Misreading History

A new book agrues against Thomas Jefferson being the father of Sally Hemming's children by suggesting he did nothing special for them, as he might for his children. This s a misreading of history. In fact, the opposite was the case.

Few slave holders when freeing their enslaved children or their children's mothers directed exceptional attention to the relationships. Manumission was often low key, thought by many to be a sign of what the men were attempting to still cover up.

A modern typology rests in Strom Thurmond, who for years supported his daughter financially, met with her from time to time, stayed in touch, but kept their relationship and his parenthood low key and a persistent rumor until well after his death. His model was not the exception, but drawn from the generations old Southern rule for handling cases of parenting between black women and white males.

In the District of Columbia, Cordoza High School is named for the son of a South Carolina Jewish father and an African woman, his brother established free education in Mississippi, and is known as the father of public education in that state. Alexander Grimke, a Harvard trained lawyer and founder of the NAACP, whose brother pastored the 16th Presbyterian Church in DC, was the grandson of a slave holding South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice. Looking at the pattern of relationships. Little acknowledgement was made by the male parent, who often provided indirect support without lavishing public attention. Any reading of the hundreds of cases of these relationships will find this to be the normal.

As for the DNA claim--it certainly puts, as Ed Ball, said, "slaves in the family." Old Tom can't be ruled out.