Reply #29: None of it passes a sniff test. Political Kabuki.

[TahitiNut]

There's no rational, honest reason on earth to hide or lie about one's ancestry, imho. Either he regards his ancestry as a "political liability" or he's a bigot. Personally, I'd be overjoyed to find that my ancestry was diverse, and the more diverse the better. I've done as much genealogy as I can but tracing my ancestry on my father's side is a rat's nest of marriages, divorces, unmarried mothers and very common names (e.g. Davis, Clark, etc.) going back to 17th century colonial America, as far as some tenuous data I've collected indicates. My uncle indicated that he recalled some family talk about a black great-great-grandmother but he was unable to offer any documentation or specifics. It'd tickle me pink to find out more. Why wouldn't anyone be proud of a diverse ancestry?? (Boggles my mind.)