That's right, whether a native of Calcutta, Shanghai, Helsinki, Osaka, Rio or Basra, all God's chillun got black ancestors. Even Jackie O.

Howzat? This blonde beauty is really black? Not now, of course. It's taken 45,000 years to bleach that skin and hair. Jackie O took the genealogical DNA test (see below) and found that her ancestors came from Africa to the Middle East and then to the Mediterranean, migrating subsequently to Europe via Central Asia. Her DNA marker is shared by 20 per cent of the population in southern Italy and ten per cent of people in southern Spain.

According to geneticist Spencer Wells, head of the Genographic Project: "If everyone's family tree were mapped forever backward, they would eventually converge on the ancestors of us all, a small band of ancient Africans. We all started off with dark skin and dark eyes, which among those who moved into colder climates gradually became lighter to absorb sunlight and synthesise Vitamin D. There is more genetic diversity in a single African village than in the whole world outside Africa. Every piece of DNA in our bodies can be traced back to an African source."

Of course our simpleton brothers and sisters of the Maul Majority insist it all started in 4004 BC. Uncritical and afraid, if not seriously deranged, it is easy to see how these larvae get sucked in by false gods and political svengalis. Once the present dark age is over and their ilk recede to the primordial shadows representing their evolutionary high point, the human race can finally begin to celebrate itself instead of trying to annihilate itself.

I've never succumbed to the racist imperative which regards anyone who looks different with suspicion or worse, as inferior. But then I got out of town for a number years and travelled the world the hard way. (If, decades ago, schools had extended their curriculum to include grade 13 -- a year's backpacking around the world at government expense -- the planet may not have been in such danger today.) The first thing I learned was that everyone was basically the same. A brown, black or white asshole is still an asshole. Every culture has the same good guys and bad guys. Instead of being stuck with a xenophobic fear of cultural diversity, I found that every region of every country was like entering a magic kingdom.

In the meantime, let's hope the Genographic Project is a roaring success. The more people who realise we are all truly part of the family of man, the better the chance we'll have a future.

For US$99.95 you can take your own DNA test. National Geographic is hosting the Genographic Project web site. As well as a link on how to participate, there is a FAQ link, including a list of ten international centres to be set up in the future. If you live in Australia and want to wait for a hopefully better price, Dr. John Mitchell of La Trobe University will eventually be setting one up in Melbourne.

This post was based on State of Origin, by Greg Callaghan, published in The Weekend Australian, July 30-31, 2005.