Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
Can genetic tests determine race? Americans are fascinated with DNA ancestry testing services like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. Indeed, in recent years, some people have changed their racial identity based upon DNA ancestry tests and have sought to use test results in lawsuits and for other strategic purposes. Courts may be similarly tempted to use genetic ancestry in determining race. In this Essay, we examine the ways in which DNA ancestry tests may affect contemporary understandings of racial identity. We argue that these tests are poor proxies for race because they fail to reflect the social, cultural, relational, and experiential norms that shape identity. We consider three separate legal contexts in which these issues arise: (1) employment discrimination, (2) race-conscious initiatives, and (3) immigration. Based on this analysis, we strongly caution against defining race in predominantly genetic terms
Citation
Trina Jones & Jessica L. Roberts, Genetic Race? DNA Ancestry Tests, Racial Identity, and the Law, 120 Columbia Law Review 1929-2016 (2020)
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Race, Ethnicity, DNA--Analysis, Race discrimination
Included in
Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Law and Race Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons
Available at: https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/4043