But the point I'm trying to make is that I'm _not_ sure that "it is inevitable that at some point we will have more reliable tests". The problem is not test reliabilily, it's that there is in fact no actual reliable way to map from DNA to "not entirely Caucasian", because there's a basic mismatch there. "Caucasian" is (really!) not a genetic category, there is actually no way to _reliably_ determine someone is "Caucasian" (or "Black", or anything else like that) from a DNA test. It just doesn't work like that. (Even though these DNA ancestry companies make money off people thinking it does).
It's true that at some point some neo-nazi, like anyone else, might have results that seem to tell them something that surprises them or that they didn't want to hear. But the problem is in fact with their ideology in the first place that thinks there is such a thing as "Caucasian" encoded in their genes, when there isn't.
This is interesting though, in the case where someone who thought they were Black thinks a DNA test told them they weren't -- my inclination is to say "Ignore the test, it can not tell you that you aren't Black, because the test just can't say that, don't let it make you insecure in your identity" In the case of a neo-nazi who has a similar experience, I'd _want_ it to make them insecure in their identity, because their identity is based on entirely scientifically unsound ideas about what race means.
That might be a contradiction in my OWN ideology. But it's not a contradiction in the science. Either way, the problem is not just that "the test isn't reliable enough yet", the problem is that "Caucasian" or "Black" can NOT be "reliably" determined by a DNA test, because these categories are simply not sound as biologically/genetically determined categories.
Have a happy Sunday.
If that is the impression I gave, then my wording probably was sloppy. I've reread it and can't figure out what I "should" have done differently to make it clearer that I am aware that the tests themselves are of questionable merit (at this point in time, when it comes to racial identity), given the issues you pointed out.
I have personally read of cases with devastating personal consequences based on things that are on more solid ground, such as paternity. There was an incident where someone got a DNA test and I think gifted their parents DNA tests and the parents ended up divorced because it revealed that the husband had fathered a child out of wedlock prior to getting married.
I found that especially shocking and bizarre. When I saw the title of the piece, I assumed that it had revealed an illicit affair during the marriage.
Anyway, this article is about someone who was adopted. Adopted children often don't know they were adopted. Even if they do know, it leaves a huge hole in their knowledge about their heritage.
So I think it is inevitable that at some point we will have more reliable tests and someone like this individual will learn that their genetic heritage conflicts with their self image in some important way.
Perhaps we will even see some Neo Nazi members learn that they are not entirely Caucasian either and then what? Do you rethink your racist ideology? Do you kill yourself? Do you live in denial and try to hide the truth from your Neo Nazi brethren?