I was looking up a stat that I remember seeing on the excellent PBS documentary African American Lives with Dr. Henry Louis Gates about the veracity of claims of Native American heritage among Black Americans, and in doing so I was trying various Google search terms. One that I started to type in was “Are black people really related to Native Americans?” but the auto-complete options that popped up were astonishing. Asking if black people are stronger is borderline racist, but I can at least understand the question. Asking if they’re lazy? Totally racist, and sadly, not unexpected to see when looking online. But “Are black people born white?” and “Are black people real?” I don’t even know what to say to those two.
P.S. In case you care, genetic tests show that less than 5% of Black Americans have any Native American heritage. I remember Dr. Gates mentioning that in his experience, a majority of persons he’s analyzed thought they had some native heritage, though almost none actually had any. If you get the chance, you should check out his documentaries- the man is brilliant.
P.P.S. Yes, they’re real. No, they aren’t born white. Except the tan mom.
