Thomas Jefferson's Racist Kinfolk

Great Debates
1

Have y’all been following the big hullabaloo brewing between two factions of Jefferson descendants over whether to “accept” the putative descendants of Jefferson through his slave, Sally Hemmings?

Seems that despite the genetic evidence (not conclusive, but highly suggestive), these yahoos still want to keep the Hemmings descendants out of their exclusive little club. Now they want to dig up some of the Hemmings relatives for further testing. (Well, gee, let’s dig old Tom up too, then.)

(Maybe I should have posted this in the Pit, because it’s turning into a rant, here.)

The Hemmings descendants at least have some genetic evidence, which is more than any of the other members of this little club have. (Have any of them submitted to DNA testing? If not, how do they know they are descended from Jefferson? Family trees? Don’t make me laugh! Like there’s never been a cuckold in the history of the family.)

Is anyone out there ready to defend these high-falutin’ crackers? (To keep this forum-appropriate…)

Give the Hemmings heirs a seat at the family table, sez I, or make every supposed heir submit to the same rigorous testing.

I hate racists, but I hate snobs even more. Here we have a nasty combination of both. Are they blind to the South’s history? Do they not see all the different skin tones out there? How do they think that happened? Some sort of weird racial osmosis?

Thoughts?

2

First thought, last thought, biggest thought that drowns out everything else: There is BIG MONEY at stake here.

TV, movie deal, books, tours, FAME, FAME, FAME. No wonder they’re fighting tooth and nail, some to get in the club, the others to keep them out.

EVERYBODY wants to jump on the Tom Jefferson Father of his Country gravy train. The only question in my mind is, “Why are we so surprised?”

3

My thoughts?

It couldn’t happen to a nicer ( historical ) fellow!

:evil smile:

4

The one sound bite that sticks in my mind is the one woman who said, “We’re not racist. We’re just snobs.”

Whatever.

5

This Jefferson/Hemmings thing is ridiculous!

DNA testing with OJ: It’s not accurate enough, don’t let it in court.
DNA testing with Hemmings: It’s 100% conclusive, let us in!

You know, many masters had sex with their slaves. Hell, I would too if I owned Halle Berry or Tyra Banks.

They owned them, it could be called rape. If someone raped my mother, I sure as hell would not want to be associated with that ancestor.

6

First, let’s get updated on the Frontline that ran last week:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/
It appears that Jefferson and Hemmings had a 30 year relationship and 5 children along the way. This is not what you would call a one night stand.