# Did J. Edgar Hoover have African-American Ancestry? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026 "2011-11-15T17:56:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RyJae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RyJae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyJae)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/21 "2011-11-18T02:51:48Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Linnks? Cites? > **[Barack Obama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama)** > > Barack Hussein Obama II\[a\] (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. > Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and later wor... [http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama](http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama) > **[Barack Obama: America’s First Black President](https://www.biography.com/political-figures/barack-obama)** > > The 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama is the first Black American who has been elected to the Oval Office. He served from 2009 until 2017. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/22 "2011-11-18T02:54:27Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Linnks? Cites? [Warren ‘_Gangsta_’ Harding](http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/172954/june-09-2008/threatdown---secret-negro-presidents)? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/23 "2011-11-19T05:10:17Z")
Kenneth Ackerman, author of _Young J. Edgar_, writes: > [@](#): > > There are two theories that Hoover had African American heritage. One has it that he was born to an African American mother and secretly adopted by the Hoover family, a theory based on discrepancies in certain birth and census records. However, genealogist George Ott investigated the claim, failed to substantiate it and said he believes it to be false. > > More plausible are stories like that told by writer Millie McGhee in her 2000 book “Secrets Uncovered: J. Edgar Hoover — Passing for White?” McGhee, an African American, claims that, based on family stories and genealogical records, she and Hoover had a common ancestor, a great-grandfather, making him a distant cousin. Hoover’s father’s family had roots in Virginia and Mississippi in the antebellum South, where interracial liaisons were not uncommon. Some mixing in his family tree is a possibility but remains unproven. > > Hoover’s attitudes on race reflected those in the old Washington, where he grew up, a largely segregated Southern city. As FBI director, he repeatedly refused to involve the bureau in investigating anti-black race riots or protecting black civil rights workers in the South, insisting that these were matters for local police, even after the Supreme Court’s 1954Brown v. Board of Education decision. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/24 "2011-11-19T06:24:49Z")
Wait - so he was gay _and_ black? gtfo! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/25 "2011-11-19T14:03:08Z")
Actually, it makes some sense. It is like those top Nazis (Reinhard Heydrich was one) who found out that they had a jewish grandmother/father. They are so anxious NOT to be known as black/jewish/etc., that they turn their self-hatred against these groups. Heydrich had his gradmother’s gravestone destroyed-Hoover was in a position to also destroy any records that migh indicate a blalk ancestor. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/26 "2011-11-19T15:53:36Z")
A great grandfather may have been black (may, there is no evidence) and now he is black? Er…I don’t think so. Hoover thought he was white thus he was white. A lot more interesting things to discuss about this complex man than whether his great grandfather (!) might possibly have been black. It’s not relevant to Hoover’s persona. Now the fact that he could very well have been a closeted gay man is a different story. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/27 "2011-11-19T16:33:11Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > A great grandfather may have been black (may, there is no evidence) and now he is black? Er…I don’t think so. Hoover thought he was white thus he was white. No one is saying that, except in the context of the “one drop rule”, in which case he could have been classified as “Black” and subject to Jim Crow laws in the south. The question being asked is if he had “Black ancestry”, not whether or not he was Black. > [@](#): > > A lot more interesting things to discuss about this complex man than whether his great grandfather (!) might possibly have been black. You are certainly free to start threads about those things if you wish. > [@](#): > > It’s not relevant to Hoover’s persona. Actually, it is. > [@](#): > > Now the fact that he could very well have been a closeted gay man is a different story. Actually, it’s very similar. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/28 "2011-11-19T16:57:04Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Yes. All trace back to a single allegation by an unreliable witness. I thought that Hoover was reasoably open about it in some circles, but I’ll take your word for it because I’m not really that interested in the subject, it was a JOKE. I made a joke about leather fetishests in another thread, better check to see if they’re getting all upset about it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/29 "2011-11-19T17:09:40Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > Wait - so he was gay _and_ black? > > gtfo! Where does it say in that link that he was gay? ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/30 "2011-11-19T17:39:36Z")
John Mace I really don’t think it has any bearing given that we have no evidence that Hoover thought he was anything but white. As such, it isn’t relevant. Did he have black ancestry? Don’t we all? At best maybe but nothing definitive so perhaps that’s the OP covered. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/31 "2011-11-19T17:53:04Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > John Mace I really don’t think it has any bearing given that we have no evidence that Hoover thought he was anything but white. As such, it isn’t relevant. > > Did he have black ancestry? Don’t we all? At best maybe but nothing definitive so perhaps that’s the OP covered. I don’t want to derail this thread in an argument about posting etiquette, so I’ll just let my earlier posts stand as my thoughts on the subject. The OP asked a specific question, which has mostly been answered. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026/32 "2011-11-19T18:04:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I don’t want to derail this thread in an argument about posting etiquette, so I’ll just let my earlier posts stand as my thoughts on the subject. The OP asked a specific question, which has mostly been answered. Agreed and it has been answered insofar as there is no real evidence that he had black ancestry. Any speculation beyond that (which occurred upstream) is just that, speculation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-j-edgar-hoover-have-african-american-ancestry/603026.md?page=1)