African-Americans are, on average, about how much percent white?

We all share approximately 99.998% the same DNA, if that is what you are looking for.

No sorry MommyX2,my source deals with "mitochondria" and "chromosomes" and their answer is quite different.

Well wouldn't that depend on what color the mother and father was?

They explain that every one carries genes that could be 70,000 years old or more through their ancestors.

Here's what they say about African-American,..(quote)

"they have mitochondria (maternally inherited) that are African, but they often have European Y chromosomes. In other words, white men raped or seduced their maternal ancestors."

Ok here it is; 17% is the answer I was looking for, and here's the link.

http://sociologyesoscience.com/dna.html

"In other words, white men raped or seduced their maternal ancestors."

While I understand the meaning, this statement is in error. Some are certainly the result of a mutually agreed upon union. I know several.

I always knew you were old Dorian

I agree D.G , especially now a days it is certainly more common, but I was picturing this exemple with T.Jefferson back in the 1700's, and how many black folks have his genes today, and that's only one case.

But really, isn't the other side of that coin true? Don't all 'whites' have the DNA of some ancient woman from Africa?
(No, Georgia, I didn't know her.)

Dorian, I think her name is Lucy.

Kelleygirl - You're confusing things a bit. Lucy is a very old fossil (what species, exactly, I cannot remember). Eve (named after the biblical Eve) is the last common female ancestor of all humans living today. We don't have the fossils of this woman, just the DNA evidence (stored in each of us) that she existed. This does not mean that she was the only human woman at her time. It means that we can all follow our maternal lineage back to her (we might be able to follow our lineages back to other women of her time if we picked and chose the proper paternal and maternal roots at each generation... but we can't do that).

as I drift off topic ....

Methos, my answer was meant to be light-hearted---just using Lucy as the oldest known female humaniod fossil to be found in Africa. Don't even get me started on evolution vs. the bible.

D.G. I agree, and you've just started a very good trivia question.Does anybody could come up with a percentage on the opposite? What is the percentage of African-American genes in a White American Dude?

This certainly has no official evidence, but I heard on Oprah Winfrey's show that 10% of all whites in America have some degree of black ancestry. My own opinion is that those with Mediterranean* or southern European ancestors are more likely to have a higher percentage than those of northern Europe. I intend to have my DNA tested when I can afford it, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that I have some African ancestors. Most of mine, though, come from central Asia, if you go back 1500 years or so. At some point, I hope we can all realize that almost all of us are cousins.


National Geographic did some DNA mapping of men on Malta and in Lebanon a few years ago. It seems that they are most certainly related, and, according to the Society, descendents of the Phoenicians, as was, amazingly, Thomas Jefferson.

The Iceman, the frozen 5,000-year-old corpse found in the Tyrolean Alps, was found to be an ancestor of a woman in Britain, and testing of an equally old body found in a bog somewhere in the UK showed that he had as descendent living within a few miles of the bog.

Oxford University geneticist Bryan Sykes’ 2001 book, “The Seven Daughters of Eve,” claimed that 95 percent of Europeans were descended from seven tribal matriarchs — he dubbed them Ursula, Xenia, Helena, Velda, Tara, Katrine and Jasmine — who lived between 10,000 and 45,000 years ago.

It's a small world.