Richard Mullens:
CLASS OF 1967
Gosnell High SchoolClass of 1967
Gosnell, AR
Canutillo Middle SchoolClass of 1988
Canutillo, TX
University of TexasClass of 1971
El paso, TX
Colby Community CollegeClass of 1969
Colby, KS
Burns Flat-Dill City High SchoolClass of 1967
Burns flat, OK
Richard's Story
Life
well, life has been very interesting so far. Life is like a box of chocolates.Things havent been exactly like I had envisioned,but it hasnt been dull.Im raising my fourteen year old son( who has turned out to be quite a basketball player, go figure!)Im having all the trials and tribulations that go along with the the puberty thing. We can remember that, right.I teach junior high English and history.Currently, Im living in deep east Texas and trying to adjust to the culture shock. My two younger children live with their mom here.All three attend the small school where I teach.So its a great situation for me.I dont know about you guys but I still feel 16 and its a terrible shock when I look in the mirror and see this middle aged person staring back at me.Im currently single Ive been that way for 4 years.Oh, I forgot to mention I have three grown children(Linda meyer is their mom) Im very proud of them, although I cant take too much of the credit, their mom did a great job. Sean, 36, is a musician livng in Austin, Conor, soon to get his Phd. in Chemistry, Meagan, graduated with honors from UT and now is working in New York.Update:This year I will be teaching All high school history classes and coaching varsity basketball. I know that may be a scarey thought to those of you who played with me, but I do understand the team concept now.Update: Im currently in my third year as the high school history teacher and boys basketball coach. Im still single.Im adjusting somewhat to east Texas but still dont feel at home. Clint is in his senior yearIts hard to believe he will be off to college next year. Mackenzie is in the 7th grade and Liam will be in the fifth. Up date : every one is 9 years older and I have been single for 13 years..lol
Update: My basketball team made it to the 3rd round of the playoffs. It was the best season since 2000, when we won state. Clint has been offered a scholarship. Next years team looks great. Still single!Update:I havent taught or coached in 10 months. I won't go into detail,google my name and read all about it.I'm living in New Mexico, and I love it. Teaching doesnt seem to be a viable option for me right now. I'm writing a book and a research article on Triracial Isolates. Up date: DNA testing y chromosome results of my family: E1b1b1 e-m35 of nothern African and East African orgin, matches with Ashkenazai Jews and Berbers. that was a surprise for me.
ÃÂÿ True Colors ÃÂÿ
BY: Richard Mullens
With the election of Barack Obama, much attention is being paid to race in America. President Obama is biracial, a difference without distinction in America.
Traditionally in America your race has been determined by your physical appearance but there has always been an exception for blacks. In the South there was always an unwritten one drop rule defining blacks. Basically, it said that if you had a known ancestor of black heritage then you were black no matter your physical appearance. This worked well as long as people were not very migratory. Your neighbors knew your family background. So if you had a great grandparent who was black but the rest of your family tree was white you were still black according to this rule of determining race .Hitler had a similar formula for determining whether an individual was Arian or a Jew.
As I stated before, this one drop rule could only be enforced if someone stayed in the general area of their birth. The colonization of what is now the United States took place on the East coast of this country by mainly people from the British Isles or of Northern European orgin.From the time of the first successful English colony in America, Jamestown in 1609, until about 1690 there were no miscegenation laws.These laws prohibited the marriage between people of different races. Race, then, was loosely defined by color.
Along with the early colonist came indentured servants who were bound by law to serve a period of bondage to their master to repay the master for the cost of their transport to the new world. Most of these indentured servants were white, many from Ireland and female. Surprisingly, some were African males. Sometimes relationships would develop between the white indentured servant female and the indentured Black male. The resulting offspring would of course be biracial. In most instances after their period of indentureship was served the family would leave the ma...Expand for more
sterÃÂÿs home and join up with other biracial groups in their area.
Historical records from North Carolina and Virginia from the time period around the late 1600's show a number of legal marriages between white servant females and Negro males some of these males were classified as mulatoes. A mulato was classified at that time as a person with one white parent and one Negro parent. These intermarriages between races had become so prevalent that local officials began to pass laws restricting such unions. Because of the growing population of free people of color in these areas of North Carolina and Virginia, laws were also passed making it more difficult for slave owners to free slaves in their wills or the purchase of their freedom by slaves themselves. There was also a scramble to curtail the import of white servants and their subsequent replacement with Negro slaves. Officials hoped this would limit the social contact particularly between white females and Black slaves.
Many of these biracial groups formed bonds with Native American tribes and intermarriage took place. One such group now found in North Carolina has sought for years recognition as a Native American tribe. This group the Lumbee Tribe, according to many historians and genealogist has triacial roots. It is interesting to note that actress Heather Locklear is descended from this group . Other triracial groups such as the melungeons moved from their area of origin and settled in more western areas like Kentucky and West Virginia. The Melungeons have long insisted that they are not of triracial ancestry. Over the years they have claimed Portuguese, Native American and more recently Turkish ancestry.
All triracial groups seem to have at least a thread of connection which belies the term isolate associated with these groups. There may be a common genetic link. The Red Bones of Louisiana, the Brass ankles, and the Melungeons, all share certain surnames. This shows a possible shared genetic history. Each of these groups has experienced being shunned by the white culture and all have been associated with so called race mixing.
In the early 1920's through about 1943, one man set out on a crusade to make miscegenation difficult if not impossible. Dr. Walter Plecker, a rural doctor in Virginia became the Director of Vital Statistics for the state of Virginia in the early 1920's. A follower of the theory of eugenics he believed that the white race was being mongrelized by intermarriage between Blacks and whites, He was particularly obsessed with triracial groups trying to be identified as Native American or white. Dr. Plecker compiled a list of surnames commonly associated with triracial groups and distributed it to neighboring states. His goal was to prevent these groups from legally marrying whites, and enrolling their children into white public schools. The following is a partial list of the surnames of families that according to Plecker had Black ancestry: Epps, Stewart, Coleman, Johnson, Martin, Talley, Porter, Ingram, Bass, Sawyer, Weaver, Locklear, Greene, Sorrells, Worlds, Tyson, Beverly, Collins, Gibson, Moore, Goins, Ramsey, Bunch, Freeman, Bolden, Mullins, Hawkins, Adkins, Birch, Howell.
I have read estimates based on DNA samples that 5% of white Americans have Black ancestry and 60% of Blacks have white ancestry. A significant larger number of whites may actually have black African ancestry than reflected by the 5% number. Thousands of triracial people have left their areas of orgin and joined white society and this was done 6 or more generations ago. The point being if color is the only distinction between whites and blacks, and I believe that to be the case, why do we still have all this controversy over race ?
Recently, in Louisiana, a justice of the peace refused to marry an interracial couple. Keith Bardwell the JP said he was concerned about the problems the racially mixed children might have. Obviously, Mr. Bardwell is a proponent of eugenics. Little has changed in some parts of this country. Let ye among you without black ancestry cast the first stone but first you might want to take a DNA test. Particularly if you have heard one of these stories in reference to your family: You have Black Dutch, Black Irish, a mysterious female Indian ancestor, or your name or any of your blood relatives names are found on Dr. Pleckers full list. Because you might just be black.
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