For African Americans, DNA tests offer some answers beyond the ‘wall of slavery’

At West Chester University near Philadelphia, students can participate in a class called the DNA Discussion Project. It’s designed to get students to talk about their family histories, and they’re invited to take DNA tests to see how genetics fit into that family story.

“Everybody talks about their ancestry, everybody talks about their family tree,” said Anita Foeman, a professor of communications who founded the project and the co-author of Who Am I: Identity in the Age of Consumer DNA Testing.

In 2011, Foeman’s co-investigator, Bessie Lawton, joined the project. They say African American students face a unique set of challenges in doing this work.