> [WS:] I disagree. it i snot about what was practised
> in Africa - where Arab slave trade was indeed at a
> large scale and for centuries - but what happened on
> this side of the pond. AFIK, many slave owners had
> sex with female slaves, and children born from those
> relationships were of course slaves. In that sense,
> Andie's statement is true.
Oh, I don't disagree with that at all. But I did not interpret Andie's point to be a strictly genetic one (and I did take it to be limited specifically to their African ancestry). In other words, I am doubtful of the claim that many or most African Americans are descended from African families who owned slaves in Africa, regardless of how widespread slavery in Africa was practiced. And, as Yoshie has pointed out, slavery in Africa would have been a very different thing from slavery in the U.S. anyhow.