Update on a story the Washington Post declared one of the most inspiring stories of 2017
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- Опубліковано 2 гру 2020
- Gail Lukasik, author of White Like Her, grew up believing her mom was white and had to live with a secret until after her mom's death. Gail shares an update on how life changed after writing her book and living as a mixed race woman.
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I wish people would get comfortable with people who are not mostly black, being just that. It’s ok. She is mostly white. 8% black and IT IS OK. She has every right to say she is a white women with Black ancestry. The racial ignorance of the one drop rule has caused so much confusion.
I agree but its the ancestry part I dont like since her mother is half black. To me ancestry means further down the line than that.
If she wants to still identify as White, I see nothing wrong with it, as she was raised culturally White. She doesn’t have to change her identity to please others. I was raised culturally Black, even though I’m of mixed heritage. I don’t have to stop being Black just to please others.
Well done to recent generations who have made the world a better place
White are going to reparations because of this 💩
Well the fact u look blk, u probably wouldn't pass..
YOU ARE BLACK ,IN AMERICA IT'S CALLED THE ONE DROP RULE
Puyol I’m
Her mother was just trying to get away from terrible oppression & racism.
It was the only way that she could do it & I don’t blame her
Unfortunately her mother married a racist white man, ( didn’t she pickup on that when she starting seeing him?) passing for her was jumping from the frying pan to the fire. So sorry to thinkthat there must been more “ fear than love” in her parents marriage.
Yes, but she turned around and married a RACIST! That’s dumb
Back then it was scary to live in those times..I dont blame her for doing what she did..WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES.
I think maybe she could have come clean before she died, at least to her kids. And as others pointed she married a racist man so I'm still reserved...
@@baileybutterfly320 it was a different time, you don't know why she did. Maybe if you were in that time you might have too.
I love this woman as she has embraced all of her ancestors
And they embraced her
@@tobinbh3940 Black people are hardly ever the ones to disown a person over their race. It is usually the white relatives who do not own a biracial child and such. Or they disown their white daughter for having children with a black man 👀.
@@tiathompson6674 facts. So my grandmother wanted nothing to do with my brothers and I because we are half black. She went to her grave no speaking to us 🤦🏽♀️
@@shannonplunkettcaceres3019 Sorry to hear that friend......
@@shannonplunkettcaceres3019 - I am so sorry you had to endure that experience. I know the feeling too well. Thank God you had your parents/siblings.
But her answer was right though...she is a white woman with African ancestry!!!..8% is a light dusting!!!
Exactly! All descendants of slaves in American have white in their lineage. Most of us label ourselves black not mixed because the percentage is so small at this point.
@@stephanied1028 Yes, your percentage of whiteness is small. She's at the opposite end of that spectrum.
I can see how if she embraced her black identity "too much" (in some people's eyes) it could be seen as condescending and opportunistic. So she's kind of damned if she does damned if she doesn't.
Rick, it reminds me of many white people I've met who talk about their native American ancestry from a grandmother or great grandmother. Somehow it never came across of claiming to NOT be white. If they looked white, were culturally white, they were WHITE.......with native American ancestry. This shouldn't be any different.
@@alansands256 ...exactly!!!
92% White
I respect Dr. Gail for her honesty and courage. She had no idea about her ancestry and when she found out she embraced it, many people would have kept it hidden like her mother. Sad her mom couldn’t live her true life without hiding. Wonderful person & great story.
I hope in this day and age, any decent, non bigoted white person would embrace a surprise, mixed race history. Doesn't this story just show how unbelievably dumb the human need to ascribe different values, to different races? We are all equal with equal rights to dignity and respect.
I do agree that many people would have kept it secret
@@friedaweeden3851 Do you think 'many people' would keep a mixed race heritage secret in 2021?
@@glamdolly30 this a long time later but I actually am in this situation right now. I’m adopted and my whole life I assumed that I was fully white and when I got a DNA test back recently I learned I was a quarter indigenous American from Mexico, which makes me Mestiza and part of the Latino community. I don’t know what to do with it but I’m really hoping to learn more about this part of myself that I didn’t know about, I’m joining my Latino Student Union this week so fingers crossed 🤞
@@cassiopeiathew7406 Oh wow, how exciting! I would love to discover exotic ancestry like that.
It will be fascinating to research your Mestiza roots - I love the Latina culture, it has a lot of style!
Good luck my friend & please keep me posted! XXX
Would love to see this as a movie. Thank you for sharing!
those have actually been produced.
💯!
There's a book about a similar story of twins; one passed and the other remained living as a black woman. The book is called The Vanishing Half (it's an amazing book) and it's being adapted into a mini-series on HBO!
@@JNatt thank you for the suggestion I’m going to order a copy todY
@me myself & I no. It's a work of fiction, but I'm sure there are true stories almost identical to this novel.
I wasn't disappointed with your answer...you were raised as a white woman who learned of your African ancestry. You were not raised with the black experience. One can understand your answer reasonably. We all deal with our identity and any conclusion you come to should be in your own time and understanding. I say this as a woman that was born of a white birth mother and black birth father.
Do you identify yourself as solely one or the other or do you embrace both equally ? Have you experienced prejudice ?
I've recently learned through lifelong experience combined with a shocking new revelation that identifying one's own race is not as easy as I once thought. There is real credence to how you were raised and information you receive, as well as when you receive it. I also think Charlie Sheen has a different, but valid perspective on the matter.
@@leyenda6149 What does Charlie Sheen say regarding this topic ?
You don’t need a black experience to be black. It does not change her family history. She has some black and white, that’s it. Being Black is not synonymous with slavery.
@@grayhawk66 Her family story is synonymous with slavery and miscegenation! also it tells the history of one drop rule
I have so much empathy for her mother. None of us can know how hard that choice must have been for her. My mixed race kids will never have to hide me in the world we live in now. It was unimaginable how black people had to live during that time and even now in America it's still incredibly hard. This is an important story.
I wonder if her passing was encouraged by her family. I just can't imagine a child successfully being able to deny part of their family if that same family was fiercely opposed to her passing. I think her family fully supported her decision to pass
@@marsha1758 I saw her read some of the book. Her mother really didn't have any family support. She was raised by her great grandmother. Her mother wasn't in her life and her father had a new family. She was alone. It's very sad. The richness of black culture, the warm of the black experience, especially being from Louisiana, was all suppressed crossing over to the other side. I mean she grew up black for most of her young adult life. Her daughter said she was always very sad. I couldn't imagine it. This is why I live in Rome and left America. Racism is global and God knows it's not perfect here, but it's NOTHING like what I experienced growing up in NYC. My kids love the Afro Latin side of themselves just as much as their Sicilian side. There is no shame in our blackness, it's quite the opposite. We are a remarkable people wherever we are.
@@marsha1758 Passing is something a lot of people did back then. It’s great to hear this family’s story, but it was society that pressured people to pass.
My thoughts exactly
I too have empathy for her as well. I'm 6% white the rest black. My children's father is Canadian Irish-German. I too am very appreciative of not having to deal with being hidden nor my children denying their heritage.
Her mother was not the first person who passed. Tons of people did it,that happened all the time. I know here in Louisiana those that left and passed sneaked back and helped their darker relatives to do better in life. Hell back in those being black was hard and tough, shit it still is.
She faced backlash? People are crazy! My grandfather is half East Indian and half black (Caribbean). My mother’s genetic make up is 27% East Indian and the rest of her DNA is African/black...she is not East Indian! For my mom to face backlash over that would be crazy! My mom looks black and is considered to be African/black by all who knows her. This women has 8% African DNA and people expect her to claim she’s black? That is unfair and absolutely crazy! She is white and its okay for her to claim that!
I could be wrong but I think a lot of how people identify racially has to do with their cultural identity. I don't know your mother but I do know that there are people who have a similar percentage who were raised with more cultural influence from the smaller % side of the family and identify more with that. I don't think that's in the wrong and I don't think there's an easy universal rule here. I mean, there are also a lot of people who look black and have a much smaller % show up in DNA tests because they descend from people who were enslaved and their enslavers. But their ancestors didn't all benefit from having that partially white DNA, because they were enslaved. There's also those old postcards or whatever you can find of white-passing children who were enslaved because of the one drop rule. Trying to mesh the actual genealogy with the nonsense that is racism is complicated and I don't think it's an easy thing to figure out identity around, when you add things like Dr. Gail's mother's situation.
@Ig-nat-ius
Your comment is the best answer to this question. The OP’s comment lacks nuance and a clear understanding of the historical context of identity in the United States. The English speaking Caribbean like Latin America or a place like South Africa had a variety of rules as to how they dealt with such issues. To me the shorthand is that white supremacy and privilege are (were) paramount and those who didn’t directly benefit conducted themselves based on how the power structure treated them and internalized the oppression they endured.
This is so, so close to my own family's story. Passing, especially in New Orleans and other areas of Louisiana and the Deep South, and culture vs. race are such complex issues. I couldn't be prouder to be a mixed, Creole person and I am constantly grateful for my ancestors. 💜💚💛🧿
I too am proud of my Creole culture and All of my ancestors. Was raised to be proud of who I am!👍🏼⚜️⚜️⚜️
Amazing , would be nice to hear all this stories❤
I identify as an African American/ black woman (mixed race heritage) even though my skin is white and freckled. My hair is a combination of 3C, 4A and 4B. In school (early 70's - late 80's) my African American Classmates would beat me up sometimes once a month or more, depending on the neighborhood and they would call me names like "light bright almost white,," " half breed" and "white girl." Both my parents are very light skinned african americans. My racial mix is 1/4 Irish and 3/4 African American. I don't know of any of my white relatives and my seven siblings are different shades of dark brown to what used to be called "high yellow."
Being accepted in the black community has always been difficult for me and my dark brown friends who have struggled for acceptance because they have been told "you talk like a white girl." Colorism is still alive and well in America.
I can not imagine the effect colorism might have had on Dr. Gail's mother back then. She might not have always been accepted into the black community.
Once we were bussed to white schools I had my first school year without being beat up. The same for my dark skinned friends, who had been teased and previously called "oreo cookie."
I can imagine the pull Dr. Gail's mother felt to join the white community.
I made a different choice, but I don't think any of us are allowed to judge or decide what choice Dr. Gail or her mother should have made unless we can walk a mile in their shoes.
I went through that also in the 60’s and 70’s. Still have nite mares and anixity! My child also in 80’s and 90’s. My grand children have not I pray they never do!🙏🏼⚜️
Beautifully written ❤
People commenting seem to be forgetting/missing the social climate that existed in the US at the time Gail's mother moved away from home to "pass". The society constructed by white people said if you have "a drop" of black blood, you are black and of an inferior race and social caste. This happened with other groups of color too, but was more rigorously enforced against people with black heritage. The race you were perceived to be could have life and death repercussions. Where you lived, job and wealth opportunities, social acceptance by the larger society, and access to services were all affected by your outward phenotype. The less caucasian it was, the lower your standing in the US. Parts of that behavior continue to the present.
My maternal and paternal family have ancestors as close as my grandparents generation that could "pass" but remained in the black community (grandmother) and others that left on both sides. I grew up in a neighborhood where, I had multiple elder neighbors (mostly female) that could have chosen to live as caucasian. People made life choices to gain acceptance in a racist United States. Some black families for generations even make sure no one procreates or marries a black person of too dark a hue to maintain a phenotype more closely associated with whiteness in their family line.
All of this has caused hundreds of years of lies, secrets, separation, and sorrow in the black community and beyond
Absolutely, we have to survive the best way we can. I think what's horrendous about this story is that in the modern era being mixed race or black is still felt to be somehow inferior or suspect. White, US society seems very backwards still.
Brilliant Summation!!! Intelligently Written and Flawlessly Logic!!!
She had it right at first. She is a white woman with black ancestors. Most descendants of slaves aren’t claiming their white lineage. We are simply black.
You are right.....many of my family claimed Native American roots to explain our light skin tones and "good hair" only to find out through DNA testing to find a great percentage of European lineage. I accept that I am of mixed race. WE ALL ARE OF MIXED RACE
I've met many white people who have talked about their native American heritage from a grandmother or great grandmother, but somehow it never came across as claiming to not be white. If they looked white, and were raised culturally white, their WHITE.........with native American ancestry.
She shouldn't be any different.
@me myself & I good hair is what many blacks call mixed race hair that is between white and black
@@whitneyweaver4133 It is embarrassing to admit that one's light-skinned complexion is the result of slave ancestors bring raped by White slave is disgraceful and very painful. I don't blame the people who know this fact for saying their features are a result of Indian ancestry. Many Blacks do indeed have Indian ancestry, but the fact remains that the early colonists wrote that Indians were very dark, reddish brown with course, straight black hair on their heads, but simultaneously lacked any body hair. Therefore, we know the true story of the light-skin, light hair, and light eyes. These are features of the people of Europe, not of Africa.
But all the shades of brown among the black community shows the European ancestry.
As a young woman I had a friend from Louisiana. Now she neve told me she was white, I assumed she was. Yes her mom had olive skin and tight dark curly hair she kept cut short but it simply had not occurred to me they were anything but white. One evening when her dad was sitting around and he had been drinking a bit he asked me if I knew what Creoles were. I said to my knowledge that was a type of Louisiana cooking as far as I knew. She cut off the conversation and said "Creoles are simply people, no big deal." Well her dad said no more and I could tell they were uncomfortable so I changed the subject. From that point on it seemed she started pulling away from me and was not so friendly. I had no idea why. Years later when I learned about the Creole culture I realized maybe I had shown some sort of racial bias or she saw it as that? I don't know. I wish she had been honest with me. Honestly, though, I never knew she was anything but white at the time. It was only years later I got what her dad was trying to tell me that they were not white. So you see, they were not hiding or passing intentionally. Some of us were simply too naïve to know differently
You didn't know she was Creole - which isn't necessarily nonwhite. You were honest. You didn't indicate racial bias, you indicated what you know about the word Creole. They were too judgemental. They should have straightened you out if they were going to make an issue of it. And why did she say it was no big deal if it was. If they couldn't communicate plainly, there was more wrong in that relationship than you knew. Maybe you're customarily shallow, but, from just what you've said here, I don't see anything wrong with what you said.
To most people, Creole is a kind of cooking. I understand it to mean part French. People thinking it means something different need to be less hoity-toity and less judgemental.
I am creole and as far as I know I am completely white.
@@TheOnePremiumSword A DNA test will tell you if you have a sizable amount of African ancestry but you may be simply 100% European ancestry. Even people from Louisiana can't agree on what Creole is. Bottom line, does it matter? People are people and why do we need labels? Except to make others feel inferior and make ourselves feel we are better?
This lady Dr.Gail is an amazing and awesome person her story is very heart felt
I read your book and found it to be so profound and enlightening. I am on the opposite side of the spectrum where as I am of mixed race, mother black and father Italian. I am light skinned looking more Latin. I have spent many years of my life trying to understand where I fit in, too light to be black and too black to be white. Thank you for writing this book.
@@evarose9323 There are Hispanics of all races.
@@watchesnews9187 she is not Hispanic, Black and Italian is not Hispanic. why would she pretend to be Hispanic to be more accepted?
I’ve seen more prejudice from the black community than the white sometimes.
I love her spirit and her honesty
This is so similar to my own story. I just recently found out that I have African Ancestry that was hidden. It has opened up an entire new story of my ancestors.
Are you half black?
The First Human Remains Came From Africa, We Are All Mixed.
@@helenhamilton9561 ugh. Comments like this are so tone deaf
Did you find out through an Ancestry DNA test? I took one and found out I had some hidden African Ancestry as well. We all showed up with it. I hit some brick walls on one ancestry line and believe this is the line where it comes from.
@@alexisblake6381 genetics don’t necessarily work that way! You get ~50% of genes from each parent, but it’s not necessarily an equal distribution of their genes. You can have siblings with the same parents (both) with different ancestry proportions. So if my mom is 50% English, 50% German and my dad is 50% French and 50% Finnish, I could be 25% of each while my sibling has 30/20/30/20. Genetics. Are. Wild!!! (So the grandfather could be more African than your genetics say!) you can even be 100% genetically white while your mom has more of a mixed race, but only gave you the white race genes. It’s just bonkers and it never ceases to amaze me
So Gail says she has 8% African heritage - not alot. Her mother has high % white clearly. She said even her grandmother was "passible ". Acknowledge it all, embrace it all - we can say that in this time in history
But in those times you were just black
@@erinlevere6881 Just by society. Individuals are aware of their whole story.
White lawmakers made that drop of blood law.
@@Odo55 It didn't matter back then...the woman's mother would have been just seen as black. Period. That was the time. And individuals would have fallen in line and understood this as well. It isn't that complicated. Almost every black person has a person like this woman's mother in their family. Black people know these stories. That's why many black people can usually point out if they think someone looks "mixed" but is black or white-passing. Because we grew up with these people in our families.
The only time it can get complicated is when people want to play the racial purity game. The reality is that 77% of black Americans are admixture. The average black Amerian is about 70-75% Sub-Saharan African. European ancestry makes up the rest. And then there are people who don't understand how genetics work and don't understand that someone can appear (by phenotype/skin tone) to be more European than they are.
That happens often with black Americans. People will see a light skin person and assume they must have more European ancestry compared to a dark skin person and that is not how genetics work. That's why I never understand why people are surprised when they see a dark skin black person with 15-25% European DNA. I don't know why people can't get it in their head that most black people are automatically admixture to begin with (it has nothing to do with skin color).
@@lisacox3750 You are correct. Also, on census reports there were differentiations under the race column- W for white, M for mulatto, I for Indian. The government is of course still making those deliniations but that doesn't negate what actually happens in communities, within families, etc. making judgements.
Your mother passed as a matter of safety & opportunity for herself & children. I can’t blame her.Yet hurtful & confusing I’m sure.🕊💝🕊
Loved the book! It was heartbreaking to read about the horrors of slavery but important to remember what happened in this country. No one should ever forget!!!!!
We are literally reminded everyday by the wokies destroying our country.
I recently finished the audiobook.
I can't imagine having to live a lie
like that.
Oh, there is a audiobook?
@@osiruskat Yes, I have an Audible membership.
Was the book good? I don’t want to read it and get pissed
I'm 6% African. I always thought it would be insulting to African Americans to go around saying I'm black when I look 100% white European. If asked specifically, I will tell my background. It's pretty common where I'm from.
Agreed and well perceived Sundy Bee, and as an Identifiably black person who has the experience of this life here in America, you saying you're a black person would be entirely insulting since even you recognize your an Identifiably white person. I mean you have to tell people about your remote African ancestry, because even others see you automatically as white. Think about it 🤔 I bet no one approaches Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt and ask: Excuse me "What are you"? " Are you mixed"?
"What are you mixed with"? Because it's obvious and appearent what some people are racially, ethnically. I perceive that is the same with you Sundy Bee no one takes you for, or mistakes you for being anything but white European just like you stated! It's true you can't walk be sight alone, or at least you shouldn't. Ironically though sometimes you can trust your eye to some extent to see & perceive latent hidden ancestry in a person.
Because you’re not black tho? 6% is not a lot at all… lmao. So why would even THINK to say that? Even if you “looked” black. You’re not the same as them, they are actual mulattos, you are not. You just want to feel different. You’re white. That’s like saying black people can say they are white. Most African Americans have 20% European in them bcs of slavery.
My parents are both from the Dominican Republic. My oldest sister which we don’t share the same father. Her father is Puerto Rican which he has European ancestry. My oldest sister did a ancestry test. She found out we have 25% African more than Dominican Haitian 12% Portuguese so my siblings and I are European as well. But, I am of color and I look mixed. But in Latin America slaves was bought to America. 3% indigenous from Venezuelan and Colombia. My dad side he’s Dominican pretty sure he has Indian.
I just found out my family was Indian and French reclassified as negroe black and African American .I bet her mom is an American Indian not African American .It's amazing but upsetting it's like a pandora box!
This is a white woman . 8 percent black ancestry is a very small percentage. But I love the fact that she embraces who she is.
She is only 8 percent African, she white yes. The one drop rule is crazy, this woman look white too. Her mom passed because she probably only had a little bit African in her. i don't see what the big deal is about this story, most white people have trace black and don't know it same as most black people got a lot more trace white in us than her 8 percent. Most of us black Americans have 25 or 35 percent white in us and still claim black.
@@niicolereneeb9034wrong! The average African American has 24% European ancestry.
@@niicolereneeb9034 I appreciate your acknowledgement of the whole picture.
Why don't we honor the very circumspect journey she's been on? She has African American family. She says she's mixed race, that is what she is.
8 % is not that small considering most Black Americans are mixed. My sons dad is Black American ADOS and dark but our sons DNA came back total about 25% from different African countries.
Dr Lukasik is 8% African I discovered that I’m 20% European and I don’t consider myself Mixed race and neither does society...technically she’s white with Black ancestry
I’m 17% north African, and I was raised as a Greek American first generation American-Jewish person. Everyone is surprised at their DNA results.
In
Of course you won't consider yourself bi-racial nor acknowledge the 20% European, because there are no benefits to claiming white in an anti-white society. Truthfully, you don't belong to neither the black nor white camps for you are a Kalergi Plan child. There is no upgrade from Westernkind and it is precisely that 20% that bumped you up a grade, in looks or intelligence above your 100% African cohorts.
@@mattikarosenthal3298 yikes that sounds horrific. I'm not surprised at my dna results, for I know exactly who my ancestors were. I come from a glorious people of explorers, conquerers, and civilization builders. I am 100% a daughter of Westernkind, from the Germanic tribes of the Teutonen.
@@frauleindresden4469 Yawn
We should never judge her mother. She made her decision at a young age and her family was her priority.
Great interview! The interviewers question were phenomenal. She elicited some informative answers.
I love when she said, "these are my people"
Lots of comments are missing the point. The mother who was passing all her life, is not just like the daughter (the Dr./Author). The mother who was passing lived an experience of knowing and having family members in the black community, and fearing being being found out, fearing how her children would look like at birth, being afraid of telling her husband, etc. Those fears are of a woman passing. It seems many comments are being dismissive of the mother’s blackness because it seems to the commentator the dna is too watered down and she was too white. The story is a story about passing and yet many comments don’t except the mother’s passing because she passed too well and had such little dna?
People 🙄
You’re right about this but there’s another massive and potentially dangerous side to this also.
My grandmothers on both sides of my family were mixed race. My paternal grandmother was was one of 14 children and both of her parents were both black by law but very fair completed. I was fortunate enough to have my great grandfather(Pawpee) until I was seven. He looked white. All but one of my uncles left Georgia because they could pass and that was dangerous and potentially deadly in rural Georgia. My grandmother told me that Pawpee would not allow any of the girls to work even though he was constantly asked by whites (especially white men)to let them work as domestics.
He knew that they were considered sexual fantasies of white males and his boys were sexual predators and threatening to white racial integrity. Which was the story of my maternal grandmother. Her real father was the owner of the land her parents were sharecroppers on and her mother was the domestic and he Took “certain liberties” with her whenever he pleased. And her father dared not have done anything about it or he could have been lynched. They had six other children to care for.
Sir understand that lots of Southern European people are mixed as well with darker skin and kinky hair such the Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Greeks....they are not pure white either
@@bandxdwayne
Wow!! What a family history you have.
@@digitaltechnics1718
I don’t know how old you are but I was born in 1964. Interracial marriage was still illegal in all southern states until 1968. Today it’s no big deal. But that’s not a long time ago. I just find it it so interesting that to white Americans this is so astonishing but to black Americans this is just another Wednesday. We’ve been subjected to the “One Drop” law for 400 years. There’s an old saying that older black Americans have when it comes to white Americans with family roots older than three generations here. “Don’t shake your family tree too hard because you don’t know how many of us might fall out.” It wasn’t just from slavery that white men had willing and unwilling illegal relationships with black women. This was happening well into the sixties. The only work that most people of color were allowed to have from the end of Reconstruction especially in the south was low wage domestic work. Which placed black women in the dangerous position of being subjected to sexual assault by their white male employers and any white man period. Sexual dominance was used to keep black Americans in their place. Both men and women. The social and legal structure of our country was that blacks were inferior to whites and was at their disposal to do with as they saw fit. Right down to their bodies. Black men were lynched,castrated, and sold into peonage by the State to Southern white planters and
Corporations as convict labor. We were taught in school that slavery ended in 1865 but recorded slave in America was 1942. His name was Alfred Irving. Google Alfred Irving Beeville Texas.
@@bandxdwayne
I have found History to be very fascinating, especially History that is never taught in the School System. Also hearing the stories of what people or their family have experienced helps to shed light on what has been kept hidden for Centuries. What is taught and promulgated is far from what the truth really is, actually it is the exact opposite. So for many years one of my major interest has been to search and find out what is the true issue with the so-called "black/colored race", aside from the lies that the populous has been continuously spoon fed.
One of the first major lies that had bothered me for years was that there are different races of people. (This is not true and true science does not teach this, a very good understanding of Anatomy & Physiology plus biology debunks this theory.) This was a completely unknown concept to the world before the enslavement of colored people here in the West. People before the enslavement of "blacks" were distinguished by their Nationality and if they were enslaved it was by their territory being conquered and if not destroyed they were put into servitude. Where you were born or what tribe or people you come from, was what distinguished one person from another. So a Nation, a Tribe or persons in different territories did have people of varying skin pigmentation belonging to them so skin color was not an issue. So I wanted to find out how and why this "new" concept developed in the New World and from that time it has become the "history" of this society and has caused enslavement, untold sorrow and much misery to only those with more melanin pigmentation in their skin. (As a side note; what was most bizarre to me is that people understand melanin pigmentation in animals and love the diversity of it in their pets, but in a human being it becomes an "inferior species" issue! Yet they love their animal pets equally no matter the shade of their fur!!)
I am really trying not to make this post too long, so I will say this; the issue with the "colored" Nations and Tribes began long before they were enslaved especially here in the West. What I have discovered is one of the most diabolical histories that those who Rule has been trying their best to keep hidden.
When explorers from Portugal, Spain, Rome, England went exploring (think of men like Christopher Columbus and others long before him) they found people of the East were far more advanced in knowledge, Architect, skills and riches than they of the then known West. The Nations of the East also carried themselves as more Superior because their Nations were for many centuries well established long before the West became Nations. So when places like Greece, Rome and others were just rising up to become "Greats" in their own right; places like Egypt, Ethiopia, Lydia, Babylon and many others of the rest of the East had for a long time been dominating the established societies. So when Greece came into power they had to subjugate these Nations that ruled before them, like-wise when the Romans came into power they did the same. Those who would not subjugate themselves would either be put to death or enslaved. When the Republic of Rome fell the Papal Church Power took over and they demanded of all not just submission but also Conversion to the Catholic faith. Many Nations of the East would not submit especially those who were Jewish or those of African Nations for they were a proud people; so a "Papal Bull" decree went forth to all Catholic Territories from the Papal heads at Rome to destroy or completely enslave all peoples who refuse to acknowledge the Papal Roman Hierarchy as Superior above themselves. Long story short through bribery, deceit, flattery, lies, threats, murder and getting some people to turn traitors against other people, they had to create a "Race War" to get people on their side since those of a darker hue outnumbered those who were deemed "white". Once they accomplished this they then began to rewrite "History" to keep those whom they have conquered under subjugation. All the Prestige , Knowledge and Power that is allocated to the so-called "White Race", is the attributes and History of the Nations and the people of the East before Greece and Rome claimed it for themselves (An example: Egypt which they have made "white"). So it is imperative to those who Rule since that Time to be very meticulous in making sure that those of Color do not find out their True History. So all that you have said is true, with my comment, I wanted to share a little of the why they have done it and continue to do these things. Sorry the text is so long!
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for posting..I hope everyone stays safe and healthy have a blessed day..much love
When I was five we moved to a black neighborhood in a small city and we lived there for a year. I asked my dad why so many people were brown and he said they ate a lot of chocolate. I still remember being really mad because I always hated it when people would tease me with lies. Our neighbors were "The Johnsons" and they were from Mississippi. Later in life I learned that the first black billionaire in the USA was Robert Johnson and he had graduated in the class after mine in that same city. He was also from Mississippi. I don't know how he was related, but I believe he was a part of that family.
Race is a social construct. Having worked with blacks from all over the world as a teacher it is so clear to me, that people are all unique but having the same skin color as others influences the way they are treated by society and often makes them try to conform instead of being themselves.
She IS a white woman, open your eyes!. She just has a mixed race heritage, so what, she embraces ALL of it. Everyone should use her as an example. She is from Louisiana, so also probably French, Irish, english, Irish and spanish! Her mom was a product of her times. This woman earns her living as a best selling author. She did really well with this book...
Ms Gail you and your mom are amazing people. God bless.
It's so sad that this sort of segregation still exists...describing someone as black or white as opposed to American is part of the problem with perpetual racism and oppresion..
I'm mixed blood New Zealander, indigenous Maori and mixed european..we most understand there is no racial purity..we have all interbred for millions of years..we are 1!!!
Did I hear correct 8%. Yeah, she’s still white. I’m not mad at her either way.
I was thinking the very same thing. I don’t think her mother was biracial. If her mother had a parent that was African American, then Gail’s percentage should be at least 25%.
@@personalpersonal9202 that would be the case if one were to assume that her grandparent had 100% African DNA. But you probably know that African Americans have on average only 70% African DNA. Any one of her grandparent's generation could have as little as 25% African DNA (so called Quadroons) and still be considered black. As a matter of fact, even people who were one eight black ('Octoroons' ) were considered black in the south. So she could definitely be 'only' 8% African even with both her grandparents being 'black'. It can be a little more complicated than how you put it.
@@jimmyheb succinctly surmised Sir. This is never an easy simple topic and answers are varied as the human race.
I am 13% African and am a white woman. No one would guess otherwise, aside from those I have discussed it with. I fail to understand why anyone would be upset with her for identifying as white with black ancestors.
@@reecee2941 Because there someone to get offended at everything. If she embraced her black ancestry "too much" it would be seen as condescending and opportunistic by some. We're damned if we do, damned if we don't.
Thank you, Dr. Gail and to the host. What a fantastic conversation.
Movie, movie, movie movie! Make this into a movie please.
LIVE IN YOUR TRUTH 💕 OUR ANCESTORS ARE LITERALLY LIVING THRU US.
I love her energy ❤️
A very familiar story in my family. I didn't know I had any black ancestors until 20 years after my mother died. I happened to find them in my genealogy research. My father was also very bigoted so obviously didn't know about it. I'm 5 percent black and 2 percent Native American. It was exciting to find out I wasn't of homogenized white European descent exclusivly. I am also proud of my Scandinavian, West European ancestors as well, but I feel richer with the mix.
Carlette. Thank you for your wonderful, heartfelt interview. I appreciate your show and look forward to seeing more episodes! I appreciate you too Dr. Gail for sharing your family story. I loved what you said about being 'mad at racism' and not at your mother. It's a powerful journey for all of us here in the United States and I appreciate you bringing your voice out.
My mother taught me that all people have hopes and dreams and most do their best in the life they were given. It makes me so sad when I hear bigots spout their bigotry because people are people are people. I was taught to respect others and treat others kindly because we never know what another person has to wrestle with in their lives. I think bigotry is a human condition, making their kind out to be better than anyone else because if they don't, someone might come along and wipe them out. I don't know if I stated that right, but that's how I've lived my life. I'm on this planet with other people--why should I put others down because they're not like I am?
Very thoughtful interview. Thank you, Ms. Christmas!
Your family is your family. Your ancestors are your ancestors. Laugh in the face of anyone else who tries to define you. Period.
People on here literally trying to deny this woman her identity hahaha. Entitled much?!?!?!
I WANT TO SEE AN INTERVIEW WITH HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN ON HOW THEY FEEL!!!
This was so common in South Africa in apartheid... Coloureds (mixed race) who were fair could pass for white ...many families destroyed as the darker skin family members were never spoken to again.... many who could pass did it for a more privileged life.
I have listened to the stories on both sides of my colored family of these types of stories .
I was delighted to discover that I get access to her book via my audible membership.
I hope they do a very thorough mini series on one of the streaming networks. The right production team is needed to do this fantastic story justice.
I recently found out that my grandmother and grandfather did not have this large amount of Indian blood we were so proud of. After tracing our roots, that large amount of “Indian blood” turned out to be White heritage on both sides. For some reason I was devastated and sickened by these findings, still even months later.
In 2019 I took an AncestryDNA test and out found out the same. I was always told that my great great grandfather was an Native American man. Our family has pictures of him and everything. Well come to find out after doing the test…No Native American blood just white. I told my grandmother and she’s been in denial since lol
@@deebsooreal your mother is correct. Please don't ignore the oral history of your family. The DNA tests are not going to admit that you have Native American. The majority of the Black people were Indigenous to the Americas. After research the Africans that were shipped from West Africa were Descendants of Black Europeans. Do the research through birth certificates and census.
The Mongolians and the Indigenous people of Americas created the Natives. If you read the writings of the early explorers they describes the indians as dark, brown, copper tawny. Check out Dane Calloway, Kurimeo and Dr. Tracy McCarthy on You Tube.
why was "Indian blood" ok and white is sickening? The Native Americans were slave holders and many tribes had to be forced to free their slaves
There's nothing wrong with having white blood bruh, blood is still red no matter which body it is in. You're just straight-up racist rn.
@@ft.jackjimmy7282 wow! "Straight up racist". That label is scary, sad, but true. I don't want nor mean to be. Everything going on in the world now is basically history repeating itself in a way. And now to here some of the truth of about my gg grandmother being married to my gg grandfather but have several "mulatto" children in between raises an eyebrow. I don't believe she willing cheated on him with a white man. I just really feel that it's in the DNA of white people to have this deeply embedded superiority and hatred to other people that don't have the same skin tone. I don't want any parts to that.
People make the best decisions that they can at the time in their lives when faced with many challenges.
These 2 ladys are so refreshing
It doesn't matter what you actually are.
People will treat you based on what they think you are.
Many of us in the Black community have a similar story, and there are some who don't even know it yet.
Thank you for having her back ❣
I just have so much love and respect for the Good Doctor ❣
This does not surprise me. Think of how this country was founded, if you peel the layers back in more families, you will see it. Sometimes you see traits in people's make up..
Hmm if this woman had died before the mum died we would not have known this interesting story.
great interview, always wondered what happened to her story, thanks.
Great interview. Looking forward to watching the movie when it comes out.
I actually totally understood her when she said she Identified as a white woman.I am part hispanic and part white and I am adopted.I was raised by white parents and have no experience with the hispanic culture.My birth certificate says I am white.I think of myself as white because it is the culture I grew up in even though I know I am both.In reality having done a ethnicity genetic test I am very mixed race even a little african and largely indigenous and european.I found that it can be a hard thing to wrap your mind around when you find out your genetic background.
Many South African White people have at least 4 percent black ancestry. I look at Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Their descendants are both white and black ancestors. Many black people have white ancestry in this country. I am happy that this lady found some black relatives. I watched the movie PASSING. Very heart breaking. I can’t imagine the fear that her mother had to wear makeup to bed.
Good interview
I'm an African American woman who is 25% White and 2% Indigenous American-Mexico. I identify only as African American because it is the way I was cultured, and it's who I am.
That makes sense.
a lot of AA have mixed ancestry and some don't know that they have it. My ancestry is all over the place in Africa, Middle Eastern, Saami, and Indigenous American/East Asian. "Black" is all I know and it is what I am.
@@osiruskat It's a great thing to know who you are.
@@Odo55 Indeed it is.
well if you re 73% African, i can't see how you'd identify as anything else lol!
Lovely interview, I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled for the TV drama / movie. At the end of the day, she did what she thought was best for her life. That must have been tough for her hiding her trueself to her husband.
Wonderful talk, and a hell of a brilliant interviewer! Greetings from Germany
We are all here to learn the lessons of ‘LOVE’ that is genuine, unlimited and unconditional. Love is God and God is Love❤️ Thank you Dr. Gail for sharing your story.
It's a story interesting from a point of compassion - how little compassion we have for others. We asa society or very judgemental and filled with self righteousness.
I knew a lady who suffered tremendous abuse as a child, spent her teen years in a children's home, but moved away as soon as she could, got an education, and did her best to 'pass' as 'normal' but lived with those deep seated anxieties that Dr Lukasik described here in terms of her mother's 'passing'. She had the same inability to trust those in her life with the lifeshe experienced. She lived a muted life, very intelligent capable human being, but unable to strike out and do what she wanted to do because she was so fearful of the judgement of others. So sad...
How are people mad at her when she went her entire life without knowing?? That’s like a child being kidnapped at birth and raised by someone else and y’all know what happens next after the truth comes out they can’t be blamed because it’s all they knew
Sounds like her grandmother encouraged her mother to pass for a better life in that time. It was a common practice for hundreds of years. I can understand it. My aunt and uncle born to my grandparents are same complexion and blonde haired as this lady with sky blue eyes. They easily passed only due to genetic gene pool.
Sounds like my family...mixed race of Black and White and yet when you look at us you'd think we are white because of our gene pool...deep blue / green eyes blond hair and pale skin colour. I've come to terms with who I am and I've stopped explaining my background to people...leaving them to think what ever they want too.
My mother's aunt could have passed. She didn't. The choice was to be who you are and be comfortable in your own skin.
Which is the crux of it. They had to leave their culture behind.
My great uncle worked for Howard Hughes mad a ton of mony as a gifted engineer . Was white at work black at home , lived a long happy life
She was mixed race not black.
Anointed Truth
She was raised as a White Woman. That is the way she thinks. That is the way that she looks. That is the way she is treated. I am curious to know what her DNA says.
@@lauradonaldson3269
Laura,
You didn't understand the OP.
What the lady said at 1:22 - 1:27 is wrong. THIS is the point the OP is making. The person who the book is about is equally black as they are white. NOT fully black.
You are saying something completely different.
@@lauradonaldson3269 8% black. Dr. Gail mentions that fact in this video.
I'm Brazilian. Here everyone is mixed race, except for imigrants and their children. Our country was populated by the children of mixed couples (Europeans, Africans, Indigenous and, later on, Asians). So, being mixed is basically all we know here and I love it so much! It makes me feel so culturally rich! Each race has so much good to offer this world in their own unique way and to have so many of these wonderful unique genes in me and, on top of that, feel I can resonate with every race in the world, is truly a bless to me!
And, if I were to find out I'm actually only one specific race, I might feel being that race, too, but I'd also still feel mixed, cause that's how I was brought up, among all races mixed together.
They should make a movie about her history passing for white and she said go around schools in London England and in a America to talk about her experiences as been of mixed race definitely make a full movie about her life this film will win Oscars
I found no offense when Dr. Lukasik identified herself as a "white woman with black ancestors" during the Megan show. I know countless black friends who identify as black persons even though they have white ancestors. No one is offended by my friend's self-identity term, so why the offense in Dr. Lukasik's initial racial identity? I think most identify with what they appear as.
I NEED TO ORDER THIS BOOK ASAP!!
Very good interviewer!
I should have said thank you to Dr Gail for her work.
Reminds me of Anne Rice's book, "The Feast of All Saints".
I didn’t read the book, but was Dr. Gail’s father deceased when she published her book? Did her sibling know Mom’s secret? I have so many questions, may I should read the book.
This was a great interview.
Im listening to this like I'm watching a good movie..waiting on the movie
Was her mother really black though cause I’d say her mother was predominantly white with black blood like her, this lady ain’t black, she has black blood yes but she ain’t black, the one drop rule does not apply anymore, you are what you look and she looks white and genetically she’s predominantly white
Agreed absolutely lovelyrosebw!
He mother was black even by culture. She left her black family behind to start a new life. What most white people don't realize is all black Americans are racially mixed. Most black people are only 75% African.
@@tomarasmith4459 yes but her mom was clearly more than 50 percent white. You cannot compare her mom to a typical AA...no way
@@PsychicMedium4747 it depends on what area you live in. I'm from VA and we have a lot of black people who look white my great grand father was 1. He was the most black man you ever me. Just look at Loving vs Va or Booker T Washington it is very common in the black community that is why she chose to pass.
@Rick...Her mother's father was classified as Black and her mother was classified as mixed race...so more than 50% Black.
I can watch this all day I Love my Creo sister
They were Creole and they're a lot of families like that in Louisiana some light who could pass and some lighter than most but couldn't pass
Her experience is a product of the history and racial mores of our country. Every multi-racial nation has their own peculiar ideas and treatment of the issue. I understand that in Brazil, there are MANY people who identify as white but FULLY acknowledge having African ancestry. This is not to say that there wasn't OR isn't racism in Brazil. There's LOTS of it. South Africa is ANOTHER story to itself. I learned this when I made a friend from South Africa who identified as MIXED: Black AND COLORED. Race is a social construct. The late James Baldwin argued the classification of WHITE did NOT exist until Europeans started colonizing OUTSIDE of Europe. Imagine taking ANY secret to your grave!! Her mother asked her NOT to reveal her "secret" until AFTER she passed.
Take the Brazilian football/soccerplayer Neymar for example. In the beginning of his career he was passing as a person of Iberian descent. But now it seems as if he has embraced his African descent aswell, seeing that his hair is now naturally curly and his skin tone is a lot darker. Good for him!
Wouldn’t this “inspiring story” make a wonderful 2part movie!
And such a memorable one.
8 percent african for gail , her mother wasnt that black ....more like 25 to 35 percentage
That's black. My Cuban father is 29% African and he identifies as black. He looks kind of black and he's a priest in an Afro Cuban religion, santeria. He descends from a Yoruba Nigerian enslaved African. Her mother looks like a lot of light skinned black people in America. Our communities are very complicated.
She identifies as a white woman with a mixed race family past because that’s how she was raised. In society in a white family. So it’s not like she’s race appropriating. She’s sharing a very interesting story. A lot of us are mixed race and don’t know how to identify. It has a lot to do with how you grew up. I’m part Cherokee, black, and white. I’ve grown up in a mixed race family. Who cares about percentages?
Her mother was probably 75% white. Gail you are a white woman with black blood. I am 75% African and 25% European, I am an African with white blood. You look white I look African that is who we proudly are💕
Agreed, her mother couldn’t have been black, not even biracial. One of her grandparents was probably biracial.
@@lf1496 black is dark skin and kinky hair. Being 50 percent black is not black. It’s black and something else.
I was watching Carroll Channing interviews, and somehow turned up here.
I would want to know the story of the cousins in Dr Gail's grandmother's home. I mean, what impact does that leave, having to leave your house when relatives are visiting because you have black features.
I’m sure more of Americans are a mix of nationalities that we realize. This DNA is just getting started. 😊
We need an update on this story. What is happening now for Dr. Lukasik? It’s 2023 now.
This will fry everyone noodles. How many that passed who served in every levels of Government, Military and served as Senators and Congressmen.
I sympathize with her mother fully! Her situation breaks my heart. I have 2 daughters. One with brown hair and eyes and with olive skin in winter and brown skin in summer. And another daughter, blond blue-eyed, with such fair skin that she tans pink, and never even gets the lightest shade of brown from the sun. One favors their common father, the other favors me, their common mother. The darker daughter has experienced covert, as well as overt, racism since before she understood what it was. My blonde daughter has experienced NO racism. EVER. So full sisters, with an identical racial heritage, that have very different experiences, due ONLY to their looks and coloring.
I can see that opting to pass as white (even with the cost of the sacrifice), was a viable solution in the USA, in her mother’s lifetime. For her own sake and for her children’s sake.
It would not surprise me if my darker daughter would try to pass as whiter than she visually is, if he could. I support her however she deals with the daily/weekly racism that she experiences. It’s heartbreaking to realize that she is perceived as lesser than her sister, just because of the ranking of races in general society.
In closing - as the author also states, the VILLAIN here is RACISM - only racism. It affects the victims tremendously.
THANK YOU for writing the book, and thank you to the journalist for reporting on it and keeping this true story alive!
Realistically, we have to understand that her mother wasn’t necessarily black black. Her mother was most likely a Creole octaroon from Louisiana. Identity and race was very different for them. The community in those times only intermingled or had romantic relationships with whites (mostly men) to block out blackness or make the group whiter. I’m sure her mom was not alone in passing. As Jim Crow came through, many of those who were passable passed.
"Octaroon"? Really? What century do YOU inhabit?
@@paulwood3759 Well, she's correct and that's how they were identified. You were either biracial, quadroon, or octaroon.
Ps, I’d love to see this in a movie!!!
Any chance I can get the name of the Gothic mystery novel she wrote?
I have a somewhat but not really similar story, I only found out I was part black a few years ago, raised in a white family with all 5 of my 1/2 siblings who are white, I was told I was mixed but Polynesian, which, was an odd sort of passing, just speaking from my personal experience. It has been an odd ... hard to relate to other people about things, that I am still sorting through, I am excited to be black but do not want to disrespect or .. claim something that I did not necessarily live the experience of, its complicated lol I AM black, Irish and Swede
I am upset about racism too, this whole race thing will never make sense to me. No one should have to hide their identity just to have a better life. That's sad that her mother was ashamed of her black heritage.
Make this into a move and let the daughter Gail play her mother as an older age, very interesting just telling it.
The way I feel is this is a totally white lady. Her mother was mix. She has less than 15 percent black ancestry. My family has some white ancestry as while but we are totally black.
White woman with mixed heritage -there ya go!