I find it somewhat offensive that some folks still insist that President Obama is an anomaly. He is erudite, well-educated and perceived to be "uniquely" multi-racial and therefore a different African-American. But is he? In a previous entry, I highlighted a recent controversy involving conservative pundit and author, Ann Coulter, in which she made some disparaging remarks about folks of color who "opt" to be Black when they are of bi-racial parentage. Ms. Coulter obviously never received the email that no Black person has the option to be Black, especially if one is phenotypically of the darker persuasion-society makes the choice for you. There has been a great deal of scholarship in the area of Black genealogy, affirming the contention that upwards of 80% of African-Americans possess European ancestry. It is very easy to find someone in the Black community that looks "less Black" than our current POTUS but possess mono-racial parents-the very essence of being Black in America. The question remains....how many Whites are comfortable in discovering their Black lineage? Well, perhaps one should ask the Rand family:
Excerpt courtesy of CNN.com:
It's often said that a real Southerner can "claim kin" with anyone.
Tony Rand and his son Ripley learned last year that some of their relatives were African-American.
Tony Rand realized the same could be true for him. Rand, whose family can trace its roots back to the 1700s, is a Democratic state senator in North Carolina. Until he watched the 2008 CNN documentary "Black in America," he had no idea that some of his relatives were black.
Although firmly anchored in the South, the Rands are spread across the country. What connects them is their link to a common ancestor -- the family patriarch William Harrison Rand.
"Hal" Rand, as he was known to most, was a white farmer and slave owner. In 1842, Hal married Sarah Ann Mullens and they had seven children. Hal also fathered seven children with his mistress, Ann Albrooks Rand, a black woman.
Every other year, hundreds of African-American descendants of Hal Rand get together at a different location for a massive family reunion. It's a time to catch up and share stories, eat barbecue and have a good time. The 2007 Rand family reunion, held in Atlanta, Georgia, was featured in "Black in America." After the program aired, dozens of viewers across the country had the same revelation -- they, too, were related to the Rands.
"I was sitting there, that Saturday night, just up reading the week's papers and watching the program," says Rand with a hearty Southern accent.
"Then I hear, 'We are the Rands. The mighty, mighty Rands," he recalls, referring to the words sung by family members as they embarked on their bi-annual pilgrimage.
"And then I said to myself, 'What?'"
Tony Rand listened as the family historian, Martha Rand Hix, described the family's patriarch.
"When they were talking about William Harrison Rand, I knew that was the William Harrison Rand in our family," he said. "Then they started talking about North Carolina, and I said, 'Well, God oh mighty,' ... it was just amazing."
The next day, he telephoned his 41-year old son, Ripley Rand, and asked him to contact their black relatives. Soon, Tony and Ripley Rand were invited to attend the next Rand family reunion in July in Sacramento, California. Photo See photos of the Rand family members »
But, what Tony Rand didn't know was that his son, a North Carolina Superior Court judge, had already been diligently working on the family genealogy. Ripley Rand had begun typing out a hand-bound version of a 100-page manuscript compiled by his great-uncle, Oscar Ripley Rand III, and started to create a digital version.
For more of this story in its entirety, click on the link below:
White senator discovers family's African-American roots
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