I'm Mixed. But I'm Black.

Whenever someone asks me my ethnicity, I always say Black. I always have. That’s how I identified myself and it was never a problem. Now people didn’t always believe me. The light skin and freckles throw people off. They’re always like, “What? You’re black? I don’t believe it”. That gave me the room to tease them and come up with crazy mixes like, “Yea, I’m half Dominican and half Romanian.” And they’d believe that more easily! Now I always knew my family had Native American and French in us, as we come from New Orleans so we had that Creole aspect. But I never knew how much. So I asked a bunch of my family members about our heritage and this is what I got.

Paternal Side:
My grandfather’s mother is half Native American and half French.
My grandfather’s father is white.
So my Papa, Norman Sr.: ¼ Native American, ¾ French
Which surprised me, I always thought my grandfather was black somehow.

My Dad's dad - Papa

My grandmother’s father's (Charlie 9) Mother (Ethel) is half Italian and half Black.
My grandfather’s father’s father is Black, but of French background. Which is where the Francois comes in. They say his curly hair made him think he wasn’t completely black though.
Charlie 9: ¼ Italian, ¾ black

My grandmother’s mother’s (Elizabeth) mother (Corinne) is half Jewish and half black. She is the direct descendant of a white Jewish slave owner and a black mother.
My grandmother’s mother’s dad is a Black man. His name was Governor Ruth.
Elizabeth: ¼ white jew, ¾ black

So when Charlie 9 and Elizabeth had a baby, that baby, my grandmother was:
Momo, Elizabeth Ann: 6/8th black, 1/8 Italian, 1/8 white jew

My Grandma and Cousin Janet

SO then, when my grandparents got together…
Momo: 6/8th black, 1/8 Italian, 1/8 white jew
Papa: 2/8 native American 6/8 french

That would make my daddy:

Daddy: 6/16 black, 1/16 Italian, 1/16 white Jew, 2/16 native American, 6/16 french

(If my calculations are correct lol)

My dad, Norman Jr.

My dad

Maternal:

My mothers’ father’s father is half Cherokee, half black.
My mothers’ father’s mother is black.
My Papa: ¼ native American, ¾ black

My Mom's Dad - Other Papa

My Mom's Dad - Other Papa

My mother’s mother’s mother is ¾ irish and ¼ black. Stewart family.
My mother’s mother’s dad is black..
So my Memo is: 3/8 irish, 5/8 black

So when my mother’s parents got together…..
Memo: 3/8 irish, 5/8 black
Papa: 2/8 native, 6/8 black

That made her:
Mommy: 3/16 Irish, 2/16 native American, 11/16 black

My mommy and me

Mommy

And so then whey MY parents got together:
Daddy: 6/16 black, 1/16 Italian, 1/16 White Jew, 2/16 Native American, 6/16 French
Mommy: 3/16 Irish, 2/16 Native American, 11/16 Black

That makes my sister and me:
17/32 Black
6/32 French
4/32 Native American
3/32 Irish
1/32 Italian
1/32 White Jew

Me, My Auntie Kim, and My sister Cait

So we’re a little over half black, which is what I expected, it’s interesting to see the break down. I’m more “mixed” than I would have thought. When you combine all the smaller nationalities of the Caucasian relatives we are:

17/32 Black
11/32 White
4/32 Native American

It’s pretty cool though because all the members of my family are very different from each other. Especially my dad’s side, all his siblings are a full range of the color spectrum. They're all have the same parents, Norman Sr. and Elizabeth Ann. Check out the pics. Most of these pics are of my dad's side.

Charlie 9

My dad and Uncle Charles

Auntie Dede and Auntie Kim and Uncle Tony

My Cousin's Jessica and Janet (and Janet's husband)

Auntie Kim, Uncle Tony, My Dad

My Cousin Justin

Uncle Charles and My Cousin Jihad

My Dad and Auntie Kim

Auntie Dede

Cousin Taylor

Auntie Kathy, Auntie Kim, Auntie Metra

Auntie Metra and her son Jihad

My Auntie Dede, her husband and my cousins, Janet, Jessica, and Jared

All the grandkids

My cousin Chris