Saundra, Your various point are well taken. I believe, however, that despite the logic that they are based on, emotion may rule in many cases. I have a favorite cousin who has had to deal with the split in her bloodline from a contemporaneous perspective. She did not have to go back generations to find the source of the mix of Caucasian blood in her veins. As proud as she is of her African roots, she is quick to point out that she can no more hate her white mother and her folks than she does her father's family. This makes sense. Where the argument breaks down is that she is the product of love. It is often pointed out that the midnight liaisons in slave row had more to do with lust and power than love. BeBe Moore Campbell recently opined in an excellent commentary on NPR's All Things Considered that even the product of what was ostensibly a love relationship between Ms. Hemings and Mr. Jefferson was more a display of control and power, in effect, a rape than anything else. I tend to agree with both Ms. Moore and my cousin. The times and circumstances that were the milieu for each relationship make the difference. Respectfully, J. Anthony Acker http://www.uftree.com/UFT/WebPages/JamesAnthonyAcker/ACKER003/index.htm