The Melungeon families of an Appalachian Town

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I'm delving into a story that's as surprising as it is compelling: a small Appalachian town in Ohio with a hidden racial narrative. Here, identity transcends the boundaries of skin color, revealing a community where people raised as black appear white. This isn't just a tale of racial ambiguity; it's a poignant reflection of America's complex racial tapestry. As we explore this town's unique journey, we uncover layers of hidden history and emotional truths about identity, heritage, and the unseen struggles of racial classification. Join me as we unravel the secrets and stories of this Appalachian community, shedding light on a part of American history that's often overlooked.
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[@nytn]

Should I do a deep dive on "Melungeons"? Let me know! ☕Send me a coffee!: ko-fi.com/nytn13#linkModal Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/NYTN ▶Download the first section FREE of my "Be a Good ancestor" course here: nytonashville.com/shoplola/be-a-good-ancestor-course-digital-download-videos-bjks6 ▶Get the full course to save your family history here: nytonashville.com/shoplola/be-a-good-ancestor-course-digital-download-videos

[@nemomarcus5784]

Definitely. Our tri-racial heritage is an important part of our American identity.

[@caniceedward]

If look white then you are white. If look black then you are black.

[@maximumrandb]

Yes please. My mother's ancestry is from an area in VA which claims melungeon roots. Her last name is one of the names mentioned in the articles i have seen identifying possible melungeon families. And, i THINK some of us (me and my family identify as very visibly black) may have some of the physical traits associated with the culture. Appreciate you sharing your joirney for everyone'a benefit and consideration.

[@KAH-7]

What's odd to me is the claim of Turk ancestry which looks to me to be Romani (Gypsy) and or Appalachian Indigenous?

[@principtounenmondesir]

Ms love your channel but u seem to overlook the fact that most people one, marry there own You also overlook the fact that thoose who dont create mix people Lastly u over look the fact that mix people can look mix on average but some look white ,indian , African or whatever full group they are mix with.... That is call passing ..... Meghan Markle White passing, boris kodjo, jcole, black passing, Kimora lee , chinese passing

[@janiceervin8979]

I greatly admire this woman standing up for her heritage. She did not take the easy way out way out.

[@vikkidonn]

It’s sad that at this point even people that present as part of their heritage get considered other….. Jenna Ortega has been called a fake Latina because she wasn’t really raised in the culture nor can she fluently speak Spanish. They hate her actually which is crazy. She’s not the only one. I remember when black people tried to separate Stacy dash from the community because of her views and half black status.

[@therrendunham5594]

@@vikkidonn Nobody ostracized Stacey Dash because of her ethnic makeup, and to make it solely a basis of her conservative views (which was more than enough on its own) is reductive. Stacey Dash violated a cardinal rule of life: You never offend the people who make your money, and you never embarrass the people who write your checks. What made her a pariah in the Black community lies in the fact that Dash is an aging actress who, aside from a few instances, never enjoyed mainstream appeal. And when your audience had always been a specific demographic, it's a slap in the face to do an instant 180 in the hopes that your waning career would get some traction. It was never the conservatives who supported her career, or bought the magazines with her photo spreads, or gave her roles in movies and videos. Most conservatives still can't spell her name right.

[@vikkidonn]

@@therrendunham5594 how did she offend them? And how was it not about her race yet that was brought up repeatedly as a point of conversation. Used to explain her change in political and social beliefs? She was used in several colorism talks and panels across this platform alone. She was called white washed ect. So how did it not play a part?

[@therrendunham5594]

@@vikkidonn Okay, one, she played a part in that by bringing up race and colorism herself. Two, this is a typical throw-stones-then-hide-your-hands response that many conservatives of color use when defending themselves, often after being (rightfully) critiqued for using coded language and stereotypes to disparage their own people. They rarely make these arguments within their own demographics, but to those audiences most likely to be receptive to hearing them (because it validates their biases; and hearing it coming from, in this case, a Black face, makes them more comfortable). Please read my last post again. Stacey Dash is no different from Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson, Rob Schneider, (increasingly) Bill Maher, or any other celebrity who leaned liberal until their careers peaked and they needed to find relevance with new audiences. It's just that her situation was that more acute.

[@vikkidonn]

@@therrendunham5594 so what of the other black celebrities who are still left leaning or self identify with the democrats party who ALSO complain of colorism in their respective industries as well as within the community? What’s the difference between the two? It either happens or is doesn’t and it more acutely seems as though because Stacy simply has a difference in political view you choose to discount her life experiences even when others share those same thoughts socially

[@rebeccamd7903]

I am Melungeon and would love to share some of my family history, experiences, and pictures. My great grandmother Lena Mullins looked a lot like your grandmother. Our family has been intermixing for hundreds of years. I have done both dna and my tree and it is a beautiful mix that goes back to 1619. I have compared dna to Redbones and they typically merge 6-8 generations back and in some cases we have found our shared ancestors. America has a complex history of hidden racial mixing.

[@nytn]

Rebecca, can you e-mail me at howdy(at)nytonashville(dot)com?

[@nytn]

Im going to try and make that happen! Bet it would be a great convo@@jayregal6478

[@rasheed7934]

My grandmother is Melungeon from N.C. When my father was born she was actually put under house arrest and the law went looking for my grandfather. They were in trouble for " Cohabiting" They escaped to the Tennessee hill country where they were safe because NOBODY wanted to go up there dealing with what they called "Wild N----rs". Thing is you never know what people might be in this country.

[@Calhorsey]

Are you from Appalachia? Lots of Mullins in that area, some of which are Melungeon.

[@84tahlia]

We are probably family. My family is Mullins/Hawkins. My Mom did her dna and has done a lot of history research on the Melungeon.

[@csu111]

The mother clearly loved her own mother enough to endure treatment and a life she could have avoided. That’s real love.

[@sr2291]

@etruscancivilization That is pretty common. Look up Charles Chesnutt. Look at Images of his photos. He was a writer who didn't fit into either side when he was young. You can tell he was part Black in his younger photos and when he got older he just looked like an old White man. His books are interesting too.

[@baldscott9191]

She now needs to love her daughter just as much and accept her. The fact of the matter she is not going to experience the true meaning of being black in the world. Never will.

[@justtied4293]

There is always a possibility that offspring will be darker, so long as she keeps the truth in mind, she can live her life as she pleases.

[@thepartyrodigo9228]

They are white lol sorry only racist whites trying promote white supremacy would argue NOT. Society will treat you based on what they see you. Who cares they call themselves blk when blk is a look and so is white.

[@peachygal4153]

@@etruscancivilization Yes she did that is why she was so beautiful. Mixed race people are usually much more beautiful than either of their parents when their parents were in an interracial relationship,

[@mmodl]

Part of why she’s so passionate about being Black may be because of what she saw her mother go through. Her mother wasn’t able to pass and possibly went out of her way to instill a sense of Blackness in her children regardless of their complexion. At least that’s how it was with my ancestors. They didn’t pass, not sure if it was by choice or circumstance, married men with dark complexions, and all of their children married Black people. If the mother in this video had married Black, her daughter may not have been able to choose. One union made the difference for generations.

[@BronzeSista]

My husband is from a city in Ohio that has quite a few Colored/Black people who can pass for white. Their birth certificates says "colored". Many of them could pass for white but chose not to, such as my blonde grey 'eyed father in law. Same with my husband. He could have married a white woman and passed for white. None of his uncles married white women, but Black women. My sister in law moved to the South. She got her license, and she told them you made a mistake! You put my race as white! DMV rep said, "Let it stay! You look white! She said, "Change it to Black! Nowadays, We no longer have race on our license.

[@vfclists]

So labelled African Americans need to adopt a different term for their ethnicity because "Black" capitalized as in ethnicity is not the same as "black" uncapitalized as in physical form. The problem comes because the distinction can't be made in speech, and it enables white people to play legal and economic games against "black" people. The younger woman is "Black" in ethnicity because that is how her family classed her. She can't change her ethnicity to "White" even if she is "white" in appearance no matter how she wants to, because it is set in stone by her family. It is for the same reason that "black" people from the Caribbean maintain that they are not "Black" and that is right too. Because when people use the word "black" to express ethnicity they mean "Black" most of the time. It is time "Black" Americanss found a way around this game the white legal and political establishment plays on them.

[@sr2291]

@@vfclists Where did you hear Caribbeans say they are not Black?

[@vfclists]

@@sr2291 Are you trolling? Why don't you just go do a search or something?

[@sr2291]

@@vfclists Maybe you could explain it better. Caribbean people have African heritage unlike the dark skinned people in Australia and the Pacific Islands. So why wouldn't they be black or Black?

[@canar7]

My first gut reaction? She chose not to "pass" and stayed true to who she was. For her generational time that had to be difficult when one could "pass" and benefit in many ways and not deal with racism. Being black is not just your genetic make-up to me but also your experience. How you've been raised and the inner culture your raised in. I like her conviction.

[@beejj6190]

Different for the daughter though. Her mum is highly likely 1/4 Negro (with albino genes). The daughter 1/ 8 negro (and far more white than black obviously). Her mother has great pride even if a little irrational in pronouncing her kids as 'black'.

[@marianaya5824]

Also, the mother's facial features and hair texture would give her away and she knows that. And white people, especially in her generation would have told her that. Also, Melungeons were known by their last names too, no matter how they looked. Racism is about who will get resources and privilege. So many times when they showed up for jobs when competition in Appalachia was high, they were weeded out not because of their looks at times but because of their last names which were associated with the Melungeons with more African DNA. That's the systemic part. Peace.

[@Celisar1]

Being black is having a majority of African genes. That’s the definition and facts. The rest is delusions and feelings,the opposite of facts.

[@kdugg]

@@marianaya5824 this is what my family looks like. We are melungeons from wv

[@messybench]

She would have had to leave and never go back. The fear of being outted was so real and so dangerous. You have the fear of prison and death instilled at a young age.

[@Calhorsey]

I know a Melungeon guy. He's from Virginia Appalachia. He explained to me that very early slaves were freed after an indentured period. They mixed with whites in the area and created the Melungeon people. They've been mixed for a super long time.

[@PigeonsPie1]

But, respectfully, this is the way of the world.. I wish people wouldn't identify as one 'race' over another. Humans have evolved over this planet,... races are simply what part of the world ones ancestors spent the most time in. Humans have evolved over this planet,... races are simply what part of the world ones ancestors were the most recent ones..... This RACE view is a political construct. Don't cha know.

[@ngonsainti]

Slaves may have been dark skinned indigenous Americans. What do you mean when you say “slaves”?

[@mrsme33-cy7lf]

There's a little bit more than being mixed and being Melungeon

[@bravecoldwater9061]

Partly true, Melungeons are the result of Aboriginal blacks intermarrying with Native Americans while later down the line also intermingling with Irish, Semitic Europeans (many of whom of South Asian ancestry) & West African via the slave trade.

[@EddyNelson-we1sp]

Blacks Afrikaans @@ngonsainti

[@Sweetlittlehugs]

The problem here is that we have made race so important. Demanding that people stay in their race box is tearing this family apart. People shouldn’t have to choose. There is so much intermixing, I don’t think the race boxes on forms even makes sense anymore.

[@MimiB1974]

We didn’t do that… the founding fathers and slave holders did it so they can have free labor…& continued the abuse post slavery to otherise people

[@marthamurphy7940]

The only time the boxes make sense biologically is in medical records, since different DNA can bring higher rates of different diseases. However, different groups of people do have cultural differences, so if they want to take pride in their culture, then why not?

[@syntychiahintsin-tee-shaks2256]

It’s sad but those boxes are important especially when it comes to helping underserved communities and investigating hiring processes. It’s not as simple as saying we’re all human in a country built by systemic racism.

[@shanalove6194]

But they do exist, that’s the problem.

[@richgunning8311]

Thats not the problem thats a symptom. The problem is america like other euro-colonially invaded nations in the western hemisphere have a fear of making a admends with the history black enslavement an exploitation many of their historically western colonial used a fake vervion of the bible to justify this racial based exploitation while bible forbid all true christians from practicing slavery on other humans....

[@0kitten00]

As a black person who presents as black and comes from a family who presents as many things, depending on who you look at, I find it really interesting that people wanted them to pick white, almost as though it were better. I have also found it interesting as I have mapped out a lot of my own genealogy, that all of the census records up until the year, 1900 had color listed as white, black, mulatto, Chinese, and Indian (Native American). Starting with the 1900 census records, that same box is listed as -(color or race.). Upon which time, a lot of my ancestors went from being listed as mulatto or Native American, to being black. I find this to be a very common practice in the southern states.

[@jordanjohnson4979]

They will break down to you the real history of the Indians are with sources and not just talk they also break down who the original dark skinned Europeans were and these Native Americans and where they really came from please look them up sis you won’t be disappointed it’s real family over there.

[@zaidamaganda]

Were there Chinese people in the South in the 1700s or 1800s? I'm asking based on genetic testing results I've seen, that have confused me. If there were, how did they get there and what were they doing there?

[@donnablosser7982]

​@@zaidamagandayes there were many enlisted in the Civil War. It was a way to become a citizen of the US once their service was over and they were honorably discharged. 2 sons of the famous conjoined twins served as well.

[@zaidamaganda]

@@donnablosser7982 I am aware of the twins because they lived near my ancestors in North Carolina, so I "bumped" into them in census records. I think they were from Thailand, weren't they? But they marked "white" on the census. I know the Chinese came over to work on the transcontinental railroad, but I was just curious about what they were doing before that. I've read there was a Filipino settlement in Louisiana from the 1700s, and they were originally sailors.

[@GodHelpUsNow777]

I'm white.. my 11th great grandma is Pocahontas and I am a decendent of her only child kaokee .. Pocahontas and kocoum had kaokee .. DNA is amazing.. on my fathers side im known as melungeon .. i have pictures of my dad's grandpa.. triracial.. black indian and white...I'm still white white greenish grey eyes brown 2b and 2c hair type .. God made a way for his people ❤ DNA is not skin tone

[@messybench]

It took me a while to warm up to you. When you started a couple of years ago, i was off-put. But i subscribed. I occasionally see you in my feed and have another look. Now i find myself sharing your posts. I lived these stories. I cannot "pass" but no one wants to hear my truth and perspective. But you have done a very fair and balanced presentation. Thanks!

[@nytn]

I appreciate that so much, and I really value having people here who don't always agree with me, or even like me. I think we need more spaces where that can happen. Thanks again

[@kellyhickman6117]

I’m 50 years old but remember checking other as child on a standardized test in elementary school. My teacher was furious and told me to erase it and check white. I at the early age of 8 told her no Mam. I was punished that day I told I wouldn’t be getting recess for a week and she was going to call my parents. Well she did call my parents and my father came to the school the next day. The teacher told my father it was ridiculous what I had done because I was clearly white. My father told her it was not ridiculous because my great grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee Indian and that’s why I wanted to check other. He told her you will not deny my daughter her heritage and she will check what box she wants. I even at 8 knew and had a very strong feeling my Dad was part African American also. I have told you my story before in the fact that it resembles your story so very much. My Dad passed before he could ever find out his true heritage. It was a family secret on both his parents side that was hidden from his siblings and his self because they passed as white. They were always told that their skin color was from the Native American only. I to this day check other. I’m very proud of my heritage all of it. It saddens me that the older generations of my family lived in time where they felt they couldn’t be who they truly were.

[@marianaya5824]

Well, they couldn't tell ANYONE who they were because passing would get you killed. It was tantamount to taking resources from good white people that black people didn't deserve. This is why (in your family) they didn't tell the children who they really were, because it was dangerous and children don't know how to keep secrets. Today it's different. Mixing has become a norm and the children as well as the coupling, fetishes.

[@rocketreindeer]

I completely stand with that mom. One of my Elders once pointed to his thumbnail when we were eating in a Chinese restaurant and told me, "you can have this much Indian in you and you have the right to identify yourself as a Native person." The thought being, we lose nothing when we mix, because our spirit and our drum (as a people) is strong. When others marry us, they become part of us. I'm mixed, and don't have all the info because of the muddy trail of adoption, and have gone through similar things to the mom in the video where someone will tell me they don't think I look that Indigenous (the same day as getting profiled in a store). My olive skin changes depending on many factors, sometimes I look light and sometimes I look dark, but that has nothing to do with what I am. People don't have the right to tell other people who they are.

[@ReshonBryant]

Great point. I'm bordering on light skinned aka redboned right about now due to the season 😂

[@kaylajohnson-q3b]

@@ReshonBryantBAHHAHA these “NON-Native” think claiming “OUR identity” “FEDERALLY RECOGNIZES THEM” ITS 2024 STOP “devaluing OUR RACE AND CULTURE” to fit yall BILLION year TOLD narrative!

[@blackpalacemusic]

It seems strange today, but at one time immigrants were not considered "white". Thats why she said "German, Italian and white"

[@Ziggy-hy4fn]

My best friend has been writing in, hoping you might make this video for over a year. He was SO excited when he saw this upload and I just wanted to say thank you for that little bit of joy you put in his day. ❤️ Would love to see you go even further in depth into the topic of Melungeon history!

[@nytn]

That's awesome! I am 100% planning on doing some deep dives on Melungeon/Redbone history. Working on it right now.

[@mjivory410]

Are you aware that the comedian **Steve Martin** has referred to himself as a __Redbone__?!?!😮😊

[@nytn]

NO!

[@triplethreat252]

Mama "stood on business" as the kids say lol..I love that! She is who she is, and no one is changing that.

[@ReshonBryant]

Yeah, it's because of those reasons my mom put Black on my birth certificate regardless of how I looked, and where I was born and she insists I'm mixed race on top of that.

[@GodHelpUsNow777]

I'm white.. my 11th great grandma is Pocahontas and I am a decendent of her only child kaokee .. Pocahontas and kocoum had kaokee .. DNA is amazing.. on my fathers side im known as melungeon .. i have pictures of my dad's grandpa.. triracial.. black indian and white...I'm still white white greenish grey eyes brown 2b and 2c hair type .. God made a way for his people ❤ DNA is not skin tone

[@outb4thecount]

Most African American families have relatives who don’t look “black”. My mother was “light skinned” but to me she looked like a black woman who had a light complexion. But my nephews would say people would stare at them when they were with her wondering why this “white lady” was with these black kids. My mom was no where near as “light” as the woman in this piece but for people who are coming from a different perspective or have no idea that skin color doesn’t mean you can tell who is who there is confusion.

[@Mythoatissodry]

Generalizing we don't

[@josephimperatrice5552]

The vast majority of African Americans do not have family members who look White at least not in the recent sense, only in the far distant sense. For the vast majority of African Americans who throw big Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings with the whole family, nobody at the Thanksgiving and Christmas table looks White.

[@ashleykoonce584]

There is a tribe of black people with darker skin in New Guinea called the Melanesians. Their hair is often naturally blond and some of the people have natural blue eyes.

[@bellepierre24]

They have dark skin, but that doesn't mean they are Black. Black is a designation for people from or of specific parts of the African continent, mostly below the Sahara. New Guinea is clear across the globe from Africa. Granted, all homo sapiens migrated from Eastern Africa. Dark skin doesn't equal Black, light skin doesn't equal White. Living in the US has warped people's thinking. I am from West Africa, my birth certificate and passport don't have my "race", it is obvious that I am human. Clearly, I look the ethnic group I come from. If I had a penny for every time an American said to me "but you don't look African"! A vast continent with 54 countries and over 3000 indigenous ethnic groups, what the hell? 😅😅😅 I say all this to say, Melanesians are dark skinned, as the name suggests, but calling them Black is a erasure of their identity. The way the US has thought people to use generic labels, is not how the 96% of humans who live outside the US does it. It's something people should unlearn.

[@sr2291]

From PerplexityAI without the source numbers. Papua New Guineans are not African. Papua New Guinea is a country in Oceania, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean north of Australia. The people of Papua New Guinea are primarily of Melanesian and Papuan descent, with diverse ethnic groups indigenous to the region. While there may be some genetic and phenotypic similarities between the people of Papua New Guinea and Africans, they are distinct populations with different origins and histories.

[@a.musaahmad5229]

@@bellepierre24 white supremacy is global so to pin it all on United States thinking is not being genuine. Long before there was a United States, Britain and the other colonial forces were using whiteness as a dividing line. The term sub Saharan can be seen as problematic. You gave a definition of Melanasians but how do they define themselves? I have heard them define themselves as black. Melanasia has the same root as melanin. Melanated Asians. Black is universal not local or ethnic. Blackness is a connection to the original population and those genes that remain the dominant genes on the planet. Point being the lady acknowledged her original traits. You can't be surprised to see it wherever you go on the planet and trace the original inhabitants of these areas.

[@tw82rone5]

​@@bellepierre24So you are West African yet still currently have not figured out that scientifically speaking traits that are associated with Europeans in particular. Such as Blonde/Red hair and Blue eyes are actually associated with forms of albinism?

[@tw82rone5]

​@@sr2291So those melanated original Aboriginal Australian folks also weren't Black? And everybody didn't originate from melanated or so called Black ppl to begin with?

[@Myraisins1]

She was raised with the one drop rule and she stands by it. Today things are changing and there is movement to change things even more. Notice she said "there is going to be people to pick it out of you" That was always one of the fears of "passing" There is a sense of pride in her for sticking with her people. Remember that these racial designations were placed upon people.

[@BronzeSista]

It wasn't placed they were raised as Black people, with Black relatives.

[@sr2291]

Look at her mother. She has more than one drop. It's true that racists can see if you have African ancestry, even a small amount. Personal experience.

[@tw82rone5]

The funny wild part is everybody's original ancestry traces back to Africans or so called Black ppl. And traits that are commonly labeled as European such as Blonde/Red hair & Blue eyes in particular are actually associated with forms of albinism. Research & don't take my word for it + if you already know then you already know

[@sr2291]

@tw82rone5 You are not black, and don't look Black if you had an African ancestor 30,000 or 50,000 years ago. We are talking in the last 2 to 8 generations. Or one of the other ethnicities that can look Black but aren't.

[@MissTippiLu]

@Myraisin1 The mother is right. Her daughter can have a black child because African DNA is dominant. It may skip 1 or 2 generations but it will always be there. I feel sorry for the daughter. She must be so conflicted to be raised within black culture but be perceived by outsiders as white.

[@dobieh7479]

Mulatto is the Spanish word for mixed which is primarily European and African whereas Melungeon may have come from the French word melange, which is the French word for mixed. Melungeons are mixed with many ethnicities.

[@m.patsyfauntleroy9645]

FOUNDING FATHERS SPANISH FOUNDED SETTLEMENTS WITH " NEGRO " SKIN REFERENCE RED HAIRED & FRECKLES " MULATTO " 1/2 of " STRAWBERRY BLOND " PEACEMA' NY !

[@mjivory410]

Another term I've heard for __Melungeons__ is ""Tri-racial Appalachian Isolates""😮😊😒😬😚😄

[@tammietravis2395]

Maybe it stems from a Portuguese word?

[@dobieh7479]

The reason I said French is because they were in that area of the country.@@tammietravis2395

[@lovelymix8056]

People from Spain are mixed themselves

[@hahafalseflag5090]

its awesome to see people standing up for who they truly feel they are.

[@Cheetahpuma-g2e]

Glad I'm not inbred

[@bluejay9968]

In the African American community, we use Red Bone to describe a complexion as well. A copper golden color, Beyonce tone or similar pretty much.

[@gazoontight]

I remember hearing about the Melungeons when I lived in Knoxville. There was a lot of speculation about their ancestry. Back then, the commonly accepted idea was that they descended from shipwrecked Portuguese sailors who hiked into the mountains and took Native American wives. This was before the availability of genetic testing. And nobody ever explained why shipwrecked sailors would have walked so far inland and become landlubbers!

[@gazoontight]

After it became possible to identify genetic markers it was determined that their ancestry was black and white. They had moved into the mountains to get away from other people.

[@bayyinahzhaxx7620]

I've heard they were Romani mixed

[@timeforchange3786]

Yes, they always said they were Portuguese. The first ship with Africans to Virginia came from a Portuguese colony in Africa. There was over 350 Africans but only 20+ made it to Virginia. The rest were left on the ship. Some melungeon families have traced their heritage to some of the Africans on that ship. My guess is there were melungeon families that came from some of the remaining on that ship and started their own communities.

[@Calhorsey]

Interesting. However, I think they called themselves Portuguese to avoid being called black. Portuguese people are quite fair, but lots of less education people in the area didn't know that.@@timeforchange3786

[@EyEReign]

@@timeforchange3786yes, and the Goins surname can be traced back to a slave that arrived on that first ship.

[@DerekFrazier2014]

I love mom. She loves her mother. Mad respect. Nothing but love to her and her daughter ❤❤

[@rhondalight70]

Thank you for talking about the Melungeon people! I learned about them when I first started researching my ancestry, and I was shocked to see my great grandmother listed in the 1870 Census as Mulatto. All I'd ever been told was that we had Indian ancestry on that side, which explained the dark hair and eyes and how easily we tan in summer. Of course, all that was very much kept hush hush, and I was never able to really discuss it with my grandmother, as she had passed long before I started doing research and had dementia before passing when I was a little girl, and my mother pretty well just shut it down. I did manage to connect with some cousins through Ancestry, and they never knew until they were researching and got their DNA results back, which showed 3 or 4 percent African, I don't recall exactly. Mine didn't show any at all through Ancestry, but did show on Gedmatch. Thanks for doing what you do, and, here in Appalachia, we prounounce it Apple at cha, lol.

[@elgriot5058]

The Haplogrorup will show whether or not you have negroid genetics. Your mitochondrial that is passed from mother to daughter will stay the same for generation to generation. Just as the Y stays the same in males. Natures identification. You can't change that.

[@tersee123]

@nytn @rasheed7934 @rhondalight70 @sharontabor7718 @rebeccamd7903 When you do your post on Melungeon, please note how God felt about interracial marriage in the bible, Num. 12: 1-10. God to Aaron and Mirium (if Moses is pleased with his African Wife, I’m good with that, if you don’t like it, that makes God angry!) Melungeon trace back to the 1600’s when African’s were marrying white indentured servants. This was before steam power and coal, legend has, they moved up to the mountains to find peace. I leave you with this: “Mulatto” is a derogatory word and should not be used. Wikipedia says it is “a word used as a source of pride” by people of other countries. Those who take pride in such a word are ignorant of it’s meaning and origin, and serves only to illustrate their illiteracy. The term “Métis” (m) or “Métisse” (f) has been in use from the 15c as a word for biracial, from as far back as the Roman Empire. Mulatto is a term worse than the “N-word.”

[@davidross2004]

Honestly, I get the feeling that Waverly, OH has a very interesting history and that the wounds that were inflicted there go deep. In my opinion, Roberta's frustration with her daughter probably stems from how she witnessed her family members be treated firsthand: the treatment her grandparents and mother endured at the hands of their neighbors who are now kinfolk after several generations of intermarriage. The very same people whose descendants, in her mind, convinced her daughter that she isn't Black. I think that "White" means something very different to Roberta: exclusion, not inclusion. The town was ready to accept her; however, were they willing to accept her mother and other kinfolk who appeared too "ethnic"? It's like they're saying "We accept you in spite of your mother." That's backhanded. Instead of accepting that she comes from people whom the town chose to cordon off, she's now being told who she is in spite of her experiences. She's claiming relation to her birth mother, and the town is saying "That can't be right because it doesn't fit our way of understanding the world." The town gets to decide where she belongs, even though she already has a place to belong. The town is demanding that she exclude her Black identity. They get to decide when these people are accepted and how they're accepted. I think this way of thinking has already taken a dark turn when we look at how American Indians were forced to move from their homelands and how many nations had their children stolen from them. It's about denying relation for the convenience of the "White" narrative. The same can be said for enslaved Africans and their descendants who were put into the "Black" box and treated as if they had no cultural heritage to bring over during the Middle Passage. Roberta actually does acknowledge that she has White ancestry; she just chooses to identify with the Black and not exclude it. I think that Black has more to do with relation and belonging for her, instead of trying to fit in a box. For the daughter, I don't think she sees race as kinfolk and relation; instead, she's simply looking at "Whiteness" as something that is 100% tied to appearance because she has watched her mother be treated as a White woman even though she stubbornly identifies as Black. Why fight for something that no one is forcing on you anymore? She knows these people are her kin; however, she cannot relate. She already thinks of Black people as something separate from her. She could even identify as Black and be excluded by someone who has the features that we would feel make them “visibly Black.” I still think that there is wisdom in Roberta's warning though: for some people, it's not about how you look; it's just about the presence of what they consider to be " the Black blood." This brings me to my final question, which you addressed in your previous video: what gives private citizens or the state, whether that be Ohio or the USA as a whole, the right to dictate how a person racially identifies regardless of how their community identifies? I think that you encountered this same problem when you interviewed an Indigenous sociologist earlier this year. The needs of the USA's racial categorization system are thought to supersede the needs of individual communities. I agree: we need to build community and relation around something else other than this very incomplete and twisted tradition. We need to acknowledge who people’s family members are, and not exclude them simply because they don’t fit with what we think “People like them” should look like. P.S. Roberta's mother and your great grandmother Lola kind of remind me of my maternal grandmother. Sorry for any typos that I may have missed. I'm tired.

[@RTCPhotoWork]

Every word of what you said is spot on.

[@jamiecare1042]

💯 agree with everything you say. There are subtleties and complexities to each woman’s self-identification which deserve respect and contextualisation. Roberta can’t forget she’s Black because her mother’s experience was that of a Black woman and she feels pride about her mother’s triumph over adversity. Discarding the Blackness would be akin to discarding her honour. The daughter on the other hand, has not seen or experienced that, so her racial identity is easier to associate solely with her appearance. People don’t treat anyone she grew up with in her family as Black, so she can’t see herself that way. I wish them both well but I hope that a White categorisation doesn’t lead to the daughter’s descendants losing their rich cultural history.

[@davidross2004]

@are1042 I agree! I hope that she's able to connect and understand her family, so that a single incomplete narrative that glosses over important detail doesn't become her sole way of looking at the world. The people doing the excluding and the abusing need to have a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror. The reasons that these horrible acts were done weren't true then and they aren't true now. The only justifications that I ever hear are based in fear and ignorance; that's it.

[@user-et1kf7dr8i]

This was so beautifully put.

[@DerekFrazier2014]

I love that you share this with those that know nothing about this part of history. Ty

[@nursemom101casteel7]

I've seen this video a couple times while I was researching my family history. It made me cry, too.

[@nytn]

Im just blown away by it all still

[@karindwarswaard]

The first time I saw the video, years ago. Me and a lot of people in the comments thought that the mother had albinism

[@timeforchange3786]

I agree, Melungeons had European features and dark skin with blue eyes. They said they were not black. It is also the wrong state. These people just looked mixed or probably albino.

[@Cocreatewithus]

I agree, a lot of these people are presenting with some albino-like traits.

[@GodHelpUsNow777]

I'm white.. normal regular white not elbino white.. my 11th great grandma is Pocahontas and I am a decendent of her only child kaokee .. Pocahontas and kocoum had kaokee .. DNA is amazing.. on my fathers side im known as melungeon .. i have pictures of my dad's grandpa.. triracial.. black indian and white...I'm still white white greenish grey eyes brown 2b and 2c hair type .. God made a way for his people ❤ DNA is not skin tone

[@carolynlarke1340]

I'm old enough to be your granny so finding this subject spoken about, the stories told, is enough to make me cry. You are good at this. You are not judgmental or preachy. I'll subscribe. I've watched politics and social issues since I was 6 years old and JFK was assassinated. I have funny tales of my childhood enlightenment to the racial concepts of my country. Even as a very young child the whole system was silly to criminal manifested in society. Good work.

[@sharontabor7718]

In 1965, Kentucky author Jesse Stuart published "Daughter of the Legend" about the Mulegeons. It's roughly based on a young woman he fell in love with while in college in Knoxville, TN. This community in OH is not the only place Mulegeons live. Their history is in primarily in TN, VA, NC.

[@tersee123]

@nytn @rasheed7934 @rhondalight70 @sharontabor7718 @rebeccamd7903 When you do your post on Melungeon, please note how God felt about interracial marriage in the bible, Num. 12: 1-10. God to Aaron and Mirium (if Moses is pleased with his African Wife, I’m good with that, if you don’t like it, that makes God angry!) Melungeon trace back to the 1600’s when African’s were marrying white indentured servants. This was before steam power and coal, legend has, they moved up to the mountains to find peace. I leave you with this: “Mulatto” is a derogatory word and should not be used. Wikipedia says it is “a word used as a source of pride” by people of other countries. Those who take pride in such a word are ignorant of it’s meaning and origin, and serves only to illustrate their illiteracy. The term “Métis” (m) or “Métisse” (f) has been in use from the 15c as a word for biracial, from as far back as the Roman Empire. Mulatto is a term worse than the “N-word.”

[@AlwaysLime]

My advice is to say you’re mixed… well I do that. That feels the most natural and authentic to me. Even as an enrolled member of a Native American tribe. I definitely have multi-generational mixing going on. I enjoy being ethnically ambiguous and getting questions about my ethnicity. The latest question was because I reminded the person of their aunt from Guam. I felt honored to remind him of her.

[@maggiep3263]

I'm Filipino. I've gone to Pow Wows and have been asked what tribe I'm from. I tell them the Filipino tribe and we're distant cousins. 😂

[@She_ill_Bx]

These people have a right to identify and be firm about what they are as well as how they were raised. Apparently the mom chose to pick a side to prevent society from putting her in a box of their choice. Not everyone will agree with one another but I respect it.

[@fighttheevilrobots3417]

This conversation is fascinating to me. My father was (Gd bless his soul) a dark skinned Turkish Jewish man, Sephardic. To him, he was a white man. He did not see Black people until he came to the United States in 1969. He was driven out of Princeton when classmates of his spray painted the N word on his dorm room, broke his car windows, and put chains on his car. After I was born I saw from a young age how he was targeted by police, the same police that would wave and smile at my blonde haired blue eyed mother of Welsh heritage. My father became really angry when I tried to explain how most people did not view him as white. I identify as white and got my mom's blue eyes. It's always interesting to me that police read me as white, but when someone finds out I'm either Jewish or Turkish, then all of a sudden I'm not white to them anymore.

[@Lmg146]

Never feel ashamed of who you are.

[@MissTippiLu]

Incredible story. Nothing but admiration for this woman. She really does have black features. She is just very light skinned. What a shame the census makes people check boxes. Most people are mixed with something anyway.

[@Wellwoman09]

In African American community "Redbone" simply refers to a light-complexioned Black person.

[@mjivory410]

Not if you're from west/southwest part of LA __or__ certain central/south-central adjacent parts of TX:::::😮😊

[@vian-ij4sv]

Very interesting. Growing up in KY and MI, then moving to VA, I always heard "red bone" as a person who had indigenous ancestry somewhere but was mostly black.

[@justcurious81]

Actually, over time people incorrectly used the term and applied it to any light complexioned black person. “Redbone” originally referred to black people who had natural red features-reddish hair and freckles. Although most black people with those features tend to have lighter skin, there are some brown skinned black people that have those features as well. People like Sinbad, the comedian, and Reynaldo Ray the actor would be considered red boned. A light complexioned black person, like Rihanna, for example, would not be considered redbone.

[@vian-ij4sv]

In most places it refers to a black person of light complexion who is mixed with native American ancestry. "Red" meaning "redman." From my personal experience: Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, Louisiana. In the early 1800s, somewhere around 1804, it was used the same as "mulatto."

[@pagingdrbitchcraft]

@@vian-ij4sv It’s a misappropriation. The Redbones were a specific tri-racial group of people who came to Louisiana, mostly from South Carolina. My family being one of them. Over time it just became synonymous with being light skinned because people associate being mixed with being fair. We know that’s not always the case now, but language is fickle like that.

[@jamiegould689]

Love this! My family is from Virginia and West Virginia. We have “Melungeon” blood. You should see our colors with our elder family members. Pretty amazing to see 4 siblings almost identical except for colors.

[@olafharoldsonnii4713]

I’m trying to marry a melungeon princess

[@danschneider7531]

Danielle. It's time you did a live video chat w the viewers. Your channel has exploded and a 2 or 3 hr chat is a natural extension of this idea.

[@nytn]

that sounds fun, you mean like a live stream?

[@danschneider7531]

@@nytn Yes. I I'll bet you get 3-400 comments at minimum. Let people know a couple weeks b4 so they can be ready/

[@nytn]

You believe in me more than I do myself! I'll look into what a livestream is all about...@@danschneider7531

[@Theinfamouskiki411]

My grandma reminds me of Roberta! rest in peace. This proves that race isn't easy to define. I come from Mulengeon people in North Carolina and Virginia. But even today white or fair skin bring a whole set of responses than darker skin. I am a mom of very light racially ambiguous kids who have it a but easier than if they were darker skin like me. The things I've seen and heard would shock people. People asking if I'm babysitting or thank goodness my kids aren't dark like me...yeah....yeah. but my kids are raised to tell people they are biracial and pick the side of humanity and inclusion and justice in all things. We don't do racism or homophobic or sexist bs. Or one drop rule.

[@Calhorsey]

I love your response.

[@natashaa43]

This is one of the reasons I don't want to live in the USA because there is such pressure to put yourself in a box. My children are also ambiguous and even I have been questioned over there (not in the UK though as they are use to our wide variety of skin tones) I don't want anyone hassling my kids over their bodies or their culture.

[@Theinfamouskiki411]

@natashaa43 I don't blame you! My kids are asked in elementary school What are they? My kids tell them I'm black and dad is czech and German. It is never a choice! We do Kwanzaa and October fest. I tell me don't ever EVER let someone tell you ain't black with African blood in your veins. And don't let anyone try to tell you your immigrant czech ancestors don't exist in you. Both are equally important.

[@Mythoatissodry]

Disgusting

[@michelenj312]

I had a similar experience when living in GA where people would think I was my son’s nanny. My husband is Creole and my son has his Dad’s skin color, but otherwise looks just like me.

[@catherinehall2072]

DNA analysis really changed the family myths for me. They were all untrue. To give my family some grace, they just wanted to be special in some way.

[@sr2291]

This is a statement from Ancestry DNA: Inheritance is random Ethnicities may be passed down unevenly, or not at all.

[@natashaa43]

My grandmother was convinced her grandmother had East Indian ancestry, obviously her DNA says zero. She's pretty much half West African and half British (I know she has Flemish ancestry also from genealogy). DNA testing has opened a LOT of eyes.

[@sr2291]

@@natashaa43 What DNA? One test from one company isn't going to prove anything. I have taken and uploaded to several companies and excrpt for my main region the rest if the regions are random. Some show on some tests in different amounts and some only show on some of them. The only way to know is to take your genealogy back. Had your grandmother done that?

[@Celisar1]

@@sr2291 If ethnicity is not passed at all it was a tiny,tiny percentage to begin with and thus never played a role.

[@Celisar1]

@@sr2291the differences are small and don’t matter.

[@lovelyandsmartcommentator5130]

This just shows "race " is a CULTURAL CONCEPT.

[@JustHadToKnow]

This serves as a clear illustration of perception. Simply put, no one should define you by their perception and insist you conform to labels that make you uncomfortable.

[@FluWorldOrder]

Have you not heard of the Black Irish or Black Scots who were rehomed in the Caribbean Islands? That would be an interesting topic for you to do next.

[@Lingua.Bailey]

My moms dad was deemed “black Irish”… he was very tan, black curly hair, brown eyes and tanned easily. I have yet to do a DNA test but I do won’t sometimes. On my dads side his mom was Hungarian Roma so they were urbanized Roma who did not identify really AS Roma… because they didn’t travel and had “professions”… I remember growing up and hearing a lot of discriminatory comments regarding the Slovak Roma community that was settled near them… thieves… dirty… if you don’t behave “well sell you to the gypsies”… so it’s a similar story… denying who you are to fit into society. Weird stuff. Anyway I need to do a DNA test sometime soon! I’m curious!

[@maureen9115]

I don’t really get that people of being ancestrally African & Irish heritage calling themselves black-Irish. It must be an American thing. Americans only called people with African descent “black” approximately since the late 60s. My family has used that term as having Spanish ancestry, which shows in our dna, as black Irish because of the black hair & other features from Spain that keeps propping up over centuries of marriage & some from the Armada in my O’Donnell lineage. My grandmother used that term & she was born in 1882 in Ireland. Now there seems to be confusion with the Caribbean’s or those with African Irish descent using the same term as we do to delineate a different lineage. I had an African American man very adamantly tell me I can’t call myself or be black-Irish. Even though, upon returning to my families farm, I was even referred to as such from from other Irish as a matter of distinction.

[@joejones9520]

@@Lingua.Bailey "blk irish" has been proven to be a myth as far as the historical meaning of the designation.

[@rufusdean-el8336]

Black is not a race...obviously. neither is white, orange, yellow, purple silver Gold.... Black and White are STATUS not race.

[@azborderlands]

In the US , race is a big thing

[@elsiethanises1008]

Love your channel...your emotional reaction is precious

[@blackdove3057]

I just watched that video a few weeks ago! I was searching for videos on the "Jackson Whites" in New Jersey. I don't think she's melungeon. They have a specific lineage. There are all kinds of groups, from here to Canada. The Metis, Brass Ankles, Redbones, Marlboro Blues, Gypsies, Lumbee, the list goes on depending on the region. The Caribbean islands have theirs as well. I suppose it all depends on your history and how you self identify. I carry around a photo of my third great grandmother who was Irish. But nearly 90% of my genes are from Africa. I also have British and Greek ancestry. So we really can't afford to be prejudiced in America.

[@Bummerdrummer463]

What is interesting to me, is what ancestry families who identify as Melungeon would show on the DNA tests. I took one and it gave details on all my ancestry which was interesting. It also showed cousins all over.

[@richardmelo5060]

Your work is so important! Each video I've seen is inspiring, historically rich, and undeniably valuable to our divided American society. God bless your efforts.

[@TikiStanford]

I think we all love our mothers, or the main parent who raised us. For me, that was my grandmother. She was born in England, emigrated to the us at 15 years old. She married a white man, and from my mother I have English, Welsh, and Scottish ancestry. My father is Colombian, born and raised in Bogota. Short man, olive skin and black hair. I wasn’t raised with him, we briefly met when I was in my late twenties, nothing really came of it. I happen to have my mother’s skin, and my father’s hair and eyes, so I’ve always been seen as white, and that’s primarily how I identify. I have always felt very English, was raised with English customs, food, aunties with accents😊 I have much respect for the mom in this video, which I had seen years ago before watching here. We are how we are raised. Her mother was black, and wanted to be sure her daughter knew they were the same. It’s only natural. You can feel the love and respect she has for her mother, that’s a beautiful thing.

[@PrincesSarah70]

The content in this video can lead to a very deep discussion and it’s obvious based on the mother’s response. Being from Louisiana I’m familiar with a lot of the various reactions that people can get based on their skin color whether it be a very light person with straight or kinky hair to a dark person with straight or kinky hair and the various shades that fall between. Picture the skin tone crayons that are out now. As for eye color a person’s complexion has nothing to do with that. For me it’s just knowing who you are, being happy with that and letting others do likewise. It shouldn’t be something that causes problems among people but the gvt created this system for a specific reason. Knowing your ancestry is a composition of who you are. If you’re interested in knowing do the research and if not that’s fine too. I doubt the system will ever change so learn as much as you can about your family and enjoy them if and when possible. The way people crossed over in Louisiana I was raised that when I met someone, even if we were just friends to ask questions about their family because it’s easy to be related. Example: My son was dating a young lady and while researching my ancestry I found out they shared a cousin. I told my son to talk to her grandmother to find out how they’re related. My son is related to the cousin from her grandmother’s side and she’s related from her grandfather’s side. They’re third cousins to the same man. I know, talk about a lot going on there🤦🏾‍♀️

[@jamesvickers5004]

There's a large percentage of people in the Natchitoches, LA area you can't tell their race by appearance

[@PrincesSarah70]

@@jamesvickers5004 My mom would almost get fighting mad if someone said she was light-skin or light complexion. I mean she would get hot. I’m sure she had to deal with a lot because of her skin color as well.

[@jamesvickers5004]

Yes, you definitely have to ask about everyone you're interested in, cause you could be related, I'm deep into family research.

[@joecutro7318]

Thanks, Danielle! DNA is like a fascinating game of 3D chess. Identity seems to be catching up as we are able to better trace our bloodlines. I'm not sure we will ever achieve synchronicity, but hopefully get better at accepting one another. The geographical component you mentioned was very interesting. It would also be interesting to create a chronological matrix overlay on that. For example, the area of New Jersey where part of my Italian family settled was all Irish and Italian in the 60's and the demographic has sinced changed more than once. I recently checked my 23 & Me profile and it now suggests a lot of my DNA is from Calabria. Always was told I was Sicilian, Pugliese and Neopolitan. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Could be correct as there is a town in Calabria with my last name. I recently visited there and spent a lot of time hiking in the national parks in that area. Wild stuff. It always comes back to being a good citizen of the world. I never know who could be family so I better treat them all well. 😅

[@Sir-.-]

It's a very fascinating story. Thanks for sharing.

[@auroraseyets8516]

As an FBA who has always been aware of our history and ancestry, I know as long as we have been categorized as “black” by the European colonizers we have had “black” people that run the gamut of hues. I have one branch of my family who chose to pass as “white”. It’s culture, not color. It’s also the hierarchy/caste system of the West (the part that gained their wealth through the centuries of free slave labor). Most FBA’s are made up of indigenous American, a mélange of African ethnicities, and European. Foundational Black Americans are by nature ethnically mixed, but culturally “Black”.

[@nemomarcus5784]

When I was at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio I first met the tri-racial isolates. I noticed that it was very controversial with people arguing about what their heritage should be. There was a great book about the tri-racial isolate community called Cion by Zakes Mda.

[@alishahughes5907]

This is super interesting to me for a few reasons. One I'm half black half white and I identify as black. I'm not in any way ashamed of my white heritage but I never in a million years could pass as white. I think the way the world sees you dictates how you experience the world and has an affect on how you identify. People see me as black so I experience the world as a black woman and identify as black. I also think the one drop rule has come into play here. When people were forced into a box they had no choice but to become proud members of that community and now to tell them to change that because the world has changed is a little unfair

[@moniquewrites9046]

As a black person who presents as black, I would prefer her to say mixed black one to honor her fully ancestry. I absolutely love her zeal for who she is. It was NOT easy or honorable to be black back then and she chose to be that despite the cultural wars of her day.

[@supertoshaful]

Both my grandmothers are as light as her and were most definitely black. This is not foreign to most black families. It only appears to be something extraordinary to those who identify as white.

[@lavishleigh1171]

At about 9 minutes 40 seconds you lose sound, but I loved this video I first saw it some years back and was fascinated by this bc I’d always seen the reverse!

[@lavishleigh1171]

It came back around 11 minutes

[@debismith6239]

Danielle, I came across the Melungeon ancestry several years ago working on my family tree. There are a lot of articles discussing whether they were Portuguese, Native American, black and white. There is definitely a lot of inter-marriage in the small communities in Appalachia histoically. There is even a DNA group and historical society. I still wonder if that is where my son gets his ability to tan in the summer so that people ask him what he is. Both his father and I identify as white. My dad ta nned really well. My parents identify as white. My daughter--in-law's family definitely has surnames identified as Melungeon so my 3 grandchildren tan beautifully. Perhaps you could some interviews with some Melungeon historians/authors, but be aware you may have some heated discussions. Keep up the good work. Debi from SW Ohio

[@SocialNurseNews]

I think it would be appropriate for Bert & family to say that they have black African heritage. Not that they are black. Bert can list her European white heritage and knows she is mixed, but insists on being black. Also people don't realize the one drop rule really was not just about genetics, but about money, & power. Phenotype also includes an experience. Many blacks in America are beginning to reject the one drop rule ideology, & it makes sense. Many biracial & multiracial people want to acknowledge all their DNA & this makes sense as well.

[@josephimperatrice5552]

There is a lot of contradiction in Black folks who are pro-one drop rule but also at the same time claim you are not Black unless you have been racially profiled by law enforcement for being Black or in other words The Black Experience. The two are mutually exclusive from each other because under the one drop rule a "Black" person can look as White as Derek Chauvin and there for would never experience Driving While Black. You can either have one or the other but you can't have both. If it's about living The Black Experience than you can not be pro-one drop rule. Someone who is 90% European and 10% African is going to have a vastly different experience than someone who is 90% African and 10% European.

[@syntychiahintsin-tee-shaks2256]

@@josephimperatrice5552thank you!

[@Fairy-ana]

I remember seeing the subject matter video when it first came out and related so much, when she told that secretary or nurse," Suprise you see her now" it lifted up my spirit, i needed this reminder, your doing " The Good Work" Danielle, i appreciate it.

[@prettypinksurvivor]

Yes, please do a deep dive, i would be happy to share my family history. Omg my mother and all of my relatives on her side are melungeon (tri racial isolate)! I've only ever heard a few people use that term. We are from the Welsh Mountains in PA. Natives helped slaves escape the south, and along with Portuguese indentured servants they formed their own community in the welsh mountains. My grandfather moved to Hawaii and passed for white.

[@JustFluffyQuiltingYarnCrafts]

This was intriguing. Thanks for sharing. ❤

[@habitsofsuccess4322]

I think people today who are trying to describe their lineage are incorrectly using color of skin to explain it. In all of history (You see this in the bible) people have used where your ancestors came from, not the color of their skin to explain their familial history. Saying I'm white means NOTHING, Saying I'm black means NOTHING. The issue the mother and daughter were having was that they were arguing about 2 separate issues. The daughter is speaking about the actual color of her skin, while the mother was speaking about her ancestry. We need to stop using skin color as an ancestral marker of what should really be Location.

[@atina5976]

Redbone is what they call light-skinned women in the South. In Baton Rouge, my mom is considered redbone, but she's not "high-yellow" but lighter than a brown-paper bag, so light enough for the Black AKA sorority to recruit her in the 1950s to join the sorority. My mom is the same color as the lead in the documentary's mother in the photo holding her as a baby. I was called a certain brown nickname when I was in Baton Rouge that I'd never heard of being from the West Coast. The Black skin color range goes deep in the South. My grandpa and grandma were my color, but my grandfather's brothers all looked like Paul Harris and all my cousins on that side are attorneys. The cousins are your color, so they were not trying to pass, but the uncles were so fair, some of them passed. Some of the lighter family and friends enjoyed their privilege and would silently pass and others would get fiercely angry if you considered them or called them anything but Black. I used to resent the families that passed, but my parents had compassion for them--for an easier life. I have compassion for the ones who passed and still helped and loved the Black community like --Clark Gable or Carol Channing who openly fought for Black artists to come through the front door of hotels, risking further inquiry into his Black heritage when he was perceived as white. I still despise the ones who turned their backs and passed on racism and continue to do so today.

[@84tahlia]

RedBone is a tribe they are coming from.

[@atina5976]

I thought I misread that redbone was a tribe because that doesn't sound like it is a real ethnicity. Okay. I just looked it up. It means mixed. Thanks @@84tahlia

[@84tahlia]

@@atina5976The RedBone/ Mulungeons are the same people. It was a tribe.

[@josephimperatrice5552]

Weird how Wikipedia does not mention anything about Clark Gable supposedly being a so-called "Black" man who was passing for White. You are talking out of your ass.

[@twylagordon8509]

Redbone also refers to skin color down here in Louisiana not a tribe

[@intellectualnapalm_fba]

Super interesting. I am bi racial as is my wife. We are both black and white (both my sides are TX), my wife’s black is creole and her white is French. I am between the Rock and Vin Diesel’s color and my wife is the same color as Adam Clayton Powell. Our daughter is my wife’s color and my son is between our colors. Color defined as a race was done so for insidious reasons. White plantation owners via the white government needed to caste slaves. Many male slave owners impregnated their slaves (justifying the making of more slaves) you see, “race” used to be “family lineage based.” Your “race” was Smith, or Johnson, or Murphy, etc. EVERY TIME, the child followed the “race”’of the father. American slavery was the first time and only for Blacks, “race” followed the mother. Anything which came from the mother was the mother’s race. They doubled down on this by giving us the one-drop rule. So…. My wife and I follow this line of thinking. We are not interested in redefining “race.” Those who created it, made the rules. If we are not going to follow those rules, then let’s simply tear that entire system down. Until that’s done, we are Black and anything with one-drop is Black. It seems only white people, who for 400 years, lived lovingly in the one-drop rule space are now interested in redefining it. Why? Because their “race” is dying out in America. At first, pure Anglo Saxon was the standard. Then it was any north Western European, then any Northern European, than any European, more recently you could be Arab or North African or even Latin American if you were mixed with French, Spanish, or Portuguese. There was a time when you could even be biracial and “pass” but if you got caught they’d kill you. Now, I’ve heard ardent white supremacists say, if you’re bi racial but look white enough you can claim white. Race is obviously wildly flawed as a concept. So why do we hang onto it? As an American institution, it’s the sole thing that has inherent privilege NO ONE had to work to earn.

[@stephanienwadieiiamhybasia]

My Mother was high yellow, Creole. She identified as black. My African friends called her white. I used to tell them off. lol 😂 Anyway, you can call yourself, whatever but you never know who your children will look like.

[@principtounenmondesir]

Also dna and family tree toooooo please

[@principtounenmondesir]

If i marry white, chinese etc ....i csn call them whatever but dna , family tree , and reality would also tell the story not just me

[@natashaa43]

I saw this clip quite a long while ago, I am so glad to watch it again. anyhoo, I do feel when it comes to multiracial people there does tend to be significant endogamy, whether that's due to social reasons or internalised colourism, it happens a lot, I keep seeing the same surnames come up over and over in my own family tree. Regardless, it's hard in a racialised society to avoid feeling like you had to make a choice. I have no doubt my blueeyed, white skinned great Uncle considers himself a black man, as a Jamaican, he never had a problem being seen as a fellow Jamaican by darker skinned Jamaicans but I am so curious how he might have been perceived by white people, at least up until they heard his accent.

[@daynagraves7533]

What I don't get is why this clearly painful conflict between mother and daughter has to be all black or all white when they have clearly acknowledged that they all have mixed ancestry. The 2000 census was the first that allowed for the inclusion of more than one ethnicity. What is probably the most deceptive aspect of race is the color definition when, with the advancement of DNA understanding, a person's phenotype does not always reflect their genotype. For instance, I have a twin sister who was born with very light skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes and I was born with darker skin, brown hair and brown eyes as our mother was of primarily Swedish and English ancestry, and our father was of African American ancestry.

[@pamelamurrell825]

This was my first time on this channel, and this video had me in tears. I admired the mother in this video for being proud of her race, but it broke my heart to see her looking at her daughter because she refused to live as she did as a black person. I want to have so many conversations about this video.

[@mmodl]

That was heartbreaking, it’s almost like she is rejecting her mother by choosing not to identity the same way she does.

[@nytn]

I feel the same way. I have a lot of questions and probably no answers

[@baldscott9191]

But she is denying the majority of her DNA. I don’t understand why this rule of having black blood in you means you’re black? Is constantly perpetuated and much more so among the black community. This is a rule that was started by racist whites where they just wanted to keep the white ribs, pure, and lump everything over to the other side. I would think black force, especially with one stop this practice. Her daughter will never know what it is. A real black person experiences in America. Even if just to walk around with a sign on her head sent, she was black.

[@josephimperatrice5552]

​​​​@@mmodl Her "White passing" ass should have chosen to be impregnated by a Black man instead of a White man if she did not want a daughter who self identifies herself as White. I do not feel sorry for the mother at all.

[@henryholloway2580]

When I first looked at her I could tell she was Black. We know what we look like. I thought she was going to say she wasn’t Black. But I’m proud she held on to her identity . Just because you are that light doesn’t mean you’re not Black .

[@peachygal4153]

I understand both this woman and her daughter. The mother does not want to deny any of her ancestry; so it is important for her to say she is Black since in this country you are Black if you have any Black ancestry. Her daughter simply feels she does not look Black and has been harassed for saying she is Black so she no longer she says it.

[@zs8175]

In the USA you are black even if you only have 1 black great grandparent?

[@suen5006]

I never heard the word "Melungeon" until I read Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, in which the main character describes himself as such. My husband's family is from Appalachia and he says he has Native American ancestry, but I can't find it in his tree. He has not done DNA testing. I enjoyed your video, would love to hear more.

[@mistylane4676]

A study was done many years ago in the Appalachian mountains (via dna), it was discovered that most people that thought they had Indian ancestry, had black ancestry. Red and yellow, black or white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves…🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@BravuraLeeVim]

Who were those "black" people? Where did they actually come from? What were called before "black"?

[@lynncombel1106]

Awesome video, thank youuuuu!!!

[@johnbeaubien8826]

13:49 "HALITO" (This is basically "hello" in Choctaw and the only word I know. I like their history and I like to at least know how to greet properly when I meet one. Am also a fan of their unique ribbon designs and colour combinations).

[@nytn]

I know basically nothing about that side, although I am working on it! :)

[@josephsoto8294]

I just discovered your channel yesterday, and I've watched 4-5 of your videos. Great content, much appreciated! What i especially like is that you're bringing forth so much information about how so much of what makes up a lot of the American people, actually belies common perception! There has, pretty much, always been way more intermingling than people commonly know about or perceive!

[@idaearl927]

Race is a social construct. I feel for both mother and daughter. I feel we should be able to respectably be what we want to be.

[@Barbiana444]

I love your work you got me digging in my family history I have Ben shocked thank you 🥺😍

[@nytn]

I'm so glad! I gotta learn more about these amazing mixed groups

[@Myraisins1]

@@nytn Have you ever seen the old Phil Donahue show on mixed race passing? It might be of interest to you. Some of it is a little dramatic however this topic is as old as the USA. There are a lot of generationally mixed individuals who identify as black. I think about Beyonce's mother and Vanessa Williams off the top of my head.

[@nytn]

No, but I got to find that now!@@Myraisins1

[@Myraisins1]

@@nytn kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpDXgGqHarepf8k

[@nytn]

thank you!

[@johnnyearp52]

By one drop rule that family is Black even if the rest of the USA doesn't see them that way. They are just using an older definition of "black".

[@egofree4772]

great content sis salute keep up the great work

[@sac-lait-pattrahan6724]

Man this is a great document . I am from Southwest Louisiana skin color I was born in 1963 my mom was born in 1930 she was darker complexion Bu only spoke Creole until 12 years old . We have a unique culture Southwest Louisiana and south East Texas So Bonjour Ma Sha Keep up the good work. I would like to communicate on this subject further You have great courage

[@keithtaylor273]

Have you considered a show about the people of the Ramapough mountains. They are a mixture of Native American, African American and European ethnicities who have isolated themselves from the rest of society. The negative term used to describe them is “Jackson Whites.”

[@nikolt2000]

I LOVE YOU CHANNEL and as a first gen immigrant i love your conversations on race you are challenging a lot of the false ideas in the US about race

[@akikiwithki4091]

I wanna know who the mom had the daughter with. That’s the missing piece for me. The mom looks black to me. I get the daughter not identifying as black because I suspect it’s kind of embarrassing for her. I’m questioning how exactly was she raised and who her father’s people are. I think it’s very easy for mixed race and white passing black people to feel disconnected. And then when they start having children with people who don’t have any of lesser amounts of black in them this is what you get. I don’t think people understand how they orchestrate these situations. I think the further down the line you get people suddenly become “white enough” to distance themselves from their heritage in plain sight.

[@chilltarts]

As a bi-racial black woman who gave birth to a super white-looking child, I can understand where her mom is coming from. My son looks like me- caramel complexion, “mixed” hair. It’s clear he has black ancestry. My daughter, however, looks just like the Gerber baby from the 50s, down to the pale, tan-less skin, European hair texture, and light eyes. The nurses at the hospital allowed me to register my son as bi racial, but that exact same hospital, 13 years later, attempted to register my daughter as Caucasian. They literally watched her come out of my very brown cookie and called her Caucasian on the application for her birth certificate. When I saw that, I felt upset, like part of her heritage was being erased. I wanted her BC to say “bi-racial”just as my sons did; but suddenly she “wasn’t allowed to be listed as bi-racial” and I was told that I had to select just one ethnicity- Im guessing they thought I’d choose the one they considered most obvious. I didn’t. 😂 In my defense, I was postpartum and quite hormonal, but them forcing me to choose, when my son didn’t have the same issue, really made me feel some type of way! So I chose black. Now my very-white looking baby has black on her birth certificate. Her ethnically Jewish father thinks it’s hilarious. We all have a good laugh about it at times 😂 Skin color is nothing but how much melanin you naturally produce. We need to stop putting people in arbitrary boxes. Yes, this is the world we have let the politicians build, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

[@nytn]

This is so similar. My mom's uncle has colored on his birth certificate, but some of the other siblings dont. Same parents.

[@longnlean34]

This was a great video, I'm glad you uploaded it.

[@davidirwin1549]

Yes, please look into the reality of the "early colonial Southeastern USA mix" that came as a result of indentured servants from the British Isles that came to colonial Virginia and the Carolina's in the 1600's and lived side by side and intermarried with Native American and African Indentured servants. This early mixed group sometimes known as the Atlantic Creoles. In the 1700's they moved out of the Tidewater areas near the coast and some moved down into the Carolina's (forerunner's of the Lumbee) and some westward into the Appalachians (and became the Melungeon's) and other's moved northwestward in to southern Ohio and Indiana following the Quakers and intermarried and disappeared into the dominant white population over the generations with some family members from time to time having some physical characteristics of their earlier ancestors in the following generations.

[@fenrisanderson1717]

Enlighten yet again! (blown actually ) This is profoundly fascinating!

[@jeremiah_12]

Redbone isn’t “melungen” like but it just means a light skinned “black” person. It’s funny because I came across this video days ago. This happened in a few generations and this lady still has features her melanated ancestry. In that Lincoln vid, I was accused of revisionist history when I had mentioned “black” Europeans in the colonies but this video can certainly drive many points home….that’s all I’m going to say here.

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

Where’s the evidence of black Europeans?

[@84tahlia]

Actually my family is RedBone/Melungen Indians. I understand you’re talking about the term red bone to refer to a light skin person. But they are an actual people as well. Mullins/Hawkins are a lare family from Tennessee who are RedBone.

[@kenlieberman4215]

"Black Europeans" look like Melania (literally dark/black) Trump. It has nothing to do with black Africans. Black means something else in places like Thailand and the Philippines.

[@kudjoeadkins-battle2502]

@@84tahlia I think what Jess saying of the usage of the term is not exclusive to redbone. From a historical perspective other groups have been referred to as such as well.

[@jeremiah_12]

@@kudjoeadkins-battle2502 There really are countless books on this subject matter. Crania Britannica by Davis and Thurnam, Races of Europe, and Origin of the Anglo Saxon Race are just three sources that I'll mention. There are so many references within those book alone. The evidence is there but folks don't realize that we learn narrative.

[@lulumoon6942]

You are a superb researcher AND communicator, a rare combo, THANKS! 🙏

[@jirehguy]

I feel this video exposes the absurdity of racial categories. Almost nobody is “pure” white, black, etc. Almost everybody had mix even if it’s mostly nationalities we consider as “white” or “black”. So saying that someone is either white or black and cant be white and black, to me, is absurd.

[@CatchLastCast]

Great video. Wonderful presentation!

[@hannabaal150]

Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.

[@dianebuxo4335]

Thanks!

[@Jan-xp8yi]

First time I heard anything regarding Melungeon was a newspaper article in the 1990’s, talking about them and their traits and an area in east TN near VA and specific surnames. Knowing my mom’s mom family was from there and last name Mullins. My mom said she had never heard about that. But pictures of my GGGrandfather dark skin, eyes and hair

[@nytn]

There's a girl who commented on this video whose family has that last name too, and said they were Melungeon! Im going to see if I can bring her on for a video

[@Jan-xp8yi]

That would be very interesting. The more my sister and I have looked at our genealogy the more we thought the same

[@EternalMedia]

As we know, there are many people in history who "passed" and then kept it moving in that direction, never looking back. These Melungeon people are proudly un-passing themselves. I have met many white-looking people who fully claim native American heritage. They could have easily said they were 100% European, but their Native pride was too strong. Ultimately, they would be recognized and respected for their rightful claim. There are even more people who are recognized as African-American that have significant Native ancestry. American society has a strangely conflicted perspective on Black African-American identity. In my opinion, the refusal to acknowledge black identity in white-looking people is born out of the refusal to recognize or respect the cultural heritage of black people. I can't help but mention the French word melanger which means to mix. Sometimes the biggest clues are right in front of our faces.

[@natashaa43]

One point in defensive of the mum in this clip, she was 100% correct in arguing with the medical secretary regarding her heritage. How much melanin you produce doesn't mean that you haven't inherited issues from your African ancestry that isn't important. People of African descent are more inclined to some medical issues genetically, sickle cell anemia is a good example, being genetically mixed won't make any difference if you happen to carry a copy of the gene. My ex was in a similar position and had someone suggested her kids get put down as white and she said no because genetically they ARE mixed, even if they present as white.

[@kendramanuel968]

Hey girl! So I’m redbone. I still live in Dequincy! I’ll be teaching my children and cousins stuff we never knew now. Thank you and may GOD TRULY BLESS U

[@julieennis6929]

We are all American but America made us choose.

[@nytn]

this is deep