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I was connected to a fourth cousin with 88% African ancestry, while mine is 0% African. He wanted to know how we were cousins. From census records I learned that a seventh-great-grandfather had two slaves in his household. Could it be that his 1000 acre plantation was worked by volunteers? This is the slave-holding ancestor that I do know about. My point is that likely most white people with roots in the South going way back have one or more enslaving ancestors. There are few African-American people today without some European ancestry.

The fastest-growing racial category on the last census is “more than one race.” Eventually people will fall in love with their adorable grandchildren, regardless of their mixture of ethnicities.

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