Chapter 2: Breaking Free

Once upon a time, laws in America existed that read: “Any negro man and white woman, or any white man and negro woman, who are not married to each other, who shall habitually live in and occupy in the nighttime the same room shall each be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars. ”[i]

If you turn back the hand of time to our early American History, you’ll find the African’s unwillful entry into the United States for the purpose of slavery. Despite the Master/Slave laws, there were interracial relations even at that time. History has now confirmed the Sally Hemings affair of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and our third U.S. President. Fawn Brodie’s documentation of Jefferson's domestic secrets states that Sally Hemings was the half sister of his late wife, Martha, whom he had loved dearly. On her deathbed, Martha (perhaps selfishly) extracted from Thomas a promise that he would never remarry. [ii]

But history shows that while he managed not to remarry, Thomas struggled, torn between his promise to Martha and his own wants and needs as a human being and as a man. Sally was of very light complexion, being three quarters white. She was a smart black woman because she made him promise that he would free any and all children he had by her at their reaching adulthood, and also that he would "give her time" upon his own death. History reflects that he kept both of these promises. Jefferson fathered four children with Sally and that progeny has, in turn, gone on since then to develop a long line of descendants, some of which "became white" and some of which "became black." Though this all became public during his lifetime, Jefferson refused to ever address publicly the allegations presented against him. But the evidence was too great to conceal.

[i] “Anti-Miscegenation Laws.” Wikipedia

[ii] Brodie, Fawn M. No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith. New York: Alfred A Knopf, Inc. (1945) 2nd Rev. (1995)