89 It's probably splitting hairs, but we have Native American tribes in the US, and they ARE qualifed for certain benefits. For example, if they can prove 25% Native American heritage and if you are enrolled in a federally recognized tribe, you can go to a state college for free. Recognized and enrolled Native Americans also do not have to pay state sales tax in the state in which they live.

Latinos are also eligible for assistance with small business loans.
https://www.fundera.com/blog/small-business-loans-for-hispanics

basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

@4meAndyou true, but if I recall, you need to be recognized by a recognized tribe of the USA. And that's kinda where that falls flat, as like I said, you don't really get Nahuatls and Mayans in the US, outside of immigrants.

4meAndyou · F

@basilfawlty89 That's true. You have to be part of this country in some proveable way like Native American enrollment. However, no one disputes Latino heritage, and there is a small business loan benefit for Latinos.

basilfawlty89 · 31-35, M

@4meAndyou True, but I'm not overly fond of the term Latino, Latino just means anyone who is from Latin America and Hispanic literally just means one of your ancestors spoke Spanish. Many of ours didn't speak Spanish natively, my grandad spoke Nahuatl as his first language.

4meAndyou · F

@basilfawlty89 I do think language is a tricky area when people are so sensitive about how they are addressed. Black people were first called Negroes, with the offensive "N" word included, then called "Colored People" when they objected to the word Negro, then called Blacks in the 70's, and the Native Americans certainly don't want to be called Indians. Historically the majority of people have offended every group with their language, and now is the time of the Latino...who will have their own issues.