As a black American male. Just the subject alone in this well acted film is taboo. In the states, as in the UK during that period of the British Empire reigning supreme. Most mulatto off-springs were killed at birth anyhow. The shame & disgust that this act brought on families(both black & white) would turn them away from such inequities.
share[deleted]
Though he didn't acknowledge them as his own, Thomas Jefferson fathered a family of mulatto children with his slave Sally Hemmings, who was also mulatto. Some of their children with light skin color were able to pass themselves off as white, though that meant they had to cut ties with their family to blend into society seamlessly. Today, there are many descendants of Sally Hemmings and Thomas Jefferson, both black and white, living in America.
shareSally Hemings was not a mulatto, she was a quadroon, which is 1/4th black. Sally's mother was a mulatto.
As a black person I would be embarrassed to call myself a descendant of Jefferson....a privileged slave holding white rapist who impregnated a captured young slave girl who was reportedly around 14 years old at the time. And this creep along with other white rapists are on the face of money and some mountain in South Dakota...
shareAs I have understood it, Jefferson and Sally had a very loving almost marriage-like relationship.
Of course, it is true that she was his slave and much younger than him.
But that doesn't necessarily make him a rapist.
As a black American female, I thought this film was wonderful. It's based on a true story, so it's not like they made it all up.
And where did you get that most mulattos were killed at birth? I haven't heard that? There's a reason why the one drop stigma existed throughout history because mulattos could marry another white/Latino and eventually disapate the "black" blood to where it's not visible in facial and hair features anymore. However, the stigma of having black in them still existed, the one drop concept making someone not pure white. Mulattos were not popular in upper "society" but they existed.
The mulattoes were the result of white males raping. This is the harsh truth that gets downplayed. So the next time you hear one of them whining about OJ Simpson "getting off"...
share[deleted]