Rhimes’ production company, Shondaland, is behind the new successful period of Netflix’s “Bridgerton” series, which includes black and white members of British society from the early 19th century.
The series was created by his showrunner Chris Van Dusen and is based on a Regency novel by Julia Quinn. In the show, Queen Charlotte from the real life of Great Britain is described as a black woman by the actress Golda Rosheuvel.
Many have long believed that the queen, who was married to King George III and is the ancestor of the current Queen Elizabeth, had African ancestry based in part on her images.
However, there are others who dispute this claim.
“Many historians believe he had an African experience,” she said. “It’s a highly debated point and we can’t test it for DNA, so I don’t think there will ever be a definitive answer.”
Queen Charlotte is just one of many in history whose racial identity has been debated.
Here are some more:
Ludwig van Beethoven
The writer reported that the theory was launched in 1907 by British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was mixed and said he saw a resemblance between his features and those of Beethoven’s likenesses.
It’s an idea that Clark says survived the years and was taken over by black activists Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X.
“Was Beethoven black? The evidence is sparse and inconclusive,” Clark wrote.
“The case is based on two possibilities: the fact that Beethoven’s Flemish ancestors married Spanish” blackamoors “of African descent or that Beethoven’s mother had an affair. But the truth sought by Carmichael and Malcolm X was not scientific: “Beethoven was black” was a great metaphor designed to disturb and shake certainty. “
J. Edgar Hoover
The first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was known for his work in undermining the civil rights movement and its leaders.
The story quoted Millie McGhee, author of “The Secrets Discovered, J. Edgar Hoover – Passing for White?” an African-American woman who remembered being told she was related to Hoover when she grew up in McComb, Mississippi.
McGhee said his subsequent research revealed that they were indeed family.
“Because of Edgar’s anti-black history, I’m not proud of this lineage, but history must be based on truth,” she said.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Was Jackie Kennedy the first black lady?
This theory seems to come from the research of her ancestors.
The play notes that “When First Lady Jackie Kennedy visited England in 1961, society photographer Cecil Beaton met her at a dinner party. In his diary, he commented that he looked “negroid”.
Some historians have also noted that her father, Wall Street stockbroker John Vernou Bouvier III, was called “Black Jack,” which they attributed to his black complexion.
Clark Gable
Gable was known as the tall, dark, handsome “King of Hollywood.”
It has long been rumored that he had both a black and an American heritage, which no one has ever documented.
But he was well known for his early support of African-American civil rights.
“He looked at me and read the signs and swore like a sailor,” Bluett recalled.
Gable, who was the star of the film, went to the director and the owner of the property and demanded that the signs be removed or else the hundreds of black extras on the set leave that day.
Bluett said the signs were removed.