Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai General Chat

Bethsmum wrote:I quite like the TV programme 'Who Do You Think You Are' and have taken to watching the US version, now the British series has finished. The most recent one was of Vanessa Williams, from the Ugly Betty series. I didn't realise she was Miss America 1984. They traced her roots back and her great great grandfather was one of the first black soldiers to join the Confederate army and was paid $300 to join.
I don't know what's happened to her but she isn't as black as her family She has the most lovely long straight brown hair.

Vanessa Williams is not considered bi-racial, but does have white ancestry BM. As for her long straight brown hair, it has been processed. She was the first black Miss American 1984 for about 5 minutes and lost her crown when it was discovered there were some "seedy" photos of hr as she had posed for Penthouse. I will say she is quite accomplished as far as her talents go and she proven to be good at all of them.

I noticed from my recent trip to NY that the Americans don't have that much history. On a 'big bus, hop on hop off' thing I did, the guide kept telling us that this building was one hundred years old and that building dated back to 1900. Wow. So do my kitchen units. My house is built in 1530.

Unfortunately during the growth of New York City many historical buildings were demolished to make way for the new. Some of the most beautiful stone carvings on homes, buildings, and churches were destroyed in the process. Out with the old, in the with new. You won't find any of the homes that were built in the 16/1700s inside the city, but there are many outside the city and the surrounding areas - the five boroughs and upstate New York. Check out this site which lists structures that were built by Native American Indians. In the southern part of the US there are these awesome colonial mansions. Who says we don't have history?

My mothers side of the family have a family tree and there is a Bishop and a silent actress in there somewhere.

I'm not sure how DNA is going to help you trace your family tree. All it will tell you is what colour your ancestors were. Just look in the mirror. It will be cheaper.

Not necessarily true BM. It wasn't too many years ago that it was discovered that there was a black family that found out that they were descendants of Thomas Jefferson. Story goes is that Thomas Jefferson had a housemaid that he was quite in love with. She was with him when he died. There are many blacks in the US who have white blood in them as their ancestors were slaves and the whilte "Massas" were either raping black women or were having affairs with some of the slaves - which really didn't last long.

There are white people who looked into their background and found that their ancestry showed that somewhere along the line blood was mixed - that they actually had blacks in their family tree. So a look in the mirror is not necessarily "you get what you see".

My ancestry - for the most part stems from Irish, Norwegian, French, but also includes Native American Indian. It was fairly prominent in my grandfather - who was quite a handsome man. One look at him and you knew he wasn't Irish.

Good luck.

herve wrote:In the GCC, they might all come from the same tree, since 50% of children come from 1st cousins parents.

Bora Bora wrote:Vanessa Williams is not considered bi-racial, but does have white ancestry BM. As for her long straight brown hair, it has been processed. She was the first black Miss American 1984 for about 5 minutes and lost her crown when it was discovered there were some "seedy" photos of hr as she had posed for Penthouse. I will say she is quite accomplished as far as her talents go and she proven to be good at all of them.

Bora Bora wrote:Unfortunately during the growth of New York City many historical buildings were demolished to make way for the new. Some of the most beautiful stone carvings on homes, buildings, and churches were destroyed in the process. Out with the old, in the with new. You won't find any of the homes that were built in the 16/1700s inside the city, but there are many outside the city and the surrounding areas - the five boroughs and upstate New York. Check out this site which lists structures that were built by Native American Indians. In the southern part of the US there are these awesome colonial mansions. Who says we don't have history?

Bora Bora wrote: My ancestry - for the most part stems from Irish, Norwegian, French, but also includes Native American Indian. It was fairly prominent in my grandfather - who was quite a handsome man. One look at him and you knew he wasn't Irish. [/color]

Good luck.