International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on March 21st, since 1967. This morning on my way to work, the day of remembrance was also a topic in our local radio Station. The two anchormen had made a DNA test and presented the results in the radio show.

The DNA test

One anchorman, who originally is from Bavaria, was convinced that the result must be that his pedigree is in Bavaria. But the reality showed a totally different result: the largest part of its genetic origin is 47% in Eastern Europe, the second largest with 39% in the UK. Similarly surprising are the results for those of us who are convinced that they are genetically very clearly assigned to a specific region. It is a fact that hundreds of years ago, there were always migration of peoples and so we got a mixture in the genetic pool.

Of course, such a DNA analysis does not indicate which person from Great Britain or Eastern Europe is your exact ancestor. Therefore a profound family research is absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, such a test may help in one or another case to reduce prejudices. And this is important not only on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

 

 

This post is also available in: German