Friday, 16 August 2013
/*A Bulb-el View of the Economic Schools*/
/*A Bulb-el View of the Economic Schools*/
Q: How many Keynesian economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: All. Because then you will generate employment, more consumption, dislocating the AD to the right.
Q: How many neo-classical economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It depends on the wage rate.
Q: How many Chicago School economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. If the light bulb needed changing the market would have already done it.
Q: How many orthodox economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to assume the existence of ladder and one to change the bulb.
Q: How many conservative economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They are all waiting for the unseen hand of the market to correct the lighting disequilibrium.
Q; How many central bank economists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Just one. He holds the light bulb and the whole earth revolves around him.
Q: How many environmental economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Eight. One to turn the light bulb and seven to do the environmental impact study.
Q: How many economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Shoot, you need a whole department of them just to prepare the research grant.
Q: How many Keynesian economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: All. Because then you will generate employment, more consumption, dislocating the AD to the right.
Q: How many neo-classical economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It depends on the wage rate.
Q: How many Chicago School economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. If the light bulb needed changing the market would have already done it.
Q: How many orthodox economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to assume the existence of ladder and one to change the bulb.
Q: How many conservative economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. They are all waiting for the unseen hand of the market to correct the lighting disequilibrium.
Q; How many central bank economists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Just one. He holds the light bulb and the whole earth revolves around him.
Q: How many environmental economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Eight. One to turn the light bulb and seven to do the environmental impact study.
Q: How many economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Shoot, you need a whole department of them just to prepare the research grant.
Wednesday, 14 August 2013
10 Choices You will Regret in 10 Years
“One decision can develop into a habit, and the habits you form create your reality. Here are 10 choices that carry significant weight. Learn to be conscious of the decisions you make so you can do your best to live like a champion:”
1. Wearing a mask to impress others.
If the face you always show the world is a mask, someday there will be nothing beneath it. Because when you spend too much time concentrating on everyone else’s perception of you, or who everyone else wants you to be, you eventually forget who you really are. So don’t fear the judgments of others; you know in your heart who you are and what’s true to you. You don’t have to be perfect to impress and inspire people. Let them be impressed and inspired by how you deal with your imperfections.
2. Letting someone else create your dreams for you.
The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are; the second greatest is being happy with what you find. A big part of this is your decision to stay true to your own goals and dreams. Do you have people who disagree with you? Good. It means you’re standing your ground and walking your own path. Sometimes you’ll do things considered crazy by others, but when you catch yourself excitedly losing track of time, that’s when you’ll know you’re doing the right thing. Read The 4-Hour Workweek.
3. Keeping negative company.
Don’t let someone who has a bad attitude give it to you. Don’t let them get to you. They can’t pull the trigger if you don’t hand them the gun. When you remember that keeping the company of negative people is a choice, instead of an obligation, you free yourself to keep the company of compassion instead of anger, generosity instead of greed, and patience instead of anxiety.
4. Being selfish and egotistical.
A life filled with loving deeds and good character is the best tombstone. Those who you inspired and shared your love with will remember how you made them feel long after your time has expired. So carve your name on hearts, not stone. What you have done for yourself alone dies with you; what you have done for others and the world remains.
5. Avoiding change and growth.
If you want to know your past look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future look into your present actions. You must let go of the old to make way for the new; the old way is gone, never to come back. If you acknowledge this right now and take steps to address it, you will position yourself for lasting success. See the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.
6. Giving up when the going gets tough.
There are no failures, just results. Even if things don’t unfold the way you had expected, don’t be disheartened or give up. Learn what you can and move on. The one who continues to advance one step at a time will win in the end. Because the battle is always won far away and long before the final victory. It’s a process that occurs with small steps, decisions, and actions that gradually build upon each other and eventually lead to that glorious moment of triumph.
7. Trying to micromanage every little thing.
Life should be touched, not strangled. Sometimes you’ve got to relax and let life happen without incessant worry and micromanagement. Learn to let go a little before you squeeze too tight. Take a deep breath. When the dust settles and you can once again see the forest for the trees, take the next step forward. You don’t have to know exactly where you’re going to be headed somewhere great. Everything in life is in perfect order whether you understand it yet or not. It just takes some time to connect all the dots.
8. Settling for less than you deserve.
Be strong enough to let go and wise enough to wait for what you deserve. Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand up taller than you ever were before. Sometimes your eyes need to be washed by your tears so you can see the possibilities in front of you with a clearer vision again. Don’t settle.
9. Endlessly waiting until tomorrow.
The trouble is, you always think you have more time than you do. But one day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to work on the things you’ve always wanted to do. And at that point you either will have achieved the goals you set for yourself, or you will have a list of excuses for why you haven’t. Read Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture.
10. Being lazy and wishy-washy.
The world doesn’t owe you anything, you owe the world something. So stop daydreaming and start DOING. Develop a backbone, not a wishbone. Take full responsibility for your life – take control. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now; the somebody the world needs is YOU.
Tuesday, 13 August 2013
World Athletics 2013: Christine Ohuruogu wins gold in photo-finish
World Athletics 2013: Christine Ohuruogu wins gold in photo-finish
Christine Ohuruogu produced another thrilling late surge in the 400m to become the first British female to win two World Championship titles.
The 29-year-old also broke Kathy Cook's long-standing British record by two hundredths of a second as she beat defending champion Amantle Montsho in a photo finish.
Both Ohuruogu and Montsho clocked 49.41 seconds, but it was the Briton who was deemed the winner by four thousandths of a second.
Ohuruogu, the 2007 world champion,gasped in astonishment as she learned of her victory.
Montsho, 30, had victory within her grasp and even as the two athletes stood on the finishing line, anxiously awaiting the final result, Ohuruogu gave the impression that her perfectly-timed dip had not been enough.
But after closer inspection, it was revealed that the Londoner had crossed the line in 49.404, while Montsho, who failed to dip, finished in 49.408.
Ohuruogu, who had been fourth coming round the final bend after a steady start, shook her rival's hand before draping herself in a giant union flag to celebrate her victory.
The Briton told BBC Sport: "I can't believe I've done that, it feels like a dream. It is what I have been working towards all season.
"It was so tight on the line and I was so desperate to win it. I just wanted my name to come up.
"The last couple of days have been really tough and I just want to thank everyone who helped me. It feels really surreal and strange, it doesn't feel like I'm really here.
"I was thinking do what you can, just get over the line. The icing on the cake is the national record, that's all I wanted.
"Whatever you want just go for it, I am really happy I kept believing and trusting in what I could do."
Ohurougu could not stem the tears as she stood on top of the podium alongside Montsho and Russia's Antonina Krivoshapka. She attempted to sing the anthem, but the emotion was too much.
The British captain, who had earlier this week told her team to "burn the ships" in a rallying speech, had given it her all and had nothing left after securing a second gold of the championships for Britain following Mo Farah's 10,000m triumph on the opening day.
Ohuruogu, described by UK Athletics performance director Neil Black, as one of Britain's greatest ever athletes, was chosen to captain the British team for her ability to peak for championship finals.
It was come-from-nowhere dashes which helped her become world champion in 2007and Olympic champion a year later, and the Briton left it late in London 12 months ago, propelling herself from sixth to second - with Montsho one of the athletes overtaken at the Olympic Stadium - to win Olympic silver.
Montsho was the pre-race favourite - her personal best of 49.33, set in Monaco in July, the quickest time in the world this year.
But Ohuruogu has a habit of beating opponents of supposedly superior credentials. She did so to become Commonwealth, world and Olympic champion, and did it again in Moscow in perhaps her most memorable race of all.
A disappointed Montsho said: "I always have a bad finish. I don't know how to dip in a race. I didn't see Christine when she came. If I saw her I could maybe have put my chest out and made it."
Will Sharman was disappointed not to follow his captain's success with a medal of his own in the 110m hurdles.
Having finished the previous two world finals in fourth and joint fifth place respectively, a time of 13.30 seconds saw him cross the line in fifth again in a race won by American David Oliver.
"I'm not very pleased with that, I made a mistake off hurdle one and it was hard work from there," Sharman said.
"It's good to make the final but once you're in the final you have to get a medal and all I needed to do was to perform to the best of my ability. I can't wake up tomorrow morning and say I did that."
Fellow Britons Asha Philip and Nigel Levine were unable to make the finals of their events, the 100m and 400m respectively, as they failed to advance from the semi-finals.
Famous Black Engineers
Let's start with one of the early pioneers of a small feat of engineering that's arguably the most important invention of the 20th century. Born in Jamaica, Walt Braithwaite received a degree in engineering in 1966 and joined up with Boeing the same year. Just as commercial flying was taking off, Braithwaite began flying up the ladder, leading and developing some of the most important aircraft and systems [source: Large].
Braithwaite's team developed computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems for Boeing, which led the way for airplanes and, eventually, many other products designed entirely through software. (Goodbye pen and paper drafting!) Braithwaite also became the highest-ranking black executive at Boeing when he was named president of Boeing Africa in 2000. After 36 years with the aircraft titan, he retired in 2003.
If we're talking trailblazers, we should probably get our vernacular right: These engineers are more likely to carefully plan and execute a well-designed trail than to light a fire to make their way through. Howard Grant is a terrific example of an engineer who systematically built a stellar reputation through his groundbreaking career and myriad professional activities.
Born in 1925, Grant became the first black graduate of the University of California Berkeley College of Engineering -- and that was just his first first. He went on to become the first black engineer for the city and county of San Francisco, where he addressed water engineering issues, and the first recorded black member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (that's three "firsts" if you're counting). He was also the man behind the Northern California Council of Black Professional Engineers, an organization that helps introduce the engineering field to black youth [source: UC Berkeley].
You all know the story: Lowly intern at massively wealthy company moves up the ladder to become CEO of said company. Or perhaps you don't know the story because it never really happens, minus a few dreamsequences in movies. But Ursula Burns -- CEO of a little outfit called Xerox -- did just that, and became the first African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company to boot.
Burns joined Xerox fresh out of Columbia University, where she received her master's degree in mechanical engineering. She soon was working closely with one of the division presidents and was given a title of president in 2007. In 2009, she was named CEO – nearly 30 years after the world's most successful summer internship [source: Iqbal].
In 1908, George Biddle Kelley graduated from Cornell University's College of Civil Engineering. He became the first African-American engineer registered in the state of New York. Among other endeavors, he was employed by the New York Engineering Department, where he worked on the Barge Canal, a collection of state waterways, during the 1920s. His legacy remains through the George Biddle Kelley scholarship, which aims to mentor and provide educational funds for socioeconomically disadvantaged males in upstate New York [source: George Biddle Kelley Foundation].
The accomplished engineer dedicated to furthering education in young people has another important credit to his name: He was a founding member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the oldest black Greek fraternal organization. According to the organization, he was also instrumental in creating the "handshake and ritual" that identifies fraternity brothers [source: Alpha Phi Alpha].
If you're looking for an engineer that really impresses you -- or depresses you, if you're comparing your accomplishments to his -- look no further than Elijah McCoy, who received his first patent in 1872.
It's not just that he held 57 patents, or that he traveled to Scotland at the age of 15 for an apprenticeship and came back with a mechanical engineering degree. It's not even that he did all this as the son of runaway slaves. Or invented a lubrication device that allowed machines in motion to remain oiled. It's that the lubrication device became so important to the machinery industry that, as lore has it, inspectors would ask those running the equipment if they were using "the real McCoy." Yup, Elijah McCoy's engineering is so famous that his name is synonymous with the genuine article. Quite ironically, however, there are several "real McCoy" origin stories, so don't be too quick to label this story -- it must be said -- the real McCoy.
Ready to meet another patent holder and pioneer? William Hunter Dammond was the first African-American graduate of the Western University of Pennsylvania (which later became the University of Pittsburgh). Dammond graduated with honors from the university in 1893, with a degree in civil engineering [source:Barksdale-Hall].
After assorted professional adventures, Dammond moved to Michigan to work as a bridge engineer. Once there, he hit his stride, inventing an electrical signaling system for railway engineers to recognize the approach of another train and receiving a patent for it [source: U.S. Patent 747,949]. In 1906, he was issued another patent for a "safety system" for railway operation [source: U.S. Patent 823,513].
If you're looking for a person to look up to -- regardless of race or gender -- Aprille Ericsson is a good candidate. Dr. Ericsson is a senior deputy instrument manager for NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite program, where she works on mapping instruments for future lunar explorations. In other words, Ericsson has one of the coolest jobs in the universe.
Like any good overachiever, Ericsson's accomplishments started way before her work with NASA. She was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Howard University and the first American to receive her Ph.D. with an aerospace option in the program. She was also the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center [source: Ericsson].
In February 1942, everything was in place for the construction of the Alaska Highway to begin. There was just one little problem. Nearly all of the Army Corps of Engineers were firmly entrenched in the South Pacific, serving in World War II.
President Roosevelt decided to post several regiments of African-American engineers to the job. This was unusual for a tired reason and a novel one. On the first front, there was still a prejudice that black workers weren't as qualified for the job. Another just as inaccurate (and odd) reason? Military rules stated that African-Americans only be sent to warm climates.
Regardless, three black regiments were sent along with four groups of white troops. But the regiments were still segregated by race and further distanced by unequal treatment. White regiments with less machinery experience were given equipment, while black regiments were left to do work by hand. However, the highway was completed in October 1942 -- complete with a photo-op of one of the black soldiers shaking the hand of his white counterpart at the final link [source: American Experience].
Another military man, Hugh G. Robinson, became a high-ranking general as an engineer in the Army. He graduated in 1954 from West Point and went on to receive his master's degree in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In Vietnam, he commanded a combat engineering battalion and was the executive officer of an Engineer Group.
After his Vietnam tour, Johnson headed for the Pentagon as a deputy chief of staff, becoming the first blacksoldier to serve as a military aide to a president, under Lyndon Johnson in 1965. In 1978, he was promoted to brigadier general -- the first African-American to serve as a general officer in the Corps of Engineers. As if his accomplishments as an engineer weren't enough, he also received an Air Medal, a Bronze Star, the Legion of Merit and an Army Commendation Medal for his service in Vietnam [source: ASCE].
In the spirit of fostering a future of pioneers, let's end with another more modern -- but no less trailblazing -- engineer. Dr. Wanda Austin, armed with a doctorate in systems engineering from the University of Southern California, has been instrumental not only in shaping the U.S. aerospace industry, but also in ensuring national security within the space community. Even President Obama thought she was important enough to put her on a board to review and plan future space missions.
Austin became a senior vice president of the Aerospace Corporation, an independent research and development center serving national space programs, in 2001. She eventually led a group responsible for supporting the intelligence and security community in space systems and ground stations [source: NASA]. In 2008, Austin vaulted from VP to president and CEO of the corporation. In 2009, she landed her gig on President Obama's Review of Human Spaceflight Plans Committee -- no doubt a pretty cool group of people, who have come together to advise the government on the future of space missions [source: NASA].
Monday, 12 August 2013
10 People You Probably Didn’t Know Were Black
http://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/genealogy/10-people-you-didnt-know-were-black.htm
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
Author Malcolm Gladwell speaks at The 2009 New Yorker Festival.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Malcolm Gladwell, decorated staff writer at The New Yorker and author of four best-selling books -- "The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers" and "What the Dog Saw" -- won a National Magazine Award in 1999 and was named Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2005. Born in 1963 to a Jamaican mother and British father, he has found his mixed heritage to provide plenty of fodder for writing.
In "Black Like them," published in an April 1996 issue of The New Yorker, Gladwell examined the differences between American blacks and West Indians, along with observations about his childhood and family. He detailed the discrimination among his dark- and light-skinned ancestors. For example, a widow on his mother's side had two dark-skinned daughters, but once pretended she didn't know them as she made conversation with a light-skinned suitor.
Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario and contended that race there was a nonissue. "Blacks knew what I was. They could discern the hint of Africa beneath my fair skin," he wrote in his essay. "But it was a kind of secret -- something that they would ask me about quietly when no one else was around ... But whites never guessed, and even after I informed them it never seemed to make a difference. Why would it? In a town that is ninety-nine per cent white, one modest alleged splash of color hardly amounts to a threat."
That changed when he went to Toronto for university and discovered the reputation of Jamaicans who were purportedly heading Canada's drug trade. "After I had moved to the United States, I puzzled over this seeming contradiction -- how West Indians celebrated in New York for their industry and drive could represent, just five hundred miles northwest, crime and dissipation ... In America, there is someone else to despise. In Canada, there is not" [source: Gladwell].
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
Author Malcolm Gladwell speaks at The 2009 New Yorker Festival.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Malcolm Gladwell, decorated staff writer at The New Yorker and author of four best-selling books -- "The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers" and "What the Dog Saw" -- won a National Magazine Award in 1999 and was named Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2005. Born in 1963 to a Jamaican mother and British father, he has found his mixed heritage to provide plenty of fodder for writing.
In "Black Like them," published in an April 1996 issue of The New Yorker, Gladwell examined the differences between American blacks and West Indians, along with observations about his childhood and family. He detailed the discrimination among his dark- and light-skinned ancestors. For example, a widow on his mother's side had two dark-skinned daughters, but once pretended she didn't know them as she made conversation with a light-skinned suitor.
Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario and contended that race there was a nonissue. "Blacks knew what I was. They could discern the hint of Africa beneath my fair skin," he wrote in his essay. "But it was a kind of secret -- something that they would ask me about quietly when no one else was around ... But whites never guessed, and even after I informed them it never seemed to make a difference. Why would it? In a town that is ninety-nine per cent white, one modest alleged splash of color hardly amounts to a threat."
That changed when he went to Toronto for university and discovered the reputation of Jamaicans who were purportedly heading Canada's drug trade. "After I had moved to the United States, I puzzled over this seeming contradiction -- how West Indians celebrated in New York for their industry and drive could represent, just five hundred miles northwest, crime and dissipation ... In America, there is someone else to despise. In Canada, there is not" [source: Gladwell].
Actress Carol Channing arrives at an awards show in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Carol Channing, born in 1921, was already a Broadway star known for her performances in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" and "Hello Dolly" when she learned something surprising about her heritage. Her father, George Channing, had been a light-skinned black man.
And although Channing went on to become a well-known gay rights activist, being of mixed race was something she only briefly alluded to in her memoir "Just Lucky I Guess," which was published at age 81. In it, she recounted her father singing gospel music with her and flipping from one pattern of speech in the predominantly white community to a distinctly different pattern of speech in their home.
Nearly a decade later Channing, a three-time Tony award winner, seemed to change her mind again. On a 2010 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, Channing said that her parents "had many disagreements," and before she went off to college her mother thought "she would get even with me" and warned her that if she had a baby it might come out black. Channing admitted she did not know if the story that her father was black was true, but she hoped it was [sources: Parker, Williams].
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
Author Malcolm Gladwell speaks at The 2009 New Yorker Festival.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Malcolm Gladwell, decorated staff writer at The New Yorker and author of four best-selling books -- "The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers" and "What the Dog Saw" -- won a National Magazine Award in 1999 and was named Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2005. Born in 1963 to a Jamaican mother and British father, he has found his mixed heritage to provide plenty of fodder for writing.
In "Black Like them," published in an April 1996 issue of The New Yorker, Gladwell examined the differences between American blacks and West Indians, along with observations about his childhood and family. He detailed the discrimination among his dark- and light-skinned ancestors. For example, a widow on his mother's side had two dark-skinned daughters, but once pretended she didn't know them as she made conversation with a light-skinned suitor.
Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario and contended that race there was a nonissue. "Blacks knew what I was. They could discern the hint of Africa beneath my fair skin," he wrote in his essay. "But it was a kind of secret -- something that they would ask me about quietly when no one else was around ... But whites never guessed, and even after I informed them it never seemed to make a difference. Why would it? In a town that is ninety-nine per cent white, one modest alleged splash of color hardly amounts to a threat."
That changed when he went to Toronto for university and discovered the reputation of Jamaicans who were purportedly heading Canada's drug trade. "After I had moved to the United States, I puzzled over this seeming contradiction -- how West Indians celebrated in New York for their industry and drive could represent, just five hundred miles northwest, crime and dissipation ... In America, there is someone else to despise. In Canada, there is not" [source: Gladwell].
Actress Carol Channing arrives at an awards show in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Carol Channing, born in 1921, was already a Broadway star known for her performances in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" and "Hello Dolly" when she learned something surprising about her heritage. Her father, George Channing, had been a light-skinned black man.
And although Channing went on to become a well-known gay rights activist, being of mixed race was something she only briefly alluded to in her memoir "Just Lucky I Guess," which was published at age 81. In it, she recounted her father singing gospel music with her and flipping from one pattern of speech in the predominantly white community to a distinctly different pattern of speech in their home.
Nearly a decade later Channing, a three-time Tony award winner, seemed to change her mind again. On a 2010 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, Channing said that her parents "had many disagreements," and before she went off to college her mother thought "she would get even with me" and warned her that if she had a baby it might come out black. Channing admitted she did not know if the story that her father was black was true, but she hoped it was [sources: Parker, Williams].
Pete Wentz sporting his signature 'do.
David Livingston/Getty Images
Pete Wentz sported a signature look during the years he spent as a member of the Fall Out Boy rock band: singularly straight hair. As the band's bassist and chief lyricist, Wentz penned hit songs, including "Infinity on High," before the group's lengthy hiatus began in 2009 [source: Hasty]. Then he did something different. And we don't mean finalizing his divorce from pop singer Ashlee Simpson or forming the band Black Cards with fellow musician Spencer Peterson in 2010 [source: Gomez].
In 2011, Wentz began to forgo his strategically mussed straight locks for a more natural look: curls. He'd made no secret of the effort it required to style his hair, or the fact that he thought it was an important part of his appearance [source: Lucey]. The tight curls also prompted speculation that Wentz has black ancestors, and indeed he does.
In an interview with Alternative Press, Wentz says, "My mom, my family, is from Jamaica." His only regret? That when he spent time in Jamaica as a child, he didn't fully appreciate the musical influences of Bob Marley or the Wailers [source: Alternative Press]. Fortunately, Wentz's penchant for starting rock bands turned out OK despite this shortcoming. In addition, he's authored two books, opened a bar and runs Clandestine Industries, a book and clothing distributor [source: All Music].
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
Author Malcolm Gladwell speaks at The 2009 New Yorker Festival.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Malcolm Gladwell, decorated staff writer at The New Yorker and author of four best-selling books -- "The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers" and "What the Dog Saw" -- won a National Magazine Award in 1999 and was named Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2005. Born in 1963 to a Jamaican mother and British father, he has found his mixed heritage to provide plenty of fodder for writing.
In "Black Like them," published in an April 1996 issue of The New Yorker, Gladwell examined the differences between American blacks and West Indians, along with observations about his childhood and family. He detailed the discrimination among his dark- and light-skinned ancestors. For example, a widow on his mother's side had two dark-skinned daughters, but once pretended she didn't know them as she made conversation with a light-skinned suitor.
Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario and contended that race there was a nonissue. "Blacks knew what I was. They could discern the hint of Africa beneath my fair skin," he wrote in his essay. "But it was a kind of secret -- something that they would ask me about quietly when no one else was around ... But whites never guessed, and even after I informed them it never seemed to make a difference. Why would it? In a town that is ninety-nine per cent white, one modest alleged splash of color hardly amounts to a threat."
That changed when he went to Toronto for university and discovered the reputation of Jamaicans who were purportedly heading Canada's drug trade. "After I had moved to the United States, I puzzled over this seeming contradiction -- how West Indians celebrated in New York for their industry and drive could represent, just five hundred miles northwest, crime and dissipation ... In America, there is someone else to despise. In Canada, there is not" [source: Gladwell].
Actress Carol Channing arrives at an awards show in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Carol Channing, born in 1921, was already a Broadway star known for her performances in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" and "Hello Dolly" when she learned something surprising about her heritage. Her father, George Channing, had been a light-skinned black man.
And although Channing went on to become a well-known gay rights activist, being of mixed race was something she only briefly alluded to in her memoir "Just Lucky I Guess," which was published at age 81. In it, she recounted her father singing gospel music with her and flipping from one pattern of speech in the predominantly white community to a distinctly different pattern of speech in their home.
Nearly a decade later Channing, a three-time Tony award winner, seemed to change her mind again. On a 2010 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, Channing said that her parents "had many disagreements," and before she went off to college her mother thought "she would get even with me" and warned her that if she had a baby it might come out black. Channing admitted she did not know if the story that her father was black was true, but she hoped it was [sources: Parker, Williams].
Pete Wentz sporting his signature 'do.
David Livingston/Getty Images
Pete Wentz sported a signature look during the years he spent as a member of the Fall Out Boy rock band: singularly straight hair. As the band's bassist and chief lyricist, Wentz penned hit songs, including "Infinity on High," before the group's lengthy hiatus began in 2009 [source: Hasty]. Then he did something different. And we don't mean finalizing his divorce from pop singer Ashlee Simpson or forming the band Black Cards with fellow musician Spencer Peterson in 2010 [source: Gomez].
In 2011, Wentz began to forgo his strategically mussed straight locks for a more natural look: curls. He'd made no secret of the effort it required to style his hair, or the fact that he thought it was an important part of his appearance [source: Lucey]. The tight curls also prompted speculation that Wentz has black ancestors, and indeed he does.
In an interview with Alternative Press, Wentz says, "My mom, my family, is from Jamaica." His only regret? That when he spent time in Jamaica as a child, he didn't fully appreciate the musical influences of Bob Marley or the Wailers [source: Alternative Press]. Fortunately, Wentz's penchant for starting rock bands turned out OK despite this shortcoming. In addition, he's authored two books, opened a bar and runs Clandestine Industries, a book and clothing distributor [source: All Music].
Soledad O'Brien accepting the NAACP President's Award in 2007.
M. Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images
When Soledad O'Brien debuted as host of CNN's "Black in America" documentary series, she volleyed plenty of questions -- especially from the black community -- about why she should be the one to tackle the premise.
Turns out, O'Brien is black, too. She is the daughter of a black Latina mother and a white Australian father; she grew up in a primarily white neighborhood with parents who insisted she identify as black. As a mixed-race, first-generation American, O'Brien became a broadcast journalist and found herself fighting for equal coverage for people of color [source: O'Brien].
"At screenings for 'Black in America' I've heard people say, 'Well you know I never thought you were black until you did [pieces on Hurricane] Katrina and then I thought you were black.' And I'd say, 'That's so fascinating. What was it that made you think I was black?'" said O'Brien in an interview to promote "Who is Black in America?", her latest installment in the documentary series.
"And then someone else would say, 'Yeah, but she's married to a white man.' And I'm like 'OK, so does that make me less black and how in your mind does that math work?'"
In the end, O'Brien (who's also produced documentaries for CNN on being Latino in America) relied on a lesson learned in her childhood: "My parents taught me very early that how other people perceive me really was not my problem or my responsibility. It was much more based on how I perceived me" [source: O'Brien].
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
Author Malcolm Gladwell speaks at The 2009 New Yorker Festival.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Malcolm Gladwell, decorated staff writer at The New Yorker and author of four best-selling books -- "The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers" and "What the Dog Saw" -- won a National Magazine Award in 1999 and was named Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2005. Born in 1963 to a Jamaican mother and British father, he has found his mixed heritage to provide plenty of fodder for writing.
In "Black Like them," published in an April 1996 issue of The New Yorker, Gladwell examined the differences between American blacks and West Indians, along with observations about his childhood and family. He detailed the discrimination among his dark- and light-skinned ancestors. For example, a widow on his mother's side had two dark-skinned daughters, but once pretended she didn't know them as she made conversation with a light-skinned suitor.
Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario and contended that race there was a nonissue. "Blacks knew what I was. They could discern the hint of Africa beneath my fair skin," he wrote in his essay. "But it was a kind of secret -- something that they would ask me about quietly when no one else was around ... But whites never guessed, and even after I informed them it never seemed to make a difference. Why would it? In a town that is ninety-nine per cent white, one modest alleged splash of color hardly amounts to a threat."
That changed when he went to Toronto for university and discovered the reputation of Jamaicans who were purportedly heading Canada's drug trade. "After I had moved to the United States, I puzzled over this seeming contradiction -- how West Indians celebrated in New York for their industry and drive could represent, just five hundred miles northwest, crime and dissipation ... In America, there is someone else to despise. In Canada, there is not" [source: Gladwell].
Actress Carol Channing arrives at an awards show in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Carol Channing, born in 1921, was already a Broadway star known for her performances in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" and "Hello Dolly" when she learned something surprising about her heritage. Her father, George Channing, had been a light-skinned black man.
And although Channing went on to become a well-known gay rights activist, being of mixed race was something she only briefly alluded to in her memoir "Just Lucky I Guess," which was published at age 81. In it, she recounted her father singing gospel music with her and flipping from one pattern of speech in the predominantly white community to a distinctly different pattern of speech in their home.
Nearly a decade later Channing, a three-time Tony award winner, seemed to change her mind again. On a 2010 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, Channing said that her parents "had many disagreements," and before she went off to college her mother thought "she would get even with me" and warned her that if she had a baby it might come out black. Channing admitted she did not know if the story that her father was black was true, but she hoped it was [sources: Parker, Williams].
Pete Wentz sporting his signature 'do.
David Livingston/Getty Images
Pete Wentz sported a signature look during the years he spent as a member of the Fall Out Boy rock band: singularly straight hair. As the band's bassist and chief lyricist, Wentz penned hit songs, including "Infinity on High," before the group's lengthy hiatus began in 2009 [source: Hasty]. Then he did something different. And we don't mean finalizing his divorce from pop singer Ashlee Simpson or forming the band Black Cards with fellow musician Spencer Peterson in 2010 [source: Gomez].
In 2011, Wentz began to forgo his strategically mussed straight locks for a more natural look: curls. He'd made no secret of the effort it required to style his hair, or the fact that he thought it was an important part of his appearance [source: Lucey]. The tight curls also prompted speculation that Wentz has black ancestors, and indeed he does.
In an interview with Alternative Press, Wentz says, "My mom, my family, is from Jamaica." His only regret? That when he spent time in Jamaica as a child, he didn't fully appreciate the musical influences of Bob Marley or the Wailers [source: Alternative Press]. Fortunately, Wentz's penchant for starting rock bands turned out OK despite this shortcoming. In addition, he's authored two books, opened a bar and runs Clandestine Industries, a book and clothing distributor [source: All Music].
Soledad O'Brien accepting the NAACP President's Award in 2007.
M. Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images
When Soledad O'Brien debuted as host of CNN's "Black in America" documentary series, she volleyed plenty of questions -- especially from the black community -- about why she should be the one to tackle the premise.
Turns out, O'Brien is black, too. She is the daughter of a black Latina mother and a white Australian father; she grew up in a primarily white neighborhood with parents who insisted she identify as black. As a mixed-race, first-generation American, O'Brien became a broadcast journalist and found herself fighting for equal coverage for people of color [source: O'Brien].
"At screenings for 'Black in America' I've heard people say, 'Well you know I never thought you were black until you did [pieces on Hurricane] Katrina and then I thought you were black.' And I'd say, 'That's so fascinating. What was it that made you think I was black?'" said O'Brien in an interview to promote "Who is Black in America?", her latest installment in the documentary series.
"And then someone else would say, 'Yeah, but she's married to a white man.' And I'm like 'OK, so does that make me less black and how in your mind does that math work?'"
In the end, O'Brien (who's also produced documentaries for CNN on being Latino in America) relied on a lesson learned in her childhood: "My parents taught me very early that how other people perceive me really was not my problem or my responsibility. It was much more based on how I perceived me" [source: O'Brien].
An engraving of Queen Charlotte of England, wife of King George III.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
In the 18th century, a painting of Queen Charlotte -- wife of the British King George III -- sparked a flurry of debate because her facial features seemed more in keeping with someone of African heritage. And with good reason: It seems that Queen Charlotte was descended from a branch of a Portuguese royal family who traced their ancestry to a 13th-century ruler named Alfonso III and his lover Madragana, who was "a Moor" ( an old term for someone of African or Arabic descent) [source: Jeffries].
Some historians cast doubt on this theory but scholar Mario de Valdes y Cocom notes that the queen's personal physician said she had a "true mulatto face." Further, the royal family spelled out its link to African ancestors in a published report released before Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, in conjunction with her position as head of the Commonwealth [source: Cocom].
If correct, the royal link to black heritage would mean that Queen Charlotte's granddaughter, Queen Victoria, was of mixed race. The same goes for her still-living descendants, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince William, and any future heirs.
Portrait of Alexander Pushkin, 1827.
Orest Adamovich Kiprensky/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
Considered the father of Russia's Golden Age of literature, Alexander Pushkin, was born into nobility in the summer of 1799. He was the great-grandson of an Ethiopian prince named Ibrahim Gannibal, who had relocated to Russia and become a general in the army of Peter the Great [source: PBS].
Puskin became a member of a revolutionary group dedicated to social reform and wrote poems that reflected his views. His work, which included "Freedom" and "The Village," came under scrutiny by Russian authorities and led to his exile in 1820 to his mother's estate [source: Shaw].
Six years later, he was pardoned by Czar Nicholas I and free to travel; he married in 1831 and later challenged one of his wife's admirers to a duel in 1837. He died two days later from injuries he sustained in the battle. Pushkin's most famous works include the poem "The Bronze Horseman," the verse novel "Eugene Onegin" and the play "Boris Gudunov" [source: Shaw]. He also left behind an unfinished novel about his Ethiopian great-grandfather.
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
Author Malcolm Gladwell speaks at The 2009 New Yorker Festival.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Malcolm Gladwell, decorated staff writer at The New Yorker and author of four best-selling books -- "The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers" and "What the Dog Saw" -- won a National Magazine Award in 1999 and was named Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2005. Born in 1963 to a Jamaican mother and British father, he has found his mixed heritage to provide plenty of fodder for writing.
In "Black Like them," published in an April 1996 issue of The New Yorker, Gladwell examined the differences between American blacks and West Indians, along with observations about his childhood and family. He detailed the discrimination among his dark- and light-skinned ancestors. For example, a widow on his mother's side had two dark-skinned daughters, but once pretended she didn't know them as she made conversation with a light-skinned suitor.
Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario and contended that race there was a nonissue. "Blacks knew what I was. They could discern the hint of Africa beneath my fair skin," he wrote in his essay. "But it was a kind of secret -- something that they would ask me about quietly when no one else was around ... But whites never guessed, and even after I informed them it never seemed to make a difference. Why would it? In a town that is ninety-nine per cent white, one modest alleged splash of color hardly amounts to a threat."
That changed when he went to Toronto for university and discovered the reputation of Jamaicans who were purportedly heading Canada's drug trade. "After I had moved to the United States, I puzzled over this seeming contradiction -- how West Indians celebrated in New York for their industry and drive could represent, just five hundred miles northwest, crime and dissipation ... In America, there is someone else to despise. In Canada, there is not" [source: Gladwell].
Actress Carol Channing arrives at an awards show in Los Angeles.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Carol Channing, born in 1921, was already a Broadway star known for her performances in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" and "Hello Dolly" when she learned something surprising about her heritage. Her father, George Channing, had been a light-skinned black man.
And although Channing went on to become a well-known gay rights activist, being of mixed race was something she only briefly alluded to in her memoir "Just Lucky I Guess," which was published at age 81. In it, she recounted her father singing gospel music with her and flipping from one pattern of speech in the predominantly white community to a distinctly different pattern of speech in their home.
Nearly a decade later Channing, a three-time Tony award winner, seemed to change her mind again. On a 2010 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, Channing said that her parents "had many disagreements," and before she went off to college her mother thought "she would get even with me" and warned her that if she had a baby it might come out black. Channing admitted she did not know if the story that her father was black was true, but she hoped it was [sources: Parker, Williams].
Pete Wentz sporting his signature 'do.
David Livingston/Getty Images
Pete Wentz sported a signature look during the years he spent as a member of the Fall Out Boy rock band: singularly straight hair. As the band's bassist and chief lyricist, Wentz penned hit songs, including "Infinity on High," before the group's lengthy hiatus began in 2009 [source: Hasty]. Then he did something different. And we don't mean finalizing his divorce from pop singer Ashlee Simpson or forming the band Black Cards with fellow musician Spencer Peterson in 2010 [source: Gomez].
In 2011, Wentz began to forgo his strategically mussed straight locks for a more natural look: curls. He'd made no secret of the effort it required to style his hair, or the fact that he thought it was an important part of his appearance [source: Lucey]. The tight curls also prompted speculation that Wentz has black ancestors, and indeed he does.
In an interview with Alternative Press, Wentz says, "My mom, my family, is from Jamaica." His only regret? That when he spent time in Jamaica as a child, he didn't fully appreciate the musical influences of Bob Marley or the Wailers [source: Alternative Press]. Fortunately, Wentz's penchant for starting rock bands turned out OK despite this shortcoming. In addition, he's authored two books, opened a bar and runs Clandestine Industries, a book and clothing distributor [source: All Music].
Soledad O'Brien accepting the NAACP President's Award in 2007.
M. Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images
When Soledad O'Brien debuted as host of CNN's "Black in America" documentary series, she volleyed plenty of questions -- especially from the black community -- about why she should be the one to tackle the premise.
Turns out, O'Brien is black, too. She is the daughter of a black Latina mother and a white Australian father; she grew up in a primarily white neighborhood with parents who insisted she identify as black. As a mixed-race, first-generation American, O'Brien became a broadcast journalist and found herself fighting for equal coverage for people of color [source: O'Brien].
"At screenings for 'Black in America' I've heard people say, 'Well you know I never thought you were black until you did [pieces on Hurricane] Katrina and then I thought you were black.' And I'd say, 'That's so fascinating. What was it that made you think I was black?'" said O'Brien in an interview to promote "Who is Black in America?", her latest installment in the documentary series.
"And then someone else would say, 'Yeah, but she's married to a white man.' And I'm like 'OK, so does that make me less black and how in your mind does that math work?'"
In the end, O'Brien (who's also produced documentaries for CNN on being Latino in America) relied on a lesson learned in her childhood: "My parents taught me very early that how other people perceive me really was not my problem or my responsibility. It was much more based on how I perceived me" [source: O'Brien].
An engraving of Queen Charlotte of England, wife of King George III.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
In the 18th century, a painting of Queen Charlotte -- wife of the British King George III -- sparked a flurry of debate because her facial features seemed more in keeping with someone of African heritage. And with good reason: It seems that Queen Charlotte was descended from a branch of a Portuguese royal family who traced their ancestry to a 13th-century ruler named Alfonso III and his lover Madragana, who was "a Moor" ( an old term for someone of African or Arabic descent) [source: Jeffries].
Some historians cast doubt on this theory but scholar Mario de Valdes y Cocom notes that the queen's personal physician said she had a "true mulatto face." Further, the royal family spelled out its link to African ancestors in a published report released before Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, in conjunction with her position as head of the Commonwealth [source: Cocom].
If correct, the royal link to black heritage would mean that Queen Charlotte's granddaughter, Queen Victoria, was of mixed race. The same goes for her still-living descendants, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince William, and any future heirs.
Portrait of Alexander Pushkin, 1827.
Orest Adamovich Kiprensky/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
Considered the father of Russia's Golden Age of literature, Alexander Pushkin, was born into nobility in the summer of 1799. He was the great-grandson of an Ethiopian prince named Ibrahim Gannibal, who had relocated to Russia and become a general in the army of Peter the Great [source: PBS].
Puskin became a member of a revolutionary group dedicated to social reform and wrote poems that reflected his views. His work, which included "Freedom" and "The Village," came under scrutiny by Russian authorities and led to his exile in 1820 to his mother's estate [source: Shaw].
Six years later, he was pardoned by Czar Nicholas I and free to travel; he married in 1831 and later challenged one of his wife's admirers to a duel in 1837. He died two days later from injuries he sustained in the battle. Pushkin's most famous works include the poem "The Bronze Horseman," the verse novel "Eugene Onegin" and the play "Boris Gudunov" [source: Shaw]. He also left behind an unfinished novel about his Ethiopian great-grandfather.
Michael Fosberg performing his one-man play "Incognito."
Pete Zivkov/Flckr
If you're an action-movie fan, odds are you'll recognize Michael Fosberg for the roles he landed in "Hard to Kill" and "The Presidio." Fosberg, who played white characters in these movies, didn't really have to stretch for the roles. After all, he'd grown up white in an upper-class family; his mother was a brunette and his father was a fair-skinned blonde.
When Fosberg was 32, however, his parents divorced and spilled a family secret that would change the course of his life. The man Fosberg had always known as his father was actually his stepfather. His biological father and his mother had only been briefly married after his unexpected conception, and Fosberg set out to find the man. When he did, he was stunned to discover his father was black.
The emotional reunion changed Fosberg's perception, not only about himself, but the world around him. It's a journey he chronicled in a memoir, "Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race and Self-Discovery." Fosberg discovered that the African-American side of his family included a grandfather who was chairman of the science and engineering department at Norfolk State University, Va., and a great-grandfather who was a star pitcher for the Negro Leagues [source: Ihejirika].
Since 2000, he's toured the nation performing a one-man play based on his life story. "It's important to embrace all of who you are," Fosberg said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
French novelist Alexandre Dumas, author of "The Three Musketeers," was the son of Gen. Alexandre Dumas and the grandson of a Haitian woman.
Kean Collection/Getty Images
What does it mean to be black? Is it determined by the color of your skin, by your heritage or by the ethnic group with whom you most identify? And how does the "one-drop rule" -- the idea that even a smidge of black ancestry makes you black -- figure into this scenario?
In the American South, during the era of segregation, laws in many states mandated that a person who was at least one-sixteenth black (i.e. had a great-great grandfather or grandmother who was black) or some other tiny amount of black blood was considered black and therefore subject to the discriminatory laws that whites were not. This was informally known as the "one drop" rule [source: Davis]. Light-skinned African-Americans in the past might have determined whether it made more "sense" to embrace their black heritage, Jim Crow laws and all, or to try and "pass" for white for more economic opportunities but at the cost of cutting themselves off from family and culture.
Today with the segregation laws scrapped, the choices are more nuanced. Where a person is raised, or who raised her might determine which ethnic group she identifies with. Or she may feel she shouldn't have to pick one group over the other.
While it hasn't always been in vogue to claim all the branches of one's family tree, embracing a multicultural past is becoming increasingly common. Take Hollywood, for example. Gone are the days of film stars escaping outdated perceptions by denying their ethnicity. Many of today's celebrities are racially ambiguous, from Mariah Carey to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Today, we're sharing the stories of 10 people (past and present) you may not have known were black. Let's start with an illustrious French family.
Gen. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, fighting off the Austrian army, at the bridge of Clausen in Tyrol, on 17 January 1797.
Leemage/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Napoleon Bonaparte was a well-known figure who rose to power during the French Revolution. But Bonaparte was not its only hero. Meet Gen. Alexandre Dumas.
Dumas was born in what is now Haiti to a white father who was a member of the aristocracy and a black mother who was enslaved. Although Dumas kept his mother's familial name, his father raised him in France, which guaranteed opportunities to people of mixed race. There, Dumas completed his education and entered the military, where he became a master of strategy and sword. Dumas rose to the rank of general, led more than 50,000 soldiers and earned a reputation for action. He reportedly captured 13 soldiers singlehandedly, rode into enemy territory to imprison 16 more and led his men up icy cliffs in the dark to surprise opposing forces [source: Taylor].
Although Dumas continued his military career in the subsequent French campaign to conquer Egypt, he attracted the ire of his chief rival, the up-and-coming Bonaparte. Whether Bonaparte, a diminutive man, was jealous of Dumas' height, charisma or infantry skills is impossible to say. One thing is for certain, though: The competition (even if only in Napoleon's own mind) would be Dumas' undoing.
In the late 1790s, when Dumas found himself washed onto Italian shores because of an alarmingly leaky vessel, Napoleon's followers tossed Dumas into a dungeon. There he languished for two years as he suspected the prison physician of poisoning him. Although Dumas was eventually released, his military career was over. Stories of his exploits, however, inspired "The Count of Monte Cristo," a novel written by his son Alexandre, who also wrote "The Three Musketeers" [source: Damrosch].
The cover of Bliss Broyard's book about her father Anatole called "One Drop."
Anatole Broyard was born in New Orleans in 1920 to light-skinned black parents, spent much of his childhood in a predominantly black Brooklyn neighborhood and then crafted a carefully constructed image devoid of his ethnic heritage.
Broyard's light skin allowed him to join the segregated Army as a white man, where he led a battalion of black soldiers. Upon his discharge from the military, he opened a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village, ensconced himself in the literary landscape and eventually became a copywriter at an advertising firm. Although he wrote a few short stories that were met with critical acclaim, Broyard initially struggled to complete a full-length work. The attention, however, helped him secure a job as a book reviewer with The New York Times in the early 1970s, a position he held for more than a decade.
During this time, he became one of the most influential literary critics in the U.S. And, despite rumors to the contrary, continued to live as a white man. Broyard's wife and children did not know he had been born black, nor did his colleagues or friends.
Broyard, who died of prostate cancer in 1990, never revealed the reasons for his ruse. Likely, the limited opportunities for blacks in the 1940s had something to do with his original decision. But many who knew him also believed Broyard wanted to live as a white man because he wanted to escape the expectations of race. He wanted to be known, not for being a "black writer," but a writer, period. Even his memoir, "Kafka Was The Rage," did not reveal his race [source: Gates].
"One could concede that the passing of Anatole Broyard involved dishonesty; but is it so very clear that the dishonesty was mostly Broyard's?" wrote scholar Henry Louis Gates. "To pass is to sin against authenticity, and 'authenticity' is among the founding lies of the modern age."
In 2007, his daughter Bliss published a book about her father titled "One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life -- A Story of Race and Family Secrets."
Author Malcolm Gladwell speaks at The 2009 New Yorker Festival.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The New Yorker
Malcolm Gladwell, decorated staff writer at The New Yorker and author of four best-selling books -- "The Tipping Point," "Blink," "Outliers" and "What the Dog Saw" -- won a National Magazine Award in 1999 and was named Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2005. Born in 1963 to a Jamaican mother and British father, he has found his mixed heritage to provide plenty of fodder for writing.
In "Black Like them," published in an April 1996 issue of The New Yorker, Gladwell examined the differences between American blacks and West Indians, along with observations about his childhood and family. He detailed the discrimination among his dark- and light-skinned ancestors. For example, a widow on his mother's side had two dark-skinned daughters, but once pretended she didn't know them as she made conversation with a light-skinned suitor.
Gladwell grew up in rural Ontario and contended that race there was a nonissue. "Blacks knew what I was. They could discern the hint of Africa beneath my fair skin," he wrote in his essay. "But it was a kind of secret -- something that they would ask me about quietly when no one else was around ... But whites never guessed, and even after I informed them it never seemed to make a difference. Why would it? In a town that is ninety-nine per cent white, one modest alleged splash of color hardly amounts to a threat."
That changed when he went to Toronto for university and discovered the reputation of Jamaicans who were purportedly heading Canada's drug trade. "After I had moved to the United States, I puzzled over this seeming contradiction -- how West Indians celebrated in New York for their industry and drive could represent, just five hundred miles northwest, crime and dissipation ... In America, there is someone else to despise. In Canada, there is not" [source: Gladwell].
Actress Carol Channing arrives at an awards show in Los Angeles.
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Carol Channing, born in 1921, was already a Broadway star known for her performances in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" and "Hello Dolly" when she learned something surprising about her heritage. Her father, George Channing, had been a light-skinned black man.
And although Channing went on to become a well-known gay rights activist, being of mixed race was something she only briefly alluded to in her memoir "Just Lucky I Guess," which was published at age 81. In it, she recounted her father singing gospel music with her and flipping from one pattern of speech in the predominantly white community to a distinctly different pattern of speech in their home.
Nearly a decade later Channing, a three-time Tony award winner, seemed to change her mind again. On a 2010 episode of The Wendy Williams Show, Channing said that her parents "had many disagreements," and before she went off to college her mother thought "she would get even with me" and warned her that if she had a baby it might come out black. Channing admitted she did not know if the story that her father was black was true, but she hoped it was [sources: Parker, Williams].
Pete Wentz sporting his signature 'do.
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Pete Wentz sported a signature look during the years he spent as a member of the Fall Out Boy rock band: singularly straight hair. As the band's bassist and chief lyricist, Wentz penned hit songs, including "Infinity on High," before the group's lengthy hiatus began in 2009 [source: Hasty]. Then he did something different. And we don't mean finalizing his divorce from pop singer Ashlee Simpson or forming the band Black Cards with fellow musician Spencer Peterson in 2010 [source: Gomez].
In 2011, Wentz began to forgo his strategically mussed straight locks for a more natural look: curls. He'd made no secret of the effort it required to style his hair, or the fact that he thought it was an important part of his appearance [source: Lucey]. The tight curls also prompted speculation that Wentz has black ancestors, and indeed he does.
In an interview with Alternative Press, Wentz says, "My mom, my family, is from Jamaica." His only regret? That when he spent time in Jamaica as a child, he didn't fully appreciate the musical influences of Bob Marley or the Wailers [source: Alternative Press]. Fortunately, Wentz's penchant for starting rock bands turned out OK despite this shortcoming. In addition, he's authored two books, opened a bar and runs Clandestine Industries, a book and clothing distributor [source: All Music].
Soledad O'Brien accepting the NAACP President's Award in 2007.
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When Soledad O'Brien debuted as host of CNN's "Black in America" documentary series, she volleyed plenty of questions -- especially from the black community -- about why she should be the one to tackle the premise.
Turns out, O'Brien is black, too. She is the daughter of a black Latina mother and a white Australian father; she grew up in a primarily white neighborhood with parents who insisted she identify as black. As a mixed-race, first-generation American, O'Brien became a broadcast journalist and found herself fighting for equal coverage for people of color [source: O'Brien].
"At screenings for 'Black in America' I've heard people say, 'Well you know I never thought you were black until you did [pieces on Hurricane] Katrina and then I thought you were black.' And I'd say, 'That's so fascinating. What was it that made you think I was black?'" said O'Brien in an interview to promote "Who is Black in America?", her latest installment in the documentary series.
"And then someone else would say, 'Yeah, but she's married to a white man.' And I'm like 'OK, so does that make me less black and how in your mind does that math work?'"
In the end, O'Brien (who's also produced documentaries for CNN on being Latino in America) relied on a lesson learned in her childhood: "My parents taught me very early that how other people perceive me really was not my problem or my responsibility. It was much more based on how I perceived me" [source: O'Brien].
An engraving of Queen Charlotte of England, wife of King George III.
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In the 18th century, a painting of Queen Charlotte -- wife of the British King George III -- sparked a flurry of debate because her facial features seemed more in keeping with someone of African heritage. And with good reason: It seems that Queen Charlotte was descended from a branch of a Portuguese royal family who traced their ancestry to a 13th-century ruler named Alfonso III and his lover Madragana, who was "a Moor" ( an old term for someone of African or Arabic descent) [source: Jeffries].
Some historians cast doubt on this theory but scholar Mario de Valdes y Cocom notes that the queen's personal physician said she had a "true mulatto face." Further, the royal family spelled out its link to African ancestors in a published report released before Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, in conjunction with her position as head of the Commonwealth [source: Cocom].
If correct, the royal link to black heritage would mean that Queen Charlotte's granddaughter, Queen Victoria, was of mixed race. The same goes for her still-living descendants, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Prince William, and any future heirs.
Portrait of Alexander Pushkin, 1827.
Orest Adamovich Kiprensky/The Bridgeman Art Library/Getty Images
Considered the father of Russia's Golden Age of literature, Alexander Pushkin, was born into nobility in the summer of 1799. He was the great-grandson of an Ethiopian prince named Ibrahim Gannibal, who had relocated to Russia and become a general in the army of Peter the Great [source: PBS].
Puskin became a member of a revolutionary group dedicated to social reform and wrote poems that reflected his views. His work, which included "Freedom" and "The Village," came under scrutiny by Russian authorities and led to his exile in 1820 to his mother's estate [source: Shaw].
Six years later, he was pardoned by Czar Nicholas I and free to travel; he married in 1831 and later challenged one of his wife's admirers to a duel in 1837. He died two days later from injuries he sustained in the battle. Pushkin's most famous works include the poem "The Bronze Horseman," the verse novel "Eugene Onegin" and the play "Boris Gudunov" [source: Shaw]. He also left behind an unfinished novel about his Ethiopian great-grandfather.
Michael Fosberg performing his one-man play "Incognito."
Pete Zivkov/Flckr
If you're an action-movie fan, odds are you'll recognize Michael Fosberg for the roles he landed in "Hard to Kill" and "The Presidio." Fosberg, who played white characters in these movies, didn't really have to stretch for the roles. After all, he'd grown up white in an upper-class family; his mother was a brunette and his father was a fair-skinned blonde.
When Fosberg was 32, however, his parents divorced and spilled a family secret that would change the course of his life. The man Fosberg had always known as his father was actually his stepfather. His biological father and his mother had only been briefly married after his unexpected conception, and Fosberg set out to find the man. When he did, he was stunned to discover his father was black.
The emotional reunion changed Fosberg's perception, not only about himself, but the world around him. It's a journey he chronicled in a memoir, "Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race and Self-Discovery." Fosberg discovered that the African-American side of his family included a grandfather who was chairman of the science and engineering department at Norfolk State University, Va., and a great-grandfather who was a star pitcher for the Negro Leagues [source: Ihejirika].
Since 2000, he's toured the nation performing a one-man play based on his life story. "It's important to embrace all of who you are," Fosberg said in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.
Portrait of Alessandro de Medici, first Duke of Florence, wearing a suit of armour.
DEA/G. NIMATALLAH/De Agostini/Getty Images
An exploration of the Italian Renaissance wouldn't be complete without talking about the powerful banking and political family the Medicis. And Alessandro de Medici, the first Duke of Florence, supported some of the era's leading artists. In fact, he is one of only two Medici princes to be buried in a tomb designed by Michelangelo.
You could say Medici was the first black ruler in Italy, in fact the first black head of state in the Western world, though his African heritage was rarely talked about. He was born in 1510 to a black servant and a white 17-year-old named Giulio de Medici, who would later become Pope Clement VII. Upon his election topope, Clement VII had to relinquish his position as Duke of Florence and appointed his son instead.
But the teenage Medici faced a changing political climate. Emperor Charles V sacked Rome in 1527, and Florentines took advantage of the turmoil to establish a more democratic form of government. Medici fled his hometown. He returned when tensions eased two years later and was again appointed by the Emperor Charles V, who offered his own daughter – also born out of wedlock -- as Medici's wife. Despite the family ties, Medici was killed by a cousin shortly after he married in 1537 [source: African American Registry].
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