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I Did Not Know That Carol Channing's Grandmother was Black!?


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I Did Not Know That Carol Channing's Grandmother was Black!?

 

 

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By Allan Warren - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10973223

colour portrait Carol Channing

 

Although her career was before my time, from rewinds, I found her to be fabulous. She passed away in 2019. I loved to watch two episodes of her and the late Betty White on a Love Boat episode. She has a unique, strong voice and she's funny. And I just read that, although she was considered a White woman all her life, in the later years, she admitted that she had recent Black ancestry!  So, on this wise, I wonder would she fit the old category of 'passing' or, would she fit the old category of 'one drop rule'. I don't know how those rules line up.

 

Anyway, Carol's father's mother was a Black woman. And her mother told her at the time that she was going off to college the truth about it. The reason why her mother told her, Carol would later explain, would be because her mother did not want her to have children and be surprised that her baby might be Black! Wow! 

 

So anyway, here is a video of a doctor of psychology that did some research on her. 

Carol announced later in life, I think in 2002 that she did have this Black ancestry and appeared on some talk shows to further expound upon her views.

 

 

 

 

 

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Well......

I checked out her wiki page and it said her grandmother was African-American.....not necessarily Black.
Which makes sense because I don't see a lot of "Black" in her at all.
Even that so called "Black" grandmother was probably mixed.

You know how it goes around here in America.
If you have ANY Black ancestry in you, the public....including a lot of Pro-Black people....will just toss you in the "Black" category and identify you as Black for the rest of your existence.


Now speaking of Carols......
If you said Carol BURNETT had a Black grandmother....I would definitely believe that, lol.
Looking at her lips, nose, and the amount of energy and talent she had in her performance, seems like she had some Black genetics someone below the surface.

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 @Chevdove This was not new to me, and i had heard a while back how Carole revealed that she had black blood on her mother's side of the family.  She did have a "black vibe" and I didn't find this hard to believe.   Her persona was very unique and she was a gifted performer. 

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This is from https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0151919/bio


She was the daughter of Adelaide (Glaser) and George Channing (who was born George Christian Stucker). Carol's paternal grandfather, George Stucker, was the son of German immigrants, and Carol's paternal grandmother, Clara, was African-American. Carol's maternal grandparents, Otto Glaser and Paulina Ottmann, were both of German origin. Carol stated in her autobiography, "Just Lucky, I Guess", that her father, who was light-skinned, used one accent to help "pass" in the white world and another around the house, where he sang gospel music to entertain his daughter.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/1/2023 at 2:39 PM, Cynique said:

and i had heard a while back how Carole revealed that she had black blood on her mother's side of the family. 

 

On her mother's side too!?

That's interesting @Cynique. I guess it did not make headlines, so Carol Channing chose not to highlight this then.

But yes, I agree, she is a gifted performer. I am definitely going to try to find some of her older performances.

She was amazing. 

 

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I don't think it really means anything either, but it is interesting.  The extent to which white folks had to hide their African ancestry.  Most white people who have been on this land mass for more than a few centuries have Black ancestry, as do Black people with the same tenure have white ancestry.

 

There are at least six American presidents with Black ancestry, Barack Obama, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Of course, most of these men would have done everything in their power to hide any evidence of Black ancestry.

 

J.A. Rodgers published a 22-page book The Five Negro Presidents, in which he provides evidence. Rodgers, for obvious reasons, has been marginalized.

 

 

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On 4/19/2023 at 10:24 AM, Troy said:

There are at least six American presidents with Black ancestry, Barack Obama, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Of course, most of these men would have done everything in their power to hide any evidence of Black ancestry.

 

 

I learned about Harding in college, but some of the others you mentioned is a surprise to me. 

 

On 4/18/2023 at 11:47 PM, Stefan said:

Yeah, I knew that. What difference does it make? 

Unless one is trying to derive some pride from this tidbit, it does not mean much. 

 

Today it may not mean much, but in the past, it meant a lot! 

 

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