U.S. first lady Michelle Obama speaks to supporters and volunteers as she campaigns for her husband President Barack Obama’s re-election at the VFW Post 1503 June 7, 2012 in Dale City, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama speaks to supporters and volunteers as she campaigns for her husband President Barack Obama’s re-election at the VFW Post 1503 June 7, 2012 in Dale City, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama speaks to supporters and volunteers as she campaigns for her husband President Barack Obama’s re-election at the VFW Post 1503 June 7, 2012 in Dale City, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama speaks to supporters and volunteers as she campaigns for her husband President Barack Obama’s re-election at the VFW Post 1503 June 7, 2012 in Dale City, Virginia. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
First lady Michelle Obama greets children before signing her new book ‘American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America’ during a book signing at Barnes & Noble on June 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
First lady Michelle Obama greets children before signing her new book ‘American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America’ during a book signing at Barnes & Noble on June 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
First lady Michelle Obama greets children before signing her new book ‘American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America’ during a book signing at Barnes & Noble on June 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
First lady Michelle Obama greets children before signing her new book ‘American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America’ during a book signing at Barnes & Noble on June 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
From MadameNoire.com – No African-American would be surprised to learn that he or she has white ancestors given the history of slave raping in this country. But most of us don’t get the chance to connect the dots and really learn who those ancestors were—or even their white descendants who are living today—but that’s what’s going on with a DNA project that has traced First Lady Michelle Obama’s relatives back to it’s interracial start in Northern Georgia.
The New York Times ran a story this weekend that uncovers Michelle Obama’s ancestry in a way that’s both unique and quite common for black people today. Here are the details in part:
The discovery of this unexpected family tie between the nation’s most prominent black woman and a white, silver-haired grandmother from the Atlanta suburbs underscores the entangled histories and racial intermingling that continue to bind countless American families more than 140 years after the Civil War.
The link was established through more than two years of research into Mrs. Obama’s roots, which included DNA tests of white and black relatives. Like many African-Americans, Mrs. Obama was aware that she had white ancestry, but knew little more.
Read the rest of this story on Madame Noire.
