Posted on by Tamara Lucas Copeland

I am my brother’s keeper. Part 3. Black and Native.

In all my Daughters of the Dream posts, I comment through my African American lens. That is who I am. That is how I identify. In truth, however, my maternal side of the family is primarily Native; members of the Chickahominy Tribe of Virginia. I have known this all my life, but it mostly went unacknowledged. The federal government did not recognize the tribe until 2018. But more importantly, in many ways, it was also unrecognized by my family.

The author’s maternal grandparents, Dora Adkins Charity and Joseph P. Charity.

Using Ancestry.com, I watched the evolution of the racial identity of my maternal grandparents. On early census documents, my grandmother was noted as Indian, full-blooded as the saying goes. My maternal grandfather was noted as Mulatto, which he was by the definition of that term, mixed Indian and white. Then they both become Mulatto, along with their children, of course. Subsequent census documents list them as colored, then Negro, then black.

My mother and her siblings were raised as African American. Perhaps my grandparents had internalized the negativity the white, dominant population associated with being Native. The only time I can remember my mother celebrating her Native heritage was when she casually commented one Thanksgiving that there was no need to observe this holiday (even though she did). “It was just the beginning of white people taking Indians’ land,” she said.

Now, I have started the journey of celebrating all of me.

The author with Stephen Adkins, Chief of the Chickahominy Tribe of Virginia

Just as I would not overlook a racist image of an African American or a racist comment about one, I am becoming more attuned to my Native roots and culture.  For years, I have recognized the racism in the names of some sports teams. But when conversations turned to looting following the murder of George Floyd, how many of us thought about the original looters — those who took the land of the Native peoples in this country?

Native and black, they are both a part of who I am.

But what about those identities that are not a part of you or me? Just because it is not our identity, racism cannot be ignored. Racism hurts all of us. As Martin Luther King said, “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” The racial mosaic of those who continue to march and speak out against police brutality and racism, six weeks after the murder of George Floyd, gives me hope. An increasing number of Americans seem to believe — truly believe — we are our brother’s keeper.

 

9 Replies to “I am my brother’s keeper. Part 3. Black and Native.”

  2. Tamara, My great-grandfather in NC was rumored to be Native American. It was never discussed, but whispered among family members, hush-hush. My sIster worked on our genealogy and could find nothing. 🙁 He was supposedly Cherokee or perhaps from the Tuscarora tribe.

    Teresa

    Reply

  3. A few thoughts in no particular order: How interesting that you can follow the Native American branch of your family tree and learn more about your Chickahominy ancestors. You’ll have to share more of your family’s story with us. Your mother’s remark about Thanksgiving certainly enabled me to see that holiday through different eyes. I’ve always seen it from the Mayflower point of view.
    Thank you for the link to the article in the Wash Post. During a trip out west about 30 years ago, we drove by Native American homes and saw theIr poverty for the first time. I’m going to make a wild guess and assume that it hasn’t improved. I will be more aware of the AIM, thanks to your link to the article, but I have also been more aware due to the higher number of Covid cases among Native Americans.
    Your last line is hopeful, and I believe the majority of the people in the US are beyond ready to see the end of racism. I’m glad you’re feeling that same hope.
    Thank you. Keep writing….

    Reply
  4. kittysnowhometeam – Growing up in Richmond, I've learned its history and seen its future. I'd like to share a slice of its past as seen through pictures from 1910. My great-grandfather took the pictures but they belong to all of us. As a kid, I was taught to share. So here we are...let's share.
    kittysnowhometeam says:

    I have pictures of Janey Charity and have tried to find kin of hers. Call me if you can to see if she’s in your family. 804 794-2603 or cell 615-1125
    Kitty

    Reply

  5. Tamara, your posts always give me something to think about. This post was your Mom’s comment about Thanksgiving. This would have been during your childhood, right? In this summer of statues coming down – Columbus included – I’m finding out that objections to these statues are not a new thing. But this summer it seems that everything has reached critical mass. I’m trying to find and read the books that help me understand what was not in our history books.

    Reply
    1. Tamara Lucas Copeland – I am African-American, a child of the South, born, educated and still living there. This distinction provides a unique personal vantage point for issues of racial equity. I am also an only child, a circumstance that sometimes leads to friends being more like family. These factors contribute to my love for my forever friends, my perspective on the role race plays in America, and my authorship of both the Daughters of the Dream blog and now a book by the same name. or decades, I watched my mother research the genealogical history of her family, talking to relatives, reviewing microfiche on hundreds of library visits long before the internet existed, as she labored to produce two published works. Motivated by my mother’s determination to document her family and by my and my friends’ realization of the importance of our five-plus decades-long friendship, I took on the challenge of telling our story. Not a historian, but an avid observer of the overlay of history on the racial reality of America, Daughters of the Dream is the result. Currently, I am president of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (WRAG). Founded in 1992, WRAG is a nonprofit association with over 100 of the most well-respected foundations and corporate giving programs in the Greater Washington, D.C. region as its members. WRAG’s groundbreaking work, Putting Racism on the Table, has received widespread recognition for enabling the philanthropic community to understand so they might work for racial equity. I came to WRAG with extensive experience in nonprofit management and on children’s policy having led Voices for America’s Children, the National Health & Education Consortium, and the Infant Mortality Initiative of Southern Governors’ Association and Southern Legislative Conference and having been Congressman Bobby Scott’s (D-VA) Legislative Director.
      Tamara Lucas Copeland says:

      Hi, Fredrica, thanks for your comment. I do hope that the posts provoke new thinking and new actions. Yes, I recall my mother making that comment when I was in junior high/middle school. I did a blog in the summer of last year called a Primer on Racial Healing. In that, I cite some books that you might want to consider adding to your reading list. Take care. Tamara

      Reply

      1. Thanks,Tamara. I knew you had posted a list, and figured I’d just go back through the posts until I found it! Are there one or two books that, in your opinion, are essential reading for those of us who know that the events of this summer are cataclysmic, and we need to know how to be our best selves.

      2. Tamara Lucas Copeland – I am African-American, a child of the South, born, educated and still living there. This distinction provides a unique personal vantage point for issues of racial equity. I am also an only child, a circumstance that sometimes leads to friends being more like family. These factors contribute to my love for my forever friends, my perspective on the role race plays in America, and my authorship of both the Daughters of the Dream blog and now a book by the same name. or decades, I watched my mother research the genealogical history of her family, talking to relatives, reviewing microfiche on hundreds of library visits long before the internet existed, as she labored to produce two published works. Motivated by my mother’s determination to document her family and by my and my friends’ realization of the importance of our five-plus decades-long friendship, I took on the challenge of telling our story. Not a historian, but an avid observer of the overlay of history on the racial reality of America, Daughters of the Dream is the result. Currently, I am president of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (WRAG). Founded in 1992, WRAG is a nonprofit association with over 100 of the most well-respected foundations and corporate giving programs in the Greater Washington, D.C. region as its members. WRAG’s groundbreaking work, Putting Racism on the Table, has received widespread recognition for enabling the philanthropic community to understand so they might work for racial equity. I came to WRAG with extensive experience in nonprofit management and on children’s policy having led Voices for America’s Children, the National Health & Education Consortium, and the Infant Mortality Initiative of Southern Governors’ Association and Southern Legislative Conference and having been Congressman Bobby Scott’s (D-VA) Legislative Director.
        Tamara Lucas Copeland says:

        Hi, let me know if this is useful — https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234

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