Comments on: Rebuilding The Family Tree

Lesley Stahl Reports On The Hopes And Limitations Of Genetic Genealogy

[jimgggg-2009]

I was told I had leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant from a relative. That was in 1980 and a lot of national publicity followed when the courts refused to release my adoption or family history information to me. In my case, I was very lucky to survive several years and eventually got a transplant from an umrelated donor.

What you showed tonight might save lives of people in similar positions as the one I was in. Thank you for your story.
Jim George
[e-mail]

[stickamw]

This segment was corrupt in its integrity.

I am a long-time genealogist and project administrator for one of the largest surname-based DNA projects in the world. I eagerly awaited this segment, expecting a great story about this fantastic genealogical tool. With just a glancing touch of the capabilities with Vy and Marion%u2019s great match, the story crossed to the dark side. Afterwards, and after getting my jaw off the floor, I wondered what happened to ethics in reporting.

The segment really had nothing to do with genealogy. It didn%u2019t explain how it%u2019s used in genealogy and it didn%u2019t include any commentary from a genetic genealogist. Ever see a space shuttle story that didn%u2019t mention astronauts?

No, it''s more sensational to have Hank Greely suggesting testing companies are barely treading above water in the pool of integrity. And Lesley, although only contributing 1.5% of my overall ancestry, my 4th-great-grandfather is still my 4th-great-grandfather.

The near-slanderous "fraud" comment crossed the line of reckless reporting. Most labs go to great lengths to ensure that people understand exactly what the testing will and will not do. Interestingly, this same DNA testing is good enough for the folks at National Geographic for determining human migrations and ancestry.

[ababio1]

Ms. Stall appears to have disappointed or confused Ms. West''s with her ancestry in Africa. Most of the hits provided by the DNA labs appear to zoom in on the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Senegal and with three different tribes. The consolation Ms. Stall should have given Ms. West was that it was colonial masters who placed artificial borders amongst these people, thus separating them and with time, some of these people may have morphed into different peoples and tribes. The fact of the matter is, and based on all three DNA results, Ms. West should take consolation that she hails from somewhere in West Africa, and any of those three tribes may have been before now, one people. That is what colonialism has done to the black person. Ms. West should be proud of that and shodl make every effort to apporach one of those tribes. She might be surprised what she may find out, if only she is ready

[ababio1]

Ms. Stall appears to have disappointed or confused Ms. West''s with her ancestry in Africa. Most of the hits provided by the DNA labs appear to zoom in on the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and Senegal and with three different tribes. The consolation Ms. Stall should have given Ms. West was that it was colonial masters who placed artificial borders amongst these people, thus separating them and with time, some of these people may have morphed into different peoples and tribes. The fact of the matter is, and based on all three DNA results, Ms. West should take consolation that she hails from somewhere in West Africa, and any of those three tribes may have been before now, one people. That is what colonialism has done to the black person. Ms. West should be proud of that and shodl make every effort to apporach one of those tribes. She might be surprised what she may find out, if only she is ready

[bruceabailey]

What struck me was the math of 20 generations. It demonstrated that in order to reduce the impact of global warming, we must reduce it''s root cause, over population.
The global benefits of saving water, using fluorescent light bulbs, using a hybrid car, etc., are pretty much wiped out by having more than one child. The largest carbon footprint come from a big family.

[dmortorff]

Enjoyed your show. Let me know when you would like to have your viewers hear "the rest of the story". I belong to a research group that has been working on a surname study for the past 11 years on-line (before the emphasis on DNA as a tool). We have had great success for many researchers who want to find others by which they can validate if they are or are not pursuing the correct lineage or are seeking a branch to "hook up" with as they pursue their ancestry. As an adminsitrator I am very careful about explaining what DNA can and cannot do so expectations are appropriate for researchers considering testing. With 50+ tests done in our study combined with genealogy that has been searched by many researchers (we have 200-300 subscribers) we have had success in defining lineage genetic profiles for colonial lines. Researchers who test and find they match receive more information about their heritage in most cases. I would love to tell you about the success stories. Our research project has a few thousand reports on line and over 50K e-mails archived. What you addressed in your interview was an example of a person doing what I call "jumping in the pool", no ancestry really traced, nothing much to work with to understand where the lines converged by those that match. This is my complaint about the "jump in the pool" approach which is encouraged by some businesses, but there is another side to the story. I hope you address it.

[dmortorff]

Enjoyed your show. Let me know when you would like to have your viewers hear "the rest of the story". I belong to a research group that has been working on a surname study for the past 11 years on-line (before the emphasis on DNA as a tool). We have had great success for many researchers who want to find others by which they can validate if they are or are not pursuing the correct lineage or are seeking a branch to "hook up" with as they pursue their ancestry. As an adminsitrator I am very careful about explaining what DNA can and cannot do so expectations are appropriate for researchers considering testing. With 50+ tests done in our study combined with genealogy that has been searched by many researchers (we have 200-300 subscribers) we have had success in defining lineage genetic profiles for colonial lines. Researchers who test and find they match receive more information about their heritage in most cases. I would love to tell you about the success stories. Our research project has a few thousand reports on line and over 50K e-mails archived. What you addressed in your interview was an example of a person doing what I call "jumping in the pool", no ancestry really traced, nothing much to work with to understand where the lines converged by those that match. This is my complaint about the "jump in the pool" approach which is encouraged by some businesses, but there is another side to the story. I hope you address it.

[shorw7]

I was delighted to see Vy and Marion%u2019s excitement on discovering they were cousins. Could you imagine this forty years ago? America, you have grown up!

Steven Horwitz

[justinjryan]

Saying that DNA only shows a "tiny" portion of your ancestry is misleading. When testing Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA, it gives 100% of your ancestry on a DIRECT paternal or maternal line. For example, on Ms. Higginson''s grandfather''s line, it revealed that the WEST paternal line is European and it has not changed or mixed for thousands of years.

And of course Ms. Higginson has different tribal matches, did they expect that all of her cousins would inter-marry within one tribe? Its not as if all of her WEST cousin matches live in the same town either.

As for the DNA companies, is it reasonable to expect that they would plaster such advertising like "Discover your ancestral slave owner" or "What secret did Granny try to hide?" on the front page of their websites? The information is there, its just not in the banner ads.

While the show may leave a lot to be desired, there''s no denying the success of DNA testing for Ms. Higginson and Mr. West.

Justin Ryan
Public Relations
International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)
http://www.isogg.org/

[justinjryan]

Saying that DNA only shows a "tiny" portion of your ancestry is misleading. When testing Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA, it gives 100% of your ancestry on a DIRECT paternal or maternal line. For example, on Ms. Higginson''s grandfather''s line, it revealed that the WEST paternal line is European and it has not changed or mixed for thousands of years.

And of course Ms. Higginson has different tribal matches, did they expect that all of her cousins would inter-marry within one tribe? Its not as if all of her WEST cousin matches live in the same town either.

As for the DNA companies, is it reasonable to expect that they would plaster such advertising like "Discover your ancestral slave owner" or "What secret did Granny try to hide?" on the front page of their websites? The information is there, its just not in the banner ads.

While the show may leave a lot to be desired, there''s no denying the success of DNA testing for Ms. Higginson and Mr. West.

Justin Ryan
Public Relations
International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG)
http://www.isogg.org/

[stressmgr1]

Leslie I enjoyed the information presented. Although you saw no resemblence, I did. They both have almond shaped eyes and I noted their bottom lips take the same shape with some words. Nice job. I agree with
oikn - a follow up story might be a good idea to show the interconnectedness he speaks of. I would love to see more.

[Cushite]

Part One:

The biggest mistake that the gentleman from AfricanAncestry.com made was to play a part in this show. He was fooled into believing that the show was about an African American making an DNA connection with their ancestors, and what he and the rest of us found out, was how important it was for us to know that we are so "lucky" to have some so-called "white" blood. Lesley Stahl did what her programming leads her to do. Do what is in her "best" interest by teaching all of us, African Americans your interest in your ancient ancestor was unimportant and not very accurate. But just look how lucky you are to know that you have this magical "white" blood.
Now if this was a real story meant to educate, Lesley, (I hope you don''t mind me calling you, Lesley) would have told the public that African Americans are fully aware that their African ancestors were enslaved, and most of the women were raped by white males and in most cases their wives were fully aware of what their husbands were doing. Of course, I''m sure you wanted to mention that.

[Cushite]

Part Two:

Or, you could have mentioned the fact that there are NO walls in Africa and just because one ethnic group is now separated from the other and they go by different ethnic names, that didn''t mean that they may have been apart of one larger group at some point in their history. They are indigenous to the continent. Being nomadic at some point and moving to different areas. Why they more than likely intermarried as well. In modern times, the land boundaries of present day Africa were determined by European elites, at the Berlin Conference of 1884 (CE). Of course, I''m sure you wanted to mention that. And what do you know; they didn''t mention to Mr. Marion West, that British bloodlines are not and were not "pure" in the first place. It''s make-believe! They did mention that European Americans are not "pure," but they made sure not to mention that many of them have some "African bloodlines." Now isn''t that scary. This was a feel good story to show how great a "white" man; Mr. Marion West is, by accepting this "Black" (social color caste system) woman in his family tree without being upset about it. Look how we are making progress in this country! Here is the lesson for the public watching these "Yellow Journalism" mainstream media shows. They will always seek to do what is in their best interest, period. They are maintaining social, political and economic privilege for this so-called whiteness social construct. Forget about the truth. Why, that may empower the wrong people.

[oikn]

I was inspired by the story. The main point of the whole thing was: in this racist, bigoted country (I am white, family been here for over 300 years), is that we are all so interconnected that to continue the prejudice we have against black, African American, whatever, is completely nuts. We are one. As I have pursued my genealogic research, I have found relatives all over the country, relatives everywhere, names I had no idea I was related to. It might be a nice follow up story to show this interconnectedness. I believe that the situation among southerners (I also have many relatives there) would find more cases of "race mixing" than people might want to believe.

[perki02w]

I was very irritated and outraged by your story on genetic genealogy, in particular the astounding ignorance and lack of perceptiveness shown by Ms. Stahl and Mr. Greely. Greely and implicitly Stahl decried the work of Mr. Kittles as giving people false hope because of the "lack of certainty" in the match results. Stahl and Greely apparently have no clue about the dynamics of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Peoples from hundreds of different tribes were thrown together and consequently intermixed. Along with that, a lot of intermixing can happen among indigenous peoples over the years. Given these facts, Ms. Higginson having hits among several groups makes perfect sense. The average white person will cite at least two or three nationalities when they talk about their origins. For example, I%u2019ve heard %u201CScotch-Irish%u201D come up a lot. How certain is that? As usual, supposedly "enlightened" whites completely miss the point and tear down anything truly empowering in the black community. Mr. Kittles%u2019 work gives African Americans an opportunity to gain the sense of identity and self-worth whites have enjoyed for centuries.

[cdziv]

%u201CThe Family Tree%u201D Paradox
In the story about %u201CReconstructing The Family Tree%u201D you noted that for each generation you go back you double the number of your ancestors eventually leading to millions of great grandparents. But if you go back far enough in time, all of humanity should all be linked to the same %u201Cgreat grandparents%u201D perhaps even a single couple? So how does our expanding ancestor tree end up with a single origin of all of humanity%u2019s accentors?

[rmihardy]

Hello Leslie - I think that your show does much unjustice - Should you have presented such a wonderful topic in terms of it possibly being a fraud. It would have been better to say that "this is a show to caution you about being tricked into using dna companies" the title of your show was about "tracing your ancestory" - so, i think that you mislead us by this tile instead i hear about fraudulent dna companies - what''s up with that leslie - the title was like a title that a tabloid would use to get someone to read the article and finding out that the content of the article was totally different than the tabloid headline. Now I''m begining to question the title of your show. "60 minutes" implies a show that has integretiy in its''s reporting and that i can be comfortable that you are going to give me what your name implies - but then finding out that you are misleading - i think that i am very angry, this is not the first time that your titles have been misleading - does it have to be that way to attract people to watch? Since the title of this show was about seaking ancestory - i made a point to watch - so, just like i do not pick-up the national enquirer at the news stand - i do not think that i am going to pick your show to watch - You have done a great disservice to people (espcially African-AMericans). know they will feel hesitant to search - that''s not nice of you!

Rhonda Hardy
Chicago, IL

[kacurtis1]

I''d like to contact Ms. Higginson. I''m also a West and bear a strong resemblance. I was born in Illinois. Please contact [e-mail].

[frank_davies]

lesley,
your piece was great. I do not however think that its inconsistent that we have DNA''s from different parts of the world given the migration of people. The lady that came from the mende tribe of Sierra Leone for example...if you look at the history of the mendes, you would find out that they are all along the coastal countries of Africa even though their base is in Sierra Leone. I believe if you take a closer look at the DNA''s you can find more than relatives but about migration patterns of people world wide. I hope someone will take your story further, and help that lady locate her ancestors. It is a very interesting story.

[pppouch]

Your story was informative but disappointing. Why does it always seem that no matter what advances to benefit African Americans are produced you have to end it on a sour note. Do you really think it was good to end your story with the only true trace the black woman could trust was a white ancestor? A nice touch would have been to follow the woman''s ancestory back to Africa to see if maybe there was some truth to the DNA information the brother found. As usual we are left with a slave background ending and happy negroes singing in church.