[CJ-50]

My point is that being related to someone involved in the slave trade does not make one evil. Being the owner of slave may not make you evil either. I mention Jefferson because he carried on a relationship with a slave as opposed to "forcing" himself on one.

As evidenced by the variations in color of african-americans, then and now, there was some mixing between owners and slaves.

Are we individually judged by the actions of our fore-bearers?

[Verginius Rufus]

No one gets to pick his or her ancestors, so they shouldn't be considered guilty of things their ancestors may have done wrong. Of course in this country all whites are guilty because they are white, whether or not they had ancestors here before slavery was abolished, let alone whether they are descended from any slaveowner.

There was definitely a lot of mixing--the census in the 19th century listed individuals as "mulatto" if they seemed to be or were known to be of mixed race. Some important "black" Americans like Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington had white fathers. Douglass recalls being referred to as "yellow" because of his lighter complexion.

It may be true that Jefferson slept with slaves, or at least with one slave (Sally Hemings, his deceased wife's half-sister), but it still really depends on the family tradition of Sally's descendants that that happened.