Warren G. Harding was black

[snopes]

Comment: I'm hearing rumors that Warren G. Harding was Black. This seems pretty
dubious. Have you guys come across any of the emails? (I also heard that
it was discussed on cable TV.)

[Eddylizard]

Yep. It looks like the man just finished a shift down a coal mine, he was that black.

[Tootsie Plunkette]

FWIW, Harding's family tree.

[Il-Mari]

Wow, this is probably one of the oldest still-circulating rumors about a specifc individual:

From the Wikipedia page about the 1920 election:

During the campaign, rumors spread that Harding's great-great-grandfather was a West Indian black and that other blacks might be found in his family tree. In response, Harding's campaign manager said, "No family in the state (of Ohio) has a clearer, a more honorable record than the Hardings, a blue-eyed stock from New England and Pennsylvania, the finest pioneer blood."The rumors, perhaps based on no more than local gossip, were circulated by William Estabrook Chancellor. Rumors may have been sustained by an alleged response of Harding to a friendly reporter, perhaps meant merely to be dismissive: "How do I know, Jim? One of my ancestors may have jumped the fence." (Wallechinsky and Wallace, The People's Almanac)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_...ection_of_1920

It's possible that he may have had a black ancestor at some point, which under the 'one drop' principle would have made him 'black' from the point of view of that time period. Other than that, I doubt anyone would consider him 'black' by any widely accepted criteria of today.

- Il-Mari

[Silas Sparkhammer]

What is going on with the man's skin texture in that photograph? You can't tell much about his skin color, because it looks to me as if he's smothered in a quarter-inch layer of pancake makeup! Is that what is really over his face, or is the texture some sort of artifact of the photographic technology of the time?

Silas (whose pimples are oily to bed and oily to rise)

[Elsie]

Maybe he was using makeup to cover up his blackness.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Il-Mari

Other than that, I doubt anyone would consider him 'black' by any widely accepted criteria of today.

You might be surprised. For exmaple, this member of congress, G. K. Butterfield is also a (black, African American) member of the Congressional Black Caucus. (And he's not the only member who looks white.)

So I'm not exactly sure what "widely accepted criteria" you're referring to.

[Silas Sparkhammer]

Originally Posted by ganzfeld

. . . So I'm not exactly sure what "widely accepted criteria" you're referring to.

Well, the old standby of the Civil War era -- 1/16th black equals black -- is no longer "widely accepted."

The Jim Crow era also used that as a rough-and-ready rule, but didn't always enforce it because of the large number of descendants of mixed relationships. If everyone who was 1/16th or more black was defined as fully black, an awful lot of people -- many who wouldn't even have been aware of it! -- would have been included.

For some American Indian tribes, a person with 1/16th Indian ancestry is eligible to apply for membership. (I could apply for membership in the Mesa Grande band of the Kumeyaay nation!) But no one goes as far as to declare that anyone who is 1/16th or more American Indian is defined as such.

I don't think there actually is any "widely accepted criterion." I'm not entirely sure how there could possibly be one.

Silas

[A Turtle Named Mack]

I am impressed with the reported source of the runor, that Harding was asked and said 'Well, maybe some ancestor jumped the fence.' To me, that shows that he really did not care. And I don't see why anyone would, but people keep spreading this stuff like it's a big deal.

[Ali Infree]

This stuff is a by-product of our slave past complete with lvocabulary like quadroon for someone one-quarter black (ie a black grandparent), octaroon, (one-eighth--one more generation back. And on this terrible history goes.

Then there are the Melungeons. In Wise County, Virginia there were certain families who were considered non-white (ie colored) in their ancestry, regardless of their skin and hair color. Births to these family members were automatically labeled colored or mixed.

At the time of the 1920 election, the Ku Klux Klan was near the height of their power, which extended far from the south--Indiana and southern Illinois being midwestern strongholds for the KKK. Hence the potency of the rumor. Still, Harding's nonchalant, unthreatened answer might have been the highpoint of historic legacy.

Ali "yes, I'll have the oysters" Infree

Originally Posted by A Turtle Named Mack

I am impressed with the reported source of the runor, that Harding was asked and said 'Well, maybe some ancestor jumped the fence.' To me, that shows that he really did not care. And I don't see why anyone would, but people keep spreading this stuff like it's a big deal.

I believe that, as this article suggests, the reason this is currently being spread as a "big deal" has a lot to do with the prospect of Barack Obama becoming president.

A friend of mine recently e-mailed me a column from Massachusetts’s Worcester Telegram & Gazette with the arresting title: “Barack Obama Might Not Be First Black President.” Factually, this headline sounds true—if Obama doesn’t start outrunning Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries, he may never reach the presidency. The point of the Telegram & Gazette article, though, was not to speculate about the possible failure of the Illinois senator’s campaign. Its claim is stranger than that. “Barack Obama is campaigning to be the first man with African blood to become president of the United States,” the author writes. “It is a noteworthy aspiration. But even if he is successful, will he be the first to fit that description? Probably not.” The article goes on to argue that Obama will have been preempted by Warren G. Harding, who “is widely credited with having a Negro ancestor, probably a great-grandmother.”

[MapleLeaf]

Being a white person who is 1/16 black means you are 15/16 white (or not...but run with me here). And that's pretty damn white, if not eggshell at best. Why would ANYONE say that someone with 1/16 black ancestry was black (in this day and age) other than to point it out as a supposed negative?

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

Still, Harding's nonchalant, unthreatened answer might have been the highpoint of historic legacy.

Since more than one person has commented on this, I want to respond: This particular comment was the unsubstantiated response. It seems clear from the substantiated response that he was far from nonchalant. I quote from the quotes in Il-Mari's post:

In response, Harding's campaign manager said, "No family in the state (of Ohio) has a clearer, a more honorable record than the Hardings, a blue-eyed stock from New England and Pennsylvania, the finest pioneer blood."

If the "nonchalant" response ever really happened then it appears he either had a witty sense of humor or that it really didn't bother him but, again, that wasn't his campaign's response to the allegation, just what he supposedly said to a reporter when asked.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by MapleLeaf

Being a white person who is 1/16 black means you are 15/16 white (or not...but run with me here). And that's pretty damn white, if not eggshell at best. Why would ANYONE say that someone with 1/16 black ancestry was black (in this day and age) other than to point it out as a supposed negative?

To point it out as a positive?

[Ali Infree]

As mentioned earlier, American racial politics and social mores generally meant that one drop (any ancestry that was African American, or African) made one Black and therefore a step down on the social pyramid. Racism dictates that black=bad. Not a theory I subscribe to, but still around.

And while I think like to think this is disappearing, it isn't gone. Senator Allen (R-VA)and was found to be of partially Northern African descent (through his French mother, whose ancestry was also Jewish). He practically denied this, although as one wag put it, it made him the first Jewish African American to serve in the US Senate. He lost his re-election bid.

Ali "black is beautiful' Infree

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

And while I think like to think this is disappearing, it isn't gone. Senator Allen (R-VA)and was found to be of partially Northern African descent (through his French mother, whose ancestry was also Jewish). He practically denied this, although as one wag put it, it made him the first Jewish African American to serve in the US Senate. He lost his re-election bid.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Just about every candidate for president (at least until the 1960s) had someone claim he was Black. It was the most basic of political smear jobs.

[Elkhound]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

This stuff is a by-product of our slave past complete with lvocabulary like quadroon for someone one-quarter black (ie a black grandparent), octaroon, (one-eighth--one more generation back. And on this terrible history goes.

I have read in quite serious anthropology texts from the early 20th/late 19th C. the statement 'octaroons do not reproduce.' What that really means, I think, is that after that the black strain in the family is so diluted as not to really matter (assuming that it ever did.)

[Elkhound]

Originally Posted by Ali Infree

This stuff is a by-product of our slave past complete with lvocabulary like quadroon for someone one-quarter black (ie a black grandparent), octaroon, (one-eighth--one more generation back. And on this terrible history goes.

I have read in quite serious anthropology texts from the early 20th/late 19th C. the statement 'octaroons do not reproduce.' What that really means, I think, is that after that the black strain in the family is so diluted as not to really matter (assuming that it ever did.)

(Oh, and we did have a Native American 'one heartbeat away from the Presidency.' VP Dawes was 1/4 Kaw and 1/8 Osage, IIRC [or perhaps the reverse; I haven't the book here.)

[Ravenhull]

I was rather amused when I read about how some states had to drop their 'one-drop' policies for an interesting reason. It seems that under such a policy, a large number of Old-money whites would be considered Indian because so many tried to claim they were decended from Pocahontas.

For those of you that aren't familiar with the fun-ness of 'One-drop' mentality, there were (and still are) many who believe that to be caucasian is the epitomy of the human race, and to have even the slightest taint, no matter how many generations back, made you unredeamably un-white.

[A Turtle Named Mack]

Several times when I have felt particularly cantankerous and I have been asked whether I am 'of African ancestry', I have replied 'if you go back far enough.' Some people understand, some see my pale skin and look at me like I'm an idiot.