It was just confirmed on the Henry Louis Gate Finding Your Roots show that Vivian had black ancesty from a 3x great grandmother who was enslaved in the south and freed by her white father. Her African genes were strong and their features stayed with her family line for many years.
You leave out the fact the dna was barely 4% of course! Vivian Cash was white. And Vivian was HA,LF Italian, a quarter german and 1/4 Irish. The Irish line had one possibly full black ancestor THREE generations back. Everyone married white after the first biracial marriage. No one was passing.
@@TheArsenalgooner Throwback genes are real. I didn't leave anything out I said it was from a 3x great grandmother. And her father did not look like her. Her features were clearly from her African ancestry. There are black people who are fair skin with green eyes due to distant white ancestry. I didn't say she was black I said her genes left her with physical features of her black ancestry.
@@kikikareema5912 Her features must have been coincidence (just "odd" white features), because Vivian's 6% black ancestry is not enough to show in a persons phenotype.
sandinyourshoes I just read her book about her early years with Johnny Cash. There is no way he ever loved June remotely as much. The other woman was the music. I also agree with Vivian that his health declined because of June’s addict lifestyle but he was responsible for leaving her to live the “high” life. Her only option to have kept a June away would have been to leave her four children with nannies and go on the road. Vivian was a devout Catholic and mother. Not an option for her!
Super Amanda , a devout Catholic girl does so much for her family. It seems that Cash was lucky to have her. He wasn't... Faithful. That must have made her INSANE with jealousy. What girl doesn't want a man who'll give himself ONLY to her? That book had to be intense.
Whether she was black or not. She was a classy lady who didn't teach her daughters to resent their father's behavior. She always shook hands with him and his next wife.
It is so obvious that Vivian has both Italian and African Ancestry. For those of you who are unaware, it was not uncommon for Multiracial people in America, who had some African American Ancestry, to not disclose it or deny it for survival purposes. In the U.S., knowledge of some African American ancestry meant exclusion, denied rights, mistreatment, and oppression. Who wants that! Vivian did what was best for her like countless other mixed-race people (with African-American ancestry) have done. We can all learn from stories such as this one.
The DNA test also showed 96% European ancestry. So nobody was passing. Also there’s a photo of the biracial second great grandmother and she was one of the fairest people I’ve ever seen for that era. So the full black ancestry is from much much farther back.
@@dayelefree2242 . Not even close. The one drop rule stopped way before you got back to her mixed race ancestor. 32 ancestors and only one isn’t white and that one ancestor is mix? Come on… Legally and culturally no, the one drop wouldn’t have applied. We’re talking legally now not 21st century Tik Tok fools.
People forget that the Roman empire was Italian. The Romans conquered, raped, married, pillaged and plundered their way all over parts of Africa, the middle east, and Europe for centuries. Italian people are a mixture of so many different groups bc of their history which is why some of them are dark w curly hair and some are pale w straight hair. Some have more African features, some more European, some more middle eastern but most have a mixture of all of it.
I think you got it the other way around. It happened hundreds of years after the Romans. Have you ever heard of the Moors? They conquered parts of Europe especially the southern part. They are why the Italians look the way they are today 👀
@@ilovelife3328 You are uneducated, lots of the moors were from Senegal in West Africa. They were black Africans. Do some research and stop spreading lies. Have a nice day.
My dad actually used to hang out over at Vivian's house with her and her brother Ray Liberto in San Antonio,TX. Ray Liberto was a very diverse musician, My dad just missed meeting Johnny Cash by about 15 minutes.
When I first looked up Vivian, I was shocked, the movie, “walk the line” portrayed her as white. Whatever race may be, my first thoughts where that she was black without ever hearing about her nationality.
I first saw the real Vivian on Ken Burns Country Music and I couldn't understand why they chose a much lighter skinned actress for Walk The Line. Hell, the movie came out in 2004, not 1954. I read that Roseanne was upset about the portrayal of her mom in the movie, but I thought it was because they show her as a unsupportive b*tch.
So what if she was or wasn't don't make a dam she love her kids she loved her husband and she was a very beautiful lady on the outside to I fill sorry for Vivian and what she had to go through but I fill more sorry for people that worry about what color she was now that is really sad...God Help Us....
@@ilovelife3328 The point you miss is that nobody, but you, is talking about the current era. Vivian Liberto lived, and faced racist media attacks, during a different era - an era in which the One Drop Rule was still very much in effect. So, yes, this was a big deal for her and Johnny Cash *back then.*
@@RosalindGash it was for a brief period of time. I don’t think you understand how the one drop actually worked legally . I think you’ve heard the expression and you’ve seen films like imitation of life. But it was never codified in the federal law. It varied from state to state in the south and then it was loosely enforced. Or at least you could say it was inconsistently enforced. One thing that was really evident across the board with one drop is they all drew the line at one great grandparent. Vivian only had a biracial second great grandmother! So we’re talking “ 1/32” by Eugenics standards. Louisiana had the most backwards laws. Basically people with almost 0 African DNA like Susan Guillory Phillips who is like 1/64 or 1/96 or something ridiculous or forced to be black on paper. And then Virginia for time. Vivian never lived in any of the state so these rules didn’t apply to her. She was genetically, culturally and legally a white woman her whole life. Importantly she saw her self as a Sicilian/white woman and how she saw her self needs to be respected. That’s her ancestral narrative that’s her agency in her lifetime.
@@valuecalc How can you call 4% of Black DNA Black!!! Her father was Sicilian and mother was of German and Irish heritage. She was 96% European. She was typical Sicilian looking, some Sicilians are very dark skinned.
@@liverbird956, laugh my ass 📴! Those data are false. Please. I saw a documentary about Cash, and guess what? Viv was crossed out entirely. Something's rotting in Denmark. Lies abound us...
@@valuecalc Us? What lies? Have you watched the documentary "My Darling Vivian"? Her daughter's said they're was one picture of Vivian where she looked dark (probably tanned) and the rumour started about her being half black! Her daughter's said it was odd and bizarre and confirmed she was Caucasian! I think her own daughter's would know the race of they're own mother!!
sure, they were invaded in chronological order by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Moors, Spaniards... So many cultures in Sicily, one of the most interesting and multilayered culture in the world!!
Cut to the chase. She was Sicilian. Sicilians are of mixed ethnicities ie black, middle eastern, etc. He should have been the one under scrutiny not for his wife's race but for the kind of self absorbed poor excuse of a husband he was and all she had to put up with, only to be kicked to the curb. Shameless. The older she got the more beautiful she became. She was a true definition of the term exotic.
Thank you. As much as I like Johnny Cash that had to be said. This is the first comment I’ve ever read in all of the discussions about her almost nonexistent so-called “black“ ancestry that really hits home. Silly and I chatted Italian identity cannot be erased by the One drop mob. And certainly her beauty will never vanish from this earth. She left a very strong legacy.
I had DNA testing done because I thought I knew where my father's side came from (he was 100% Italian) but didn't know anything about my mothers side. The unintended consequence of having my DNA checked was that I found out my dad was NOT 100% Italian. There was about 8% that wasn't. My grandparents were Sicilian and then that other 8% made sense. Sicily was on the trade routes between Africa and Europe. I discovered I had African ancestors as well. My dad and his parents had darker skin, jet black very curly hair, black (not brown) eyes as well as broader noses and more pronounced lips. Those are physical features more closely associated with African people. It's also why my first cousins look so vastly different from me. My Aunt married a Sicilian and my cousins are all very dark with the same physical traits as my grandparents.
Italy is not that far from North Africa. There is without a doubt, black in her genetic makeup. So what. She was a human and gorgeous. Women from the Mediterranean are a most attractive set of humanities best. I'm of Irish stock so many of the ladies of our communities are very light complected. My children are however Half Mexican and half Eskimo. Not by design but because i was just luckier than hell. I dated girls from Detroit and souther California of every hue because life was kind enough to treat me so well. The 70s and 80s were such a time that a white boy like me could be friends with human females. Not skin colors. In Johnny and Vivian's time....not so much. My grandmother wasn't happy about the women i engaged with but even she eventually calmed down. I am so disappointed in people who forgot that we may be different ethnicities but we are all the same human race. Attraction and love are as much a process of nature as environment. We are getting better. A little. Vivian was a beautiful woman. Her ethnic background was just another part of her overall awesomeness.
I have a friend from Barbados whose grandfather was a redhead. Her grandmother was very dark. Her siblings are of all color ranges. That's genetic, it's complicated.
You're such an idiot. Her kids wouldn't know for sure unless dna was done. Vivian probably didn't even know for sure but had a hunch because of her dark skin and broad features. What is wrong with you people?
S. Mosley I don’t know what’s wrong with you? Why you needing to force an entire family to be Black on some fictional construct? How racist to deny the word of actual Cash family members.
@@s.mosley227 We differ in opinions, that is okay. The only one who could really go about answering this question is Vivian herself. But I don't really see the point of calling me an Idiot. How does calling someone an Idiot change my opinion? Genuinely curious if this is your whole life plan on winning debates? Because honestly it is quite rude, but luckily I am not one to be affected by name calling. But others are, you should check yourself before you wreck someone else.
@@myae.8599 Mya E. WOW! you told me! Pat yourself on the back. Did you snap your finger and roll your neck after you typed that last sentence 😂? This isn't a debate. A debate would mean that you'd actually have a point. You being an idiot is a fact. Has nothing to do with trying to change your opinion. I would have to care about your opinion in order to try and change it. Vivian being here to speak on the issue means nothing because she would only confirm based on what she knew to be true. And like someone said, she more than likely didn't know about her black heritage either. You do know what a family secret is right? You're probably one of those chicks who believes everything that anyone says. Must be fun to date.😂
Why do wait until people die to give them the honor and respect they are due. When she was alive no one cared . God bless her family it is about time her true story was told and the lies shot down. She was not an angry nag and June Carter was no angel.
Cmon peeps.. Being a guy who lived in north Africa. Seen all the Mediterranean people.. They have obvious African breed.. Just look at the Arabian curly hair.
I’m Sicilian, and there are some of us who are very dark. We come in all colors from very light to dark. I have relatives who were just as dark as Vivian was and they were from Italy
@@thegirlwhoatepearls It was just confirmed that she was a descendant of a enslaved black woman who was her 4x times great grandmother and her mixed enslaved ancestor was freed from slavery in Alabama and was classified as white due to her rich father who was also her master so that she could marry a white man. Vivians family was passing. The Italian may have also aided in her look.
@@kikikareema5912 4% African DNA. One bi racial ancestor over 200 years ago. The other line Gates didn’t cover was also all European. So three fully White Grandparents and one almost all White grandparent. That’s not Passing! Such foolish nonsense!
@@thegirlwhoatepearls She wasn’t “passing” in fact Gates was clear that her own mother didn’t know about the tiny bit of black dna left over cause they started marrying white during slavery! They were very open and prosperous family. Gates didn’t find any white records until 1930 which by that point descendants were only an 1/8 black. Vivian’s three other grandparents were all full European. Almost everything about Vivian Cash was Italian /European American. He Grandparents were well known grocers in San Antonio. And her roots to Sicily go back 300 years.
@@thegirlwhoatepearls Many Italians have African features and kinky hair. If Vivian hadn’t been white there never would have been a Johnny Cash and she wouldn’t have lived in a white neighborhood, gone to all white schools and attended mass at a white RCC in the Deep South! They would have been arrested.
I saw that too but I don't believe it. My theory is that her whole family was passing because many black people of the time who could pass did to give their family a better life. There is no way a white woman would have been that affected and afraid of the KKK, it also explains why June was so disrespectful to her and why she was excluded at his memorial.
In the mid 1800s a biracial slave was freed along with her other siblings, all of whom looked white. Vivian was found to be descended from her on her mother’s side. Her mother was also Irish.
She had "Black DNA " from her "British side " this why Angela Bassett is related to Vivian Cash . Vivian's British side was Anglo and Afro mixed ancestry.
My Mom is from Cefalu, Sicilia and my Dad is from Texarkana. The Sicilian side of my DNA is a fekin smorgasbord of genetic markers, stretching from Nordic to Afrikan and Middle Eastern in between. With splashes of Iberian and Greek. lol! jus say'n
Johnny Cash's daughter, Rosanne Cash was recently on Finding Your on PBS with Henry Louis Gates, and based on her DNA testing and history, they did determine that there was some African DNA that came through her paternal side through her mother, Vivian. They also did a comparison with other celebrities that did the DNA testing with Henry Louis Gates and they determined that Rosanne Cash shared a distant relative with Angela Bassett, the actress that played Tina Turner in the movie What's Love Got to Do with It, so basically Rosanne Cash and Angela Bassett are distant cousins. See clip here th-cam.com/video/rqqlnMrUBeo/w-d-xo.html&feature=share
Rosanne Cash has more white and Sicilian cousins than she ever will black relations. Bassett is related to hundreds of other whites via the Shields family. its like genetic needles in haystacks
It is possible that she has SS African DNA from her Italian side, but most likely she is mixed with West African black genetics, not ancient admixture, from Italy.
Man, that African DNA is some powerful stuff. If your great-great-great grandmother is black and every member of your family was white since then, odds are you'll have a wide nose or big lips, dark skin or some other African trait.
It isn’t though because Johnny Cash had almost the same amount of black DNA is Vivian. So did Clint Black. Vivians stunning looks come from her Sicilian heritage which was 50% of her DNA
I read this: "Vivian was of approximately 1/32nd African descent, unbeknownst to the family, with DNA research indicating that Johnny [Cash] likely had a similar percentage of African ancestry." Whatever, she was beautiful inside and out.
There’s no such thing as 1/32. That’s all eugenics talk which has been internalized by white liberals like the two face in this video. And people who are sadly obsessed with the OneDrop and ignorant to what it actually was.
Nick i appreciate you....because you bring a mind expanding experience to what i believe is a learning for utubers.i think that the shoe is on the other foot....when you have enriched how we are looked at as hispano,Mexican,Jewish....peoples mis conceptions .
Vivian Liberto had a African American GG Grandmother "Sarah Shields" who was born a slave that married a white man who was her owner and together they had children. This man freed Sarah and his children and at some point all descendents went on record as white. The GG Grandmother was forgotten about and this would give Vivian 1/16 African ancestry or 6-7%. It is possible due to Italian ancestry they may be some "distant" African ancestry but probably would not amount to much. There is something called Acevism (or something close to that) in which a distant ancestor's "looks" comes out in a recent descendent and this may be the real reason Vivian's appearance looks more African than her proven 6-7%. I know because this also happened to me. My GG Grandfather (and perhaps a couple more distant ancestor on other family lines) was a Lumbee Indian - many of whom have tri-racial ancestry (ie: European, Native American and African). In my teens and 20's I was constantly asked about my ancestry as I had dark curly hair, tan skin and high cheekbones. I didn't know at the time about my ancestral background and was simply told we were of British Isles background. It wasn't really until DNA testing, finding old tin type photos and genealogy that I found out the truth. I know my grandmother from that side of the family who was dark complected was not treated well by her husbands family (some of whom had ties to the organizations of the day back in the 1920's). That's probably why my family just insisted on the British Isles story (which is mostly true) and there was also Italian ancestry I would later find out about that was also covered up in the records - another GG Grandmother went by the last name "Moth" when the real last name was "Martelli". I'm sure this covering up stuff was not uncommon in families with Colonial American roots.
Y'all act like you've never seen a dark Italian person....idc if she was black but I can understand why people recognized her as Italian rather than Black due to the racial tensions of the time.
As an Italian person myself who is researched a bit about the Italian genetic pool, she is very likely to have African American and Jewish from the Italian heritage. Italian genetics are a melting pot of all of the surrounding countries. I believe that her great-grandmother was an enslaved African American, so I believe she has more direct lineage than what's in her Italian heritage. Watch the documentary 'My Darling Vivian'. It's a shame that she wasn't known and that she was even hidden from the public.The narrative surrounding June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash is a partial fable, for sure. When he was a good And respectable man, he was with a good woman... When he got into drugs and fame, Vivian couldn't be of any help with that. That was so far from removed from who she was. Here is a link to that aforementioned documentary about Vivian Liberto. It was a very good documentary that would be of interest to anyone who would like to know more about Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash's first wife and the mother to his first four children. th-cam.com/video/BTKNkPMbd3M/w-d-xo.html Spoiler Alert: This woman was stunningly beautiful!
You can say the same thing about Sophia Loren. When I first looked at Johnny Cash's wife I thought of Sophia Loren also Italian. You could also maybe place her ancestry to Sicily, (Sicilia) to when the Moors invaded as well as Sicily was invaded and influenced by the Arabs both from the continent of Africa and the Middle East lineage. I think she was a classy woman to have carried all of those heavy burdens upon her shoulders and still held her head up high. I think she's to be admired.
Her third great grandmother was a mixed race, slave married to a man named William shields. They had a daughter name Sarah shields, who was so white, looking that the Perry County recorder legally validated their marriage after William shields paid for him. She and her white husband, Andrew Robinson left for Mexico during the Civil War And stayed there. Then the family moved back to the states and her and her descendants all self IDed as white after that. Which made sense because they had almost no black ancestry I had only lived in white society for two generations All of Sarah shields siblings, as well as Sarah shields, married white. There’s no one else, mixed or black on Vivian‘s entire tree. Her other 31 great great great grandparents were all white/European and her other 15. Great great grandparents were all white/European .
sandinyourshoes it’s not a race on the census. The census asks if you identify with the ethnicity “Hispanic” or “non-Hispanic” and then further goes on to ask your race (White, Black, Native American, Asian, etc)
@@valuecalcthe census should not be your confirmation on the definition of race. Most Hispanic people are a variant of southern Europe, Native America, and West Africa.
She has been confirmed to be a woman of African descent from an enslaved African American on her maternal side. Yet I live in Rome and my husband is 100% Sicilian Roman. He did his DNA and he is 14% West African,Mali &Senegal and 11% North African Berber His cousin has sickle cell anemia which is common in Sicily, Greece, Portugal and Spain. It's a black African blood disorder. The Moors conquered Sicily, Spain and Portugal for 800 years. The Moors were Moroccan, Islamic West Africans from Senegal, Mali, Northern Nigeria and Ghana they were also Turks and Arabs. They all came as a group and colonized the Mediterranean world. They brought science, mathematics, philosophy medicine, culinary arts hygiene which was the impetus for the Renaissance.
Ok, I just watched Walk the Line. Loved the first time years ago. Read up on, Johnny. A good guy, flaws & all. My question is: What is the mystery on her maternal side? As a mother to ethnically mixed children, I know people who are mixed, pretty much when I see them. Many have tried to lie about it but genetics don’t lie. I agree with you. I believe she may have been even 1/4 Black. I wish Dr. Gates would offer Roseanne Cash a DNA/ancestry gift.
Jabutts623, I agree! I feel that she should do a DNA and I believe it will say 22% African! I can spot and identify African ancestry in anyone, And I believe Vivian is half black and her children from Johnny are about a quarter or less black.
@@MelaniTSr The DNA for Vivian via Roseanne turned out to be 6% African and the rest was about 91% European with a small amount of Asian. Roseanne got 4% SSA and Gates determine 1% came from Johnny Cash. Her third great grandmother on one line was half black and after that everyone kept marrying white OPENLY no passing. By 1930 her mother was only 1/8. This wasn’t surprising at all to me!
@@kedronmarsh1773 No she didn’t and she was 100% wrong. Vivian was was white and so are her kids Vivian’s mother was a quarter if that. Though white supremacy would defer to the one drop. I’m assuming you don’t believe in white racial purity?
I actually knew him when I was a child (we were fellow parishioners at the church where Vivian and Johnny married) , and he was pretty fair skinned. He didn’t look black at all,
Yes, Italy especially Southern Italy and Venice, were closely tied to the Muslim Ottoman sultanates which included diverse racial and ethnic populations. The modern concept of race was a malevolent attempt to unite European diaspora with a history of division. Thus, race was used in Africa, Australia, Asian colonies
One half of my family comes from Southern Italy (2nd and 3rd gen) and the other half has UK, Germany and Albanian ancestry. When i took my dna test it didn't show African dna but my 80 year old grandfather did one last yr and he had 1% north east african (bizerte area) and the rest was sothern Italy and 10% greek-Albanian. He came to the US when he was 3 from Castellammare del Golfo in Sicily
She was Italian. To be honest, I always thought she was Mexican based on her darker skin tone and beautiful thick hair. But there is an interview with her grandchildren, on TH-cam, where they tell how she was Italian.
In Black communities from the 1920s onward it was advised if you were light skinned you could pass for white and you should claim either Jewish or Italian ancestry because no one really checked back them. It seems to me you are fighting the fact that you yourself have black ancestry in you.
But that’s not Vivian’s narrative she truly was overwhelmingly European. And overwhelmingly Sicilian. I don’t know why it such a big deal. There’s plenty of black celebrities that look completely white like Lena Horne and Fredi Washington. Walter White of the NAACP was basically a white guy.
She looks black to me. I am a black woman, light complexion, green eyes, and long black hair. Both of my parents are black. Yet people think I am French, Italian or a Spaniard. I have been a guest at an all-white- county club. The men there told me I was exotic looking, and asked my nationality. I told them. They thought I was joking.
@@Ausomedays She was "plagued" with that from childhood. I am proud to be whom I am. We are also living in different times. My great-great grandparents were Native American and Caucasian.
Dez Rich This isn’t about YOU though.. Where did you read she was “plagued”? In her autobiography only the KKK incident was referenced. She had a very happy childhood! You don’t understand that there are White people who don’t look White everywhere. Many Jews, Greeks (Hello Johnny Otis) and Italians do not look white but even when there was a color bar were FULLY accepted. You and other Black folks are so heavily invested in her having this “Imitation of Life” tragedy around race and it never existed in her life.
@@Ausomedays The reality is there is no pure race--Watch My Darling Vivian on Prime regarding her being "plagued." The bottom line is society is sick. That was their marriage. Whatever race he had chosen to wed was his business. She was a beautiful woman.
DNA is a funny thing. People look at me as Irish. I have a large percent of Spanish in me. I learned I am Basque. I have only a very small percent of Irish. And a larger percent of Swedish.
You know to Tuskegee airmen was sent to free the Italians from depression during war time and a lot of them stayed and I think that's why they got a lot of like them are dark and have African American blood in them due to the military men who had babies with the Italian woman too
C'mon now, Vivian was CLEARLY black! It's clear as day. I know people who a look LESS black than her who identify as black. She was simply "passing" as A LOT of light skin, mixed race blacks did back then because it made their lives easier. Especially being a woman from the deep south. If she had identified as black, no way Cash would have married her. The thing is, a lot of these mixed race women were so beautiful that a lotta white guys who married them were WILFULLY ignorant. that means they KNEW these women were not 100% white, but they lied to themselves that she was because they wanted those women so bad....very, very common throughout all of american history, not only with blacks but also with native americans and asian mixed-race women.
If she's anything she's bi-racial not black. But she was raised Italian. Perhaps she was adopted. But yes she takes me as a bi-racial woman. Probably Italian and something; doesn't have to be black even.
? She was 1/64 th black! “. What did you say? Adopted” ???wow. All the black websites have really infected people’s thinking. Vivian Liberto Cash Distin was from one of the most well known Sicilian families is San Antonio!
My mother is from Southern Italy.. I grew up in Southern California under the sun.. I was extremely dark growing up. People didn’t think I was part of my family because my sisters were fair skinned. We did do a DNA test and it shows Italian is at 56% And we have the same mother and father - but my skin ended up way darker than my sisters. It’s called genetics/recessive genes. Vivian Liberto is clearly an Italian American. Not African American! Or "black!"
Same thing with me me - Italian father, German mother - who I am is an American. Folks used to think I was Indian or Hispanic when I lived around Southern folks because of my dark hair and olive complexion. But it taught me one thing - who cares anyway? Now I have white hair and rose has come out in my complexion as I've aged - Ha Ha to them.
@@aero34100 She wasn't Black. She never lived as Black and her children have been very clear about that. Racial reassignment after death is foul. Let her rest and peace as the Italian American she truly was.
@@Ausomedays huh lol She doesn't have to live as a black woman to be clearly seen as black. She was born in Texas and from what I've read so were her parents. During segregation, it wasn't uncommon for black ppl who could pass as white to pass as white. She looks blacker than Lena Horne who claimed openly that she was black. Her daughters back in the day looked mixed Nobody reassigned her heritage. They literally called her out for being black when she was married to Cash.
Vivian Cash was not only very white, but she was not even mixed. Has she been white or mixed there never would’ve been a Johnny Cash. You need to read more about her not just the TikTok bad faith catty poorly made videos.
"Finding Your Roots" with Lewis Henry Gates Jr guesting Roseanne Cash gets more information about her mother's side of the family through DNA testing and genealogy. It answers this very question and to most people's lack of surprise in this - bingo, Vivian liberto did have African DNA in her bloodline through her Sicilian family. Sicilians typically as Islanders are darker in skin and appearance with darker eyes. My brother-in-law is Sicilian. So a Sicilian who has some African heritage could do what's called pass or be able to pass for being full Italian from the island of Sicily. And that's exactly what libertas family did. It's not to say that they knew they actually had African heritage but during this episode on PBS it is confirmed. With that being said, no man or woman should ever have to defend who they marry to the world. I'm glad that most of us have the right to choose who we want to love. Roseanne Cash isn't shocked by any of the information and she greets it with interest and love as she did love both of her parents.
RUBBISH regarding Sicilian people. I’ve watched the show numerous times and the Sicilian roots are European Sicilian with no African ancestry. The tiny amount of African ancestry came through Vivian’s mothers line not her paternal line and it was almost none nothing there. Onepercent of it came from Johnny who had a black ancestor a few hundred years before ...
@@superamanda well I'm definitely not a racist but based on your commentary you might be. And if you read the information it is accurate. No one said in this comment (which you are attacking verbally) that all Sicilians have African heritage or DNA. However the Sicilians who do have African DNA like the Libertos often do not even realize it because of their ethnic traits and therefore many of them do what is called "passing for European /White". Grown-up and learn to READ!
@@mamasaid12 😭😭😭 The Liberto’s were a completely European Sicilian family! Culturally and ancestrally! Why is that so hard for you to deal with? When Henry Louis Gates ran her DNA there was zero I repeat zero African ancestry through her Sicilian line. Her third great grandmother was mixed and everyone else married white. So I’m not sure how anybody could be expected to know or why it such a big deal the big deal that nobody knew by the time 100 years rolled around and Vivian was born? There’s millions of white Americans with verifiable African ancestry if they care to look but that doesn’t mean you have to One Drop somebody to bring out these factoids about Italian Sicilian ancestry. I’m sure most white AmeAmericans won’t or celebrate it because of the reactions they see to Vivian. Who wants their ancestry carved up like the Nuremberg laws?
@@Ausomedays Keep your pictures. It takes more than just having dark skin to look black. If that were the case every white person that tanned would "look" black to you. What planet do you live on?
In the day, he was attacked so badly that he had to deny her ethnicity. That’s too bad but it’s the way things were. Seeing her photos she was a beautiful woman but I’d say she had black in her.
The Tuskegee Airmen was in Italy in the 1930s check out some of videos the Italians was very very grateful to those men... A lot of Africa American the men stayed
I'm sure by now u have that answer through Finding Your Roots. Yes, she is black from a great female and Henry Louis Gates explains that on the program.
The fact that people have made this one of my most popular videos is evidence it matters to the people who watch it. This video was made as a social experiment and social commentary.
It’s distressing that so many Black peoples are heavily invested in removing someone’s racial identity and their childrens, grand children’s identity. While how you are perceived looks wise IS relevant to your life experience it’s MEANINGLESS compared to how you perceive yourself.
I come from a long line of passing for white people she was passing many family from the south have done this knowing & unknowing pass for white for a easier life
She wasn't passing for White! She was White with distant Black DNA, 4% black, this was revealed when her daughter Rosanne went on the show finding your root's. She looks typical Sicilian! Lots of Sicilian people are dark skinned.
@@valuecalc Yes. A really angry jealous one dropping Texas A&M student went back through her family line with a fine-tooth-comb. Not only did EVERYONE marry white but Sarah's mother wasn't a "Black African slave" she was multi racial. Miya Poinsetta and George Zimmerman have much more recent African ancestry as an example. It's ridiculous that you still don't accept Vivians clearly stated and verified narrative.
Her great grandmother was a bi- racial slave in 1830 who was given her freedom and lived as white to be a accepted according to Vivian's children. Back in that Era , racist had a problem with it because she did look mixed. It's 2021 who cares NOW . She was a gorgeous woman and had beautiful children and was once married to Johnny Cash. They should definitely make a movie about her just like they did walk the line but portray her as who she really was instead of the woman who played her in walk the line. I can't believe I'm just hearing about this now when this had to be a BIG part of Johnny Cash's life and career. And more than likely the reason for his divorce from her. How terrible it must have been for her. I heard the KKK threatened to kill her and they had cancelled all Johnny Cash's concerts because they thought she was black ! Now that's a movie and a story to tell.
Incorrect. Her third great great grandmother was multi racial and so was her second great. Photo shows Sarah Sheilds as almost white looking plus William Shields and his brother only had children with multi racial slaves then all the line went white.
Who cares we r all American, it's a little racist u r even bringing this up! Aren't we past That! Please don't tell anyone who they should fall in luv with! This is coming from someone with Irish Bohemien heritage.
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It was just confirmed on the Henry Louis Gate Finding Your Roots show that Vivian had black ancesty from a 3x great grandmother who was enslaved in the south and freed by her white father. Her African genes were strong and their features stayed with her family line for many years.
Wow, that is so interesting! Thank you for letting me know!
It's beside the point but I have a Lebanese friend that looks a lot like Vivian.
You leave out the fact the dna was barely 4% of course! Vivian Cash was white.
And Vivian was HA,LF Italian, a quarter german and 1/4 Irish. The Irish line had one possibly full black ancestor THREE generations back. Everyone married white after the first biracial marriage. No one was passing.
@@TheArsenalgooner Throwback genes are real. I didn't leave anything out I said it was from a 3x great grandmother. And her father did not look like her. Her features were clearly from her African ancestry. There are black people who are fair skin with green eyes due to distant white ancestry. I didn't say she was black I said her genes left her with physical features of her black ancestry.
@@kikikareema5912 Her features must have been coincidence (just "odd" white features), because Vivian's 6% black ancestry is not enough to show in a persons phenotype.
She was a beautiful woman who was portrayed very unfairly. However, she handled it with grace and dignity. ❤️
No matter what her race was...She was A Beautiful Strong Woman...and she should be Honoured just as so ❤
I agree!!
777 7777 , she was Mrs. Johnny Cash. The two could've done well together.
JokeShopMan , from the way he wrote and sang to her, I'd swear that she could've been the only girl for him until his life was done.
sandinyourshoes I just read her book about her early years with Johnny Cash. There is no way he ever loved June remotely as much. The other woman was the music. I also agree with Vivian that his health declined because of June’s addict lifestyle but he was responsible for leaving her to live the “high” life.
Her only option to have kept a June away would have been to leave her four children with nannies and go on the road. Vivian was a devout Catholic and mother. Not an option for her!
Super Amanda , a devout Catholic girl does so much for her family. It seems that Cash was lucky to have her. He wasn't... Faithful. That must have made her INSANE with jealousy. What girl doesn't want a man who'll give himself ONLY to her? That book had to be intense.
I wish people would realize we are all related. We are all Gods children!! ❤️
There is only one race,
"The Human Race"
Amen 🙏
Amen ❤ 🙏
Ms. Krueger, in a spiritual sense, then, yes. Otherwise, it's not the case.
@@valuecalcUmmm we are ALL RELATED. The difference is genetics. How they split .. go read a book!
a lot of sicilians have black ancestors it’s a know fact but she may not have known that. she was very beautiful woman.
She knew she was black
@@ilovelife3328 Not really, the moors totally conquered Italy and the Philippines hence why they have the features that they do.
She was passing
And this is why so many could pass. 🤣 🤣
Of course she knew she was mixed, her features were clearly African 🤷🏽♀️
Whether she was black or not. She was a classy lady who didn't teach her daughters to resent their father's behavior. She always shook hands with him and his next wife.
Wow that wonderful. She was beautiful inside and out.
It is so obvious that Vivian has both Italian and African Ancestry. For those of you who are unaware, it was not uncommon for Multiracial people in America, who had some African American Ancestry, to not disclose it or deny it for survival purposes. In the U.S., knowledge of some African American ancestry meant exclusion, denied rights, mistreatment, and oppression. Who wants that! Vivian did what was best for her like countless other mixed-race people (with African-American ancestry) have done. We can all learn from stories such as this one.
She was more beautiful than June,sorry to say
DNA test showed that her mom has an African ancestor
The DNA test also showed 96% European ancestry. So nobody was passing. Also there’s a photo of the biracial second great grandmother and she was one of the fairest people I’ve ever seen for that era. So the full black ancestry is from much much farther back.
@@superamanda so what does that mean you're saying the one drop rule doesn't apply
@@dayelefree2242 . Not even close. The one drop rule stopped way before you got back to her mixed race ancestor. 32 ancestors and only one isn’t white and that one ancestor is mix? Come on… Legally and culturally no, the one drop wouldn’t have applied. We’re talking legally now not 21st century Tik Tok fools.
People forget that the Roman empire was Italian. The Romans conquered, raped, married, pillaged and plundered their way all over parts of Africa, the middle east, and Europe for centuries. Italian people are a mixture of so many different groups bc of their history which is why some of them are dark w curly hair and some are pale w straight hair. Some have more African features, some more European, some more middle eastern but most have a mixture of all of it.
yep and Spain ,Portugal and Greece have a similar history.
Yes, we all saw True Romance. Sicily is very close to Africa
I think you got it the other way around. It happened hundreds of years after the Romans. Have you ever heard of the Moors? They conquered parts of Europe especially the southern part. They are why the Italians look the way they are today 👀
Scilians
@@ilovelife3328 You are uneducated, lots of the moors were from Senegal in West Africa. They were black Africans. Do some research and stop spreading lies. Have a nice day.
She's a beautiful either way
It is what counts most.
My dad actually used to hang out over at Vivian's house with her and her brother Ray Liberto in San Antonio,TX. Ray Liberto was a very diverse musician, My dad just missed meeting Johnny Cash by about 15 minutes.
Cool!
When I first looked up Vivian, I was shocked, the movie, “walk the line” portrayed her as white. Whatever race may be, my first thoughts where that she was black without ever hearing about her nationality.
We care why Beckkky? Vivian Cash was White culturally, legally and heritage wise., Sorry you can’t deal.
She is black. You are right.
@@Ausomedayswho's Beckkky?
@@Ausomedays What did she say that was wrong? She simply said that she felt the person who portrayed her in the movie didn't look like her.
I first saw the real Vivian on Ken Burns Country Music and I couldn't understand why they chose a much lighter skinned actress for Walk The Line. Hell, the movie came out in 2004, not 1954. I read that Roseanne was upset about the portrayal of her mom in the movie, but I thought it was because they show her as a unsupportive b*tch.
So what if she was or wasn't don't make a dam she love her kids she loved her husband and she was a very beautiful lady on the outside to I fill sorry for Vivian and what she had to go through but I fill more sorry for people that worry about what color she was now that is really sad...God Help Us....
I agree, but race is a big deal here in America, sad but true.
My maternal grandparents both came from Sirigusa (African side of Sicily) and my DNA shows me as 9% African.
@@ilovelife3328 The point you miss is that nobody, but you, is talking about the current era. Vivian Liberto lived, and faced racist media attacks, during a different era - an era in which the One Drop Rule was still very much in effect. So, yes, this was a big deal for her and Johnny Cash *back then.*
Siracusa. sure, that's common
@@RosalindGash it was for a brief period of time. I don’t think you understand how the one drop actually worked legally . I think you’ve heard the expression and you’ve seen films like imitation of life. But it was never codified in the federal law. It varied from state to state in the south and then it was loosely enforced. Or at least you could say it was inconsistently enforced. One thing that was really evident across the board with one drop is they all drew the line at one great grandparent. Vivian only had a biracial second great grandmother! So we’re talking “ 1/32” by Eugenics standards. Louisiana had the most backwards laws. Basically people with almost 0 African DNA like Susan Guillory Phillips who is like 1/64 or 1/96 or something ridiculous or forced to be black on paper. And then Virginia for time. Vivian never lived in any of the state so these rules didn’t apply to her. She was genetically, culturally and legally a white woman her whole life. Importantly she saw her self as a Sicilian/white woman and how she saw her self needs to be respected. That’s her ancestral narrative that’s her agency in her lifetime.
I would say 9% doesnt make you black. Vivian Cash looked full black or mixed to me. Way beyond only a great great grand blood/dna.
Vivian was Italian.
And black
@@aimjbtnh3 , correct.
@@valuecalc How can you call 4% of Black DNA Black!!! Her father was Sicilian and mother was of German and Irish heritage. She was 96% European. She was typical Sicilian looking, some Sicilians are very dark skinned.
@@liverbird956, laugh my ass 📴! Those data are false. Please. I saw a documentary about Cash, and guess what? Viv was crossed out entirely. Something's rotting in Denmark. Lies abound us...
@@valuecalc Us? What lies? Have you watched the documentary "My Darling Vivian"? Her daughter's said they're was one picture of Vivian where she looked dark (probably tanned) and the rumour started about her being half black! Her daughter's said it was odd and bizarre and confirmed she was Caucasian! I think her own daughter's would know the race of they're own mother!!
I though I read both her folks were Sicilian? Which would make sense since Sicily was invaded by the Moors who were from Africa.
That is right. Spain had a similar case. Not all Spanish people are white.
sure, they were invaded in chronological order by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Moors, Spaniards... So many cultures in Sicily, one of the most interesting and multilayered culture in the world!!
I have a cousin whose relatives are from Sicily, and she looks black. I would think vivian but please let's judge her on her merits.
Cut to the chase. She was Sicilian. Sicilians are of mixed ethnicities ie black, middle eastern, etc. He should have been the one under scrutiny not for his wife's race but for the kind of self absorbed poor excuse of a husband he was and all she had to put up with, only to be kicked to the curb. Shameless. The older she got the more beautiful she became. She was a true definition of the term exotic.
Thank you. As much as I like Johnny Cash that had to be said. This is the first comment I’ve ever read in all of the discussions about her almost nonexistent so-called “black“ ancestry that really hits home. Silly and I chatted Italian identity cannot be erased by the One drop mob. And certainly her beauty will never vanish from this earth. She left a very strong legacy.
Were your great grandparents from Northern or Southern Italy, or perhaps even Sicily?
When i first saw her i knew she had some African American Blood period! She was definitely Gorgeous ❤ may God forever rest her beautiful soul
I had DNA testing done because I thought I knew where my father's side came from (he was 100% Italian) but didn't know anything about my mothers side. The unintended consequence of having my DNA checked was that I found out my dad was NOT 100% Italian. There was about 8% that wasn't. My grandparents were Sicilian and then that other 8% made sense. Sicily was on the trade routes between Africa and Europe. I discovered I had African ancestors as well. My dad and his parents had darker skin, jet black very curly hair, black (not brown) eyes as well as broader noses and more pronounced lips. Those are physical features more closely associated with African people. It's also why my first cousins look so vastly different from me. My Aunt married a Sicilian and my cousins are all very dark with the same physical traits as my grandparents.
You have a beautiful family. I love my diverse family as well. Diversity is beautiful.
Johnny also had black ancestry. Roseanne was on "Finding Your Roots".
Only 1%, so just stop.
@@jessiem276 I thought it was interesting seeing as how he always referred to himself as "the man in black" 😆
Italy is not that far from North Africa.
There is without a doubt, black in her genetic makeup.
So what.
She was a human and gorgeous.
Women from the Mediterranean are a most attractive set of humanities best.
I'm of Irish stock so many of the ladies of our communities are very light complected.
My children are however
Half Mexican and half Eskimo.
Not by design but because i was just luckier than hell.
I dated girls from Detroit and souther California of every hue because life was kind enough to treat me so well.
The 70s and 80s were such a time that a white boy like me could be friends with human females.
Not skin colors.
In Johnny and Vivian's time....not so much.
My grandmother wasn't happy about the women i engaged with but even she eventually calmed down.
I am so disappointed in people who forgot that we may be different ethnicities but we are all the same human race.
Attraction and love are as much a process of nature as environment.
We are getting better.
A little.
Vivian was a beautiful woman.
Her ethnic background was just another part of her overall awesomeness.
Southern Italians aren’t Beckys. Vivian Libreto wasn’t Black.
@@Ausomedays , she was black.
@@Ausomedays He didn’t say they are fully black but they have some black ancestry/history
I have a friend from Barbados whose grandfather was a redhead. Her grandmother was very dark. Her siblings are of all color ranges. That's genetic, it's complicated.
Her kids say in the documentary about her that she is Italian and not black.
You're such an idiot. Her kids wouldn't know for sure unless dna was done. Vivian probably didn't even know for sure but had a hunch because of her dark skin and broad features. What is wrong with you people?
S. Mosley I don’t know what’s wrong with you? Why you needing to force an entire family to be Black on some fictional construct? How racist to deny the word of actual Cash family members.
@@s.mosley227 We differ in opinions, that is okay. The only one who could really go about answering this question is Vivian herself. But I don't really see the point of calling me an Idiot. How does calling someone an Idiot change my opinion? Genuinely curious if this is your whole life plan on winning debates? Because honestly it is quite rude, but luckily I am not one to be affected by name calling. But others are, you should check yourself before you wreck someone else.
@@myae.8599 Mya E. WOW! you told me! Pat yourself on the back. Did you snap your finger and roll your neck after you typed that last sentence 😂? This isn't a debate. A debate would mean that you'd actually have a point. You being an idiot is a fact. Has nothing to do with trying to change your opinion. I would have to care about your opinion in order to try and change it. Vivian being here to speak on the issue means nothing because she would only confirm based on what she knew to be true. And like someone said, she more than likely didn't know about her black heritage either. You do know what a family secret is right? You're probably one of those chicks who believes everything that anyone says. Must be fun to date.😂
S. Mosley You have no respect for Vivian Libreto Cash. You respect colorism. Sorry.
Why do wait until people die to give them the honor and respect they are due. When she was alive no one cared . God bless her family it is about time her true story was told and the lies shot down.
She was not an angry nag and June Carter was no angel.
George Zimmerman is Black. His grandfather was Afro Peruvian therefore he is Black by the one drop 😊
Cmon peeps.. Being a guy who lived in north Africa. Seen all the Mediterranean people.. They have obvious African breed.. Just look at the Arabian curly hair.
@@ilovelife3328 Am saying there are many mixed breed there.. And man, they're pretty..
I’m Sicilian, and there are some of us who are very dark. We come in all colors from very light to dark. I have relatives who were just as dark as Vivian was and they were from Italy
@@thegirlwhoatepearls It was just confirmed that she was a descendant of a enslaved black woman who was her 4x times great grandmother and her mixed enslaved ancestor was freed from slavery in Alabama and was classified as white due to her rich father who was also her master so that she could marry a white man. Vivians family was passing. The Italian may have also aided in her look.
Very fascinating!
@@kikikareema5912 4% African DNA. One bi racial ancestor over 200 years ago. The other line Gates didn’t cover was also all European. So three fully White Grandparents and one almost all White grandparent. That’s not Passing! Such foolish nonsense!
@@thegirlwhoatepearls She wasn’t “passing” in fact Gates was clear that her own mother didn’t know about the tiny bit of black dna left over cause they started marrying white during slavery! They were very open and prosperous family. Gates didn’t find any white records until 1930 which by that point descendants were only an 1/8 black. Vivian’s three other grandparents were all full European.
Almost everything about Vivian Cash was Italian /European American. He Grandparents were well known grocers in San Antonio. And her roots to Sicily go back 300 years.
@@thegirlwhoatepearls Many Italians have African features and kinky hair. If Vivian hadn’t been white there never would have been a Johnny Cash and she wouldn’t have lived in a white neighborhood, gone to all white schools and attended mass at a white RCC in the Deep South! They would have been arrested.
Saw SXSW where her daughters said she was Italian. Her parents were from Italy.
I saw that too but I don't believe it. My theory is that her whole family was passing because many black people of the time who could pass did to give their family a better life. There is no way a white woman would have been that affected and afraid of the KKK, it also explains why June was so disrespectful to her and why she was excluded at his memorial.
Bernadine Edwards , the denial is outrageous! People cannot run from their racial identities.
Bernadine Edwards wow. The Black hatred is real here. She didn’t run from ANYTHING! You are spitting out this Hollywood imitation of life trash! Lol
sandinyourshoes With the Black KKK like you in their faces they better watch out 😂👎🏿👎🏿
@@Ausomedays You really are a loser.
In the mid 1800s a biracial slave was freed along with her other siblings, all of whom looked white. Vivian was found to be descended from her on her mother’s side. Her mother was also Irish.
She had "Black DNA " from her "British side " this why Angela Bassett is related to Vivian Cash . Vivian's British side was Anglo and Afro mixed ancestry.
They share a black ancestor - not mixed. Just watched Henry Lewis Gates - Ancestry programme.
Being Italian means you are from Italy. They have black people in Italy
Right.
Ms. Liberty was flipping gorgeous. She looked like Miss America in one picture! Even in those home movies she was so beautiful!
Liberto!
My Mom is from Cefalu, Sicilia and my Dad is from Texarkana. The Sicilian side of my DNA is a fekin smorgasbord of genetic markers, stretching from Nordic to Afrikan and Middle Eastern in between. With splashes of Iberian and Greek. lol! jus say'n
Johnny Cash's daughter, Rosanne Cash was recently on Finding Your on PBS with Henry Louis Gates, and based on her DNA testing and history, they did determine that there was some African DNA that came through her paternal side through her mother, Vivian. They also did a comparison with other celebrities that did the DNA testing with Henry Louis Gates and they determined that Rosanne Cash shared a distant relative with Angela Bassett, the actress that played Tina Turner in the movie What's Love Got to Do with It, so basically Rosanne Cash and Angela Bassett are distant cousins. See clip here th-cam.com/video/rqqlnMrUBeo/w-d-xo.html&feature=share
Rosanne Cash has more white and Sicilian cousins than she ever will black relations. Bassett is related to hundreds of other whites via the Shields family. its like genetic needles in haystacks
@@optimistsofnineelms And your point is what?
It is possible that she has SS African DNA from her Italian side, but most likely she is mixed with West African black genetics, not ancient admixture, from Italy.
The Kyle Hilton Band , yes.
Man, that African DNA is some powerful stuff. If your great-great-great grandmother is black and every member of your family was white since then, odds are you'll have a wide nose or big lips, dark skin or some other African trait.
It isn’t though because Johnny Cash had almost the same amount of black DNA is Vivian. So did Clint Black. Vivians stunning looks come from her Sicilian heritage which was 50% of her DNA
@@superamanda Thank you!
I read this: "Vivian was of approximately 1/32nd African descent, unbeknownst to the family, with DNA research indicating that Johnny [Cash] likely had a similar percentage of African ancestry." Whatever, she was beautiful inside and out.
There’s no such thing as 1/32. That’s all eugenics talk which has been internalized by white liberals like the two face in this video. And people who are sadly obsessed with the OneDrop and ignorant to what it actually was.
Nick i appreciate you....because you bring a mind expanding experience to what i believe is a learning for utubers.i think that the shoe is on the other foot....when you have enriched how we are looked at as hispano,Mexican,Jewish....peoples mis conceptions .
Thanks Joe!
Vivian Liberto had a African American GG Grandmother "Sarah Shields" who was born a slave that married a white man who was her owner and together they had children. This man freed Sarah and his children and at some point all descendents went on record as white. The GG Grandmother was forgotten about and this would give Vivian 1/16 African ancestry or 6-7%. It is possible due to Italian ancestry they may be some "distant" African ancestry but probably would not amount to much. There is something called Acevism (or something close to that) in which a distant ancestor's "looks" comes out in a recent descendent and this may be the real reason Vivian's appearance looks more African than her proven 6-7%. I know because this also happened to me. My GG Grandfather (and perhaps a couple more distant ancestor on other family lines) was a Lumbee Indian - many of whom have tri-racial ancestry (ie: European, Native American and African). In my teens and 20's I was constantly asked about my ancestry as I had dark curly hair, tan skin and high cheekbones. I didn't know at the time about my ancestral background and was simply told we were of British Isles background. It wasn't really until DNA testing, finding old tin type photos and genealogy that I found out the truth. I know my grandmother from that side of the family who was dark complected was not treated well by her husbands family (some of whom had ties to the organizations of the day back in the 1920's). That's probably why my family just insisted on the British Isles story (which is mostly true) and there was also Italian ancestry I would later find out about that was also covered up in the records - another GG Grandmother went by the last name "Moth" when the real last name was "Martelli". I'm sure this covering up stuff was not uncommon in families with Colonial American roots.
It's no ones business but her families
Y'all act like you've never seen a dark Italian person....idc if she was black but I can understand why people recognized her as Italian rather than Black due to the racial tensions of the time.
As an Italian person myself who is researched a bit about the Italian genetic pool, she is very likely to have African American and Jewish from the Italian heritage. Italian genetics are a melting pot of all of the surrounding countries. I believe that her great-grandmother was an enslaved African American, so I believe she has more direct lineage than what's in her Italian heritage. Watch the documentary 'My Darling Vivian'. It's a shame that she wasn't known and that she was even hidden from the public.The narrative surrounding June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash is a partial fable, for sure. When he was a good And respectable man, he was with a good woman... When he got into drugs and fame, Vivian couldn't be of any help with that. That was so far from removed from who she was. Here is a link to that aforementioned documentary about Vivian Liberto. It was a very good documentary that would be of interest to anyone who would like to know more about Vivian Liberto, Johnny Cash's first wife and the mother to his first four children. th-cam.com/video/BTKNkPMbd3M/w-d-xo.html Spoiler Alert: This woman was stunningly beautiful!
She was a very beautiful lady.
I think she has black back ground whether she was half or it just came through her Italian leniage
Of course.
Totally agree
You can say the same thing about Sophia Loren. When I first looked at Johnny Cash's wife I thought of Sophia Loren also Italian. You could also maybe place her ancestry to Sicily, (Sicilia) to when the Moors invaded as well as Sicily was invaded and influenced by the Arabs both from the continent of Africa and the Middle East lineage. I think she was a classy woman to have carried all of those heavy burdens upon her shoulders and still held her head up high. I think she's to be admired.
So where did the story come from that she had a 2x great grandma who who was a slave?
Her third great grandmother was a mixed race, slave married to a man named William shields. They had a daughter name Sarah shields, who was so white, looking that the Perry County recorder legally validated their marriage after William shields paid for him. She and her white husband, Andrew Robinson left for Mexico during the Civil War And stayed there. Then the family moved back to the states and her and her descendants all self IDed as white after that. Which made sense because they had almost no black ancestry I had only lived in white society for two generations All of Sarah shields siblings, as well as Sarah shields, married white. There’s no one else, mixed or black on Vivian‘s entire tree. Her other 31 great great great grandparents were all white/European and her other 15. Great great grandparents were all white/European .
It appears to me she’s Hispanic. Which would make sense with her being from Texas. Regardless, she was a beautiful lady.
Granny Of6 Hispanic is not a race. She claimed to be Italian.
SongBird2020 , oh, but it is a race. It is on the census. Race is DNA, yes, and any group with a common history. Source: American Heritage Dictionary.
sandinyourshoes it’s not a race on the census. The census asks if you identify with the ethnicity “Hispanic” or “non-Hispanic” and then further goes on to ask your race (White, Black, Native American, Asian, etc)
@@valuecalcthe census should not be your confirmation on the definition of race. Most Hispanic people are a variant of southern Europe, Native America, and West Africa.
SongBird2020 , really? Not the census? We should take your opinion?
Hey that's the same guy with the hair growth remedies
Yes. I am everywhere.
@@FamilyFriendlyDaddyBlog LOL
Also, visit FamilyFriendlyDaddyBlog.com. I rule the Internet!
Ever heard of the moors??
Yes.
EXACTLY!! S Spain, Portugal and S Italy (mostly Sicily). Moors (Africans) took over and settled in these areas in the 1600s.
She has been confirmed to be a woman of African descent from an enslaved African American on her maternal side. Yet I live in Rome and my husband is 100% Sicilian Roman. He did his DNA and he is 14% West African,Mali &Senegal and 11% North African Berber His cousin has sickle cell anemia which is common in Sicily, Greece, Portugal and Spain. It's a black African blood disorder. The Moors conquered Sicily, Spain and Portugal for 800 years. The Moors were Moroccan, Islamic West Africans from Senegal, Mali, Northern Nigeria and Ghana they were also Turks and Arabs. They all came as a group and colonized the Mediterranean world. They brought science, mathematics, philosophy medicine, culinary arts hygiene which was the impetus for the Renaissance.
Wonderful video and the only reason for the dislikes is because of racist trolls.
Thank you. I agree.
Ok, I just watched Walk the Line. Loved the first time years ago. Read up on, Johnny. A good guy, flaws & all. My question is: What is the mystery on her maternal side? As a mother to ethnically mixed children, I know people who are mixed, pretty much when I see them. Many have tried to lie about it but genetics don’t lie. I agree with you. I believe she may have been even 1/4 Black. I wish Dr. Gates would offer Roseanne Cash a DNA/ancestry gift.
Jabutts623, I agree! I feel that she should do a DNA and I believe it will say 22% African! I can spot and identify African ancestry in anyone, And I believe Vivian is half black and her children from Johnny are about a quarter or less black.
You got your wish and you were right.
Who is lying. Vivian wasn’t lying!
@@MelaniTSr The DNA for Vivian via Roseanne turned out to be 6% African and the rest was about 91% European with a small amount of Asian. Roseanne got 4% SSA and Gates determine 1% came from Johnny Cash. Her third great grandmother on one line was half black and after that everyone kept marrying white OPENLY no passing. By 1930 her mother was only 1/8. This wasn’t surprising at all to me!
@@kedronmarsh1773 No she didn’t and she was 100% wrong. Vivian was was white and so are her kids Vivian’s mother was a quarter if that. Though white supremacy would defer to the one drop. I’m assuming you don’t believe in white racial purity?
Not like Johnny Cash was all white.
@@whayes8084 oh my god....1% 😂😂
@@TheArsenalgooner you’re right don’t know why I even noted it
At the end of the day we are all connected and are one human family, can't understand why we hate.
After my son took his test and his mother...me...came back as European and Scandinavian, I don't care about DNA anymore.
Kath, you don't look it.
Research pictures of Vivian's brother. He definitely looks African american.
No he doesn’t racist! He looks VERY Sicilian. Besides her genealogy was done years ago. Sorry.
I actually knew him when I was a child (we were fellow parishioners at the church where Vivian and Johnny married) , and he was pretty fair skinned. He didn’t look black at all,
He looked like a Whiter version of Vince Lombardi
Research pictures of Ayesha Curry and you will find her modern day doppelgänger lol
Yes, Italy especially Southern Italy and Venice, were closely tied to the Muslim Ottoman sultanates which included diverse racial and ethnic populations.
The modern concept of race was a malevolent attempt to unite European diaspora with a history of division. Thus, race was used in Africa, Australia, Asian colonies
One half of my family comes from Southern Italy (2nd and 3rd gen) and the other half has UK, Germany and Albanian ancestry. When i took my dna test it didn't show African dna but my 80 year old grandfather did one last yr and he had 1% north east african (bizerte area) and the rest was sothern Italy and 10% greek-Albanian. He came to the US when he was 3 from Castellammare del Golfo in Sicily
Johnny had some black heritage also according to DNA testing
She was Italian. To be honest, I always thought she was Mexican based on her darker skin tone and beautiful thick hair. But there is an interview with her grandchildren, on TH-cam, where they tell how she was Italian.
She was mixed with black
@@aimjbtnh3, correct again. We could see it. Why the denial?
You can be Italian an mixed. One of Vivian’s kids got a test an saw the small bit of African ancestry
In Black communities from the 1920s onward it was advised if you were light skinned you could pass for white and you should claim either Jewish or Italian ancestry because no one really checked back them. It seems to me you are fighting the fact that you yourself have black ancestry in you.
But that’s not Vivian’s narrative she truly was overwhelmingly European. And overwhelmingly Sicilian. I don’t know why it such a big deal. There’s plenty of black celebrities that look completely white like Lena Horne and Fredi Washington. Walter White of the NAACP was basically a white guy.
She looks black to me. I am a black woman, light complexion, green eyes, and long black hair. Both of my parents are black. Yet people think I am French, Italian or a Spaniard. I have been a guest at an all-white- county club. The men there told me I was exotic looking, and asked my nationality. I told them. They thought I was joking.
How interesting!
That’s your experience. Not her’s.
@@Ausomedays She was "plagued" with that from childhood. I am proud to be whom I am. We are also living in different times. My great-great grandparents were Native American and Caucasian.
Dez Rich This isn’t about YOU though.. Where did you read she was “plagued”? In her autobiography only the KKK incident was referenced. She had a very happy childhood! You don’t understand that there are White people who don’t look White everywhere. Many Jews, Greeks (Hello Johnny Otis) and Italians do not look white but even when there was a color bar were FULLY accepted.
You and other Black folks are so heavily invested in her having this “Imitation of Life” tragedy around race and it never existed in her life.
@@Ausomedays The reality is there is no pure race--Watch My Darling Vivian on Prime regarding her being "plagued." The bottom line is society is sick. That was their marriage. Whatever race he had chosen to wed was his business. She was a beautiful woman.
DNA is a funny thing. People look at me as Irish. I have a large percent of Spanish in me. I learned I am Basque. I have only a very small percent of Irish. And a larger percent of Swedish.
You know to Tuskegee airmen was sent to free the Italians from depression during war time and a lot of them stayed and I think that's why they got a lot of like them are dark and have African American blood in them due to the military men who had babies with the Italian woman too
There was an Italian B film made about a multi racial child from an Italian woman and a black American service man called “Angelo.”
I’m intrigued that you’re putting random black trivia on an unrelated video.
@@trishabutler2265 I don’t think we mind.
C'mon now, Vivian was CLEARLY black! It's clear as day. I know people who a look LESS black than her who identify as black. She was simply "passing" as A LOT of light skin, mixed race blacks did back then because it made their lives easier. Especially being a woman from the deep south. If she had identified as black, no way Cash would have married her. The thing is, a lot of these mixed race women were so beautiful that a lotta white guys who married them were WILFULLY ignorant. that means they KNEW these women were not 100% white, but they lied to themselves that she was because they wanted those women so bad....very, very common throughout all of american history, not only with blacks but also with native americans and asian mixed-race women.
@G hrvyck sophia loren looked nothing like a black woman. vivian was clearly black. I don't know people can deny it. just LOOK at her.
Passing? Oh please, Black folks are so racist!
Is it dumping rain there?
No.
@@FamilyFriendlyDaddyBlog she's black then!
Vivian is a relative of mine..........she's not black or anything else............she was Italian people, Italian just like the rest of our family
Cool! Thanks for that up!
Bullshit.
Lies.
S. Mosley How dare you? If a white person told you you were “lying” you’d be outraged. So many racist Blacks on here.
@@Ausomedays I'm not black. But keep proudly showing off your racism.
Rosanne Cash did a DNA test and found out what she is. There's no "we don't know for sure".
You make it sound like she had a disease. I don’t understand. Why does it matter?
They don’t look like they are black and have no black features. All i know is they are beautiful just like their Mom and dad!!
The Moors (African) conquered and settled in Parts of Portugal, Southern Spain and Siciliy in the 1600's.
If she's anything she's bi-racial not black. But she was raised Italian. Perhaps she was adopted. But yes she takes me as a bi-racial woman. Probably Italian and something; doesn't have to be black even.
? She was 1/64 th black! “. What did you say? Adopted” ???wow. All the black websites have really infected people’s thinking. Vivian Liberto Cash Distin was from one of the most well known Sicilian families is San Antonio!
My mother is from Southern Italy.. I grew up in Southern California under the sun.. I was extremely dark growing up. People didn’t think I was part of my family because my sisters were fair skinned. We did do a DNA test and it shows Italian is at 56% And we have the same mother and father - but my skin ended up way darker than my sisters. It’s called genetics/recessive genes. Vivian Liberto is clearly an Italian American. Not African American! Or "black!"
EXACTLY! It’s so sad and gross the way so many Black people here and on twitter are attacking her and making nasty comments!
Same thing with me me - Italian father, German mother - who I am is an American. Folks used to think I was Indian or Hispanic when I lived around Southern folks because of my dark hair and olive complexion. But it taught me one thing - who cares anyway? Now I have white hair and rose has come out in my complexion as I've aged - Ha Ha to them.
No one said she was black american. They said she was black which she is. Black Americans aren't the only black people.
@@aero34100 She wasn't Black. She never lived as Black and her children have been very clear about that. Racial reassignment after death is foul. Let her rest and peace as the Italian American she truly was.
@@Ausomedays huh lol She doesn't have to live as a black woman to be clearly seen as black. She was born in Texas and from what I've read so were her parents. During segregation, it wasn't uncommon for black ppl who could pass as white to pass as white. She looks blacker than Lena Horne who claimed openly that she was black. Her daughters back in the day looked mixed Nobody reassigned her heritage. They literally called her out for being black when she was married to Cash.
Well 80 percent of people are still dark. In every country but a few there are dark people. Out of 197 countries Africa has 52 and so on and so forth.
4 percent black
Vivian was not white
Vivian Cash was not only very white, but she was not even mixed. Has she been white or mixed there never would’ve been a Johnny Cash. You need to read more about her not just the TikTok bad faith catty poorly made videos.
@Super Amanda No or very few black ppl would not know that Halle Berry, Lena Horne, or Holly Peete (u have got to be kidding with that one) are white!
?? Italians can recognize other Italians that’s why Vivian was an Italian. Get it right
Oh just get to it will ya !
What would Thomas Jefferson say??😂😂😂
She was Italian
Thanks.
Morg, with black.
You have a problem with Italians buddy? Most Italians do not have black in them, saying she is part Italian does not mean she had black in her!
Abby, why the denial?
@@valuecalc Because the one drop is lame. No one claims a third great grandma out of 64 GGGs
@@optimistsofnineelms, skip the drops. If you have features of a certain race or nationality, then you do. Why all the shame? People are who they are.
She was italian.. Stop your gossip.. Not even listening to this video. You don't know anything. Buy Vivian's book and get educated.
"Finding Your Roots" with Lewis Henry Gates Jr guesting Roseanne Cash gets more information about her mother's side of the family through DNA testing and genealogy. It answers this very question and to most people's lack of surprise in this - bingo, Vivian liberto did have African DNA in her bloodline through her Sicilian family. Sicilians typically as Islanders are darker in skin and appearance with darker eyes. My brother-in-law is Sicilian. So a Sicilian who has some African heritage could do what's called pass or be able to pass for being full Italian from the island of Sicily. And that's exactly what libertas family did. It's not to say that they knew they actually had African heritage but during this episode on PBS it is confirmed. With that being said, no man or woman should ever have to defend who they marry to the world. I'm glad that most of us have the right to choose who we want to love. Roseanne Cash isn't shocked by any of the information and she greets it with interest and love as she did love both of her parents.
RUBBISH regarding Sicilian people. I’ve watched the show numerous times and the Sicilian roots are European Sicilian with no African ancestry. The tiny amount of African ancestry came through Vivian’s mothers line not her paternal line and it was almost none nothing there. Onepercent of it came from Johnny who had a black ancestor a few hundred years before ...
@@superamanda well I'm definitely not a racist but based on your commentary you might be. And if you read the information it is accurate. No one said in this comment (which you are attacking verbally) that all Sicilians have African heritage or DNA. However the Sicilians who do have African DNA like the Libertos often do not even realize it because of their ethnic traits and therefore many of them do what is called "passing for European /White". Grown-up and learn to READ!
@@mamasaid12 😭😭😭 The Liberto’s were a completely European Sicilian family! Culturally and ancestrally! Why is that so hard for you to deal with? When Henry Louis Gates ran her DNA there was zero I repeat zero African ancestry through her Sicilian line. Her third great grandmother was mixed and everyone else married white. So I’m not sure how anybody could be expected to know or why it such a big deal the big deal that nobody knew by the time 100 years rolled around and Vivian was born? There’s millions of white Americans with verifiable African ancestry if they care to look but that doesn’t mean you have to One Drop somebody to bring out these factoids about Italian Sicilian ancestry. I’m sure most white AmeAmericans won’t or celebrate it because of the reactions they see to Vivian. Who wants their ancestry carved up like the Nuremberg laws?
Nobody ever called Sophia Loren "Black"
That's because she didn't look black. What's your point?
S. Mosley I can show you photos of Sophia where she looks VERY dark. Like Macy Gray dark!
@@Ausomedays Keep your pictures. It takes more than just having dark skin to look black. If that were the case every white person that tanned would "look" black to you. What planet do you live on?
@@s.mosley227 exactly what I wrote....what's yours?
Vivian Liberto is most definitely Italian American, but who wouldn’t want to be BLACK. WE ARE SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE INSIDE AND OUT. 😍🙌🏾
Stats and examples tell another story.
It was just confirmed that she did have a black enslaved ancestor who was biracial and freed by her white father.
She's a DNA match with Angela Bassett from a black ancestor.
Another beautiful woman! 🥰
Along with 5000 others 😂
In the day, he was attacked so badly that he had to deny her ethnicity. That’s too bad but it’s the way things were. Seeing her photos she was a beautiful woman but I’d say she had black in her.
"black in her" is such a weird way of saying things. its very jim crow selection.
Lechiffresix six , okay. She was black.
Lechiffresix six well, they got married during Jim Crow so... I’d say it’s pretty legit.
sandinyourshoes She has a small amount of Black ancestry but was mostly European. Only one line (her maternal grandfather) had Black slave ancestry.
@@JokeShopMan , I believe you. It is the denial from others that gets annoying.
Finding your Roots watch this season on a Tuesday night.😉
The Tuskegee Airmen was in Italy in the 1930s check out some of videos the Italians was very very grateful to those men... A lot of Africa American the men stayed
I'm sure by now u have that answer through Finding Your Roots. Yes, she is black from a great female and Henry Louis Gates explains that on the program.
She was not black
What does it matter if it was blue, white or red. it was beautiful that's it.
The fact that people have made this one of my most popular videos is evidence it matters to the people who watch it. This video was made as a social experiment and social commentary.
José, it always matters. Heritage cannot be avoided.
It’s distressing that so many Black peoples are heavily invested in removing someone’s racial identity and their childrens, grand children’s identity. While how you are perceived looks wise IS relevant to your life experience it’s MEANINGLESS compared to how you perceive yourself.
You have no way of knowing the race of the people commenting unless they state it themselves. Sit your racist troll behind down somewhere.
S. Mosley Oh sure. It’s ALL BLACK people nasty comments. I am watching this unfold online. It’s so so sad.
You're in crisis. Seek help.
@@SaraAbraham1 I'm getting my reparations on my 5th cuz 🤪 see you at the cook out!!
I come from a long line of passing for white people she was passing many family from the south have done this knowing & unknowing pass for white for a easier life
She wasn't passing for White! She was White with distant Black DNA, 4% black, this was revealed when her daughter Rosanne went on the show finding your root's. She looks typical Sicilian! Lots of Sicilian people are dark skinned.
So sad Vivian had to deny her black side
There was no “side” to deny. She was unaware of an ancestor born in the late 18th century and the narrative was long forgotten.
@@superamanda, no.
@@valuecalc Yes. A really angry jealous one dropping Texas A&M student went back through her family line with a fine-tooth-comb. Not only did EVERYONE marry white but Sarah's mother wasn't a "Black African slave" she was multi racial. Miya Poinsetta and George Zimmerman have much more recent African ancestry as an example. It's ridiculous that you still don't accept Vivians clearly stated and verified narrative.
@@superamanda, it reminds me that racial tension is on the rise yet again. Miya is a crazy woman, and George might get assaulted still.
Hi white bull mmm
Her great grandmother was a bi- racial slave in 1830 who was given her freedom and lived as white to be a accepted according to Vivian's children. Back in that Era , racist had a problem with it because she did look mixed. It's 2021 who cares NOW . She was a gorgeous woman and had beautiful children and was once married to Johnny Cash.
They should definitely make a movie about her just like they did walk the line but portray her as who she really was instead of the woman who played her in walk the line. I can't believe I'm just hearing about this now when this had to be a BIG part of Johnny Cash's life and career. And more than likely the reason for his divorce from her. How terrible it must have been for her. I heard the KKK threatened to kill her and they had cancelled all Johnny Cash's concerts because they thought she was black ! Now that's a movie and a story to tell.
Incorrect. Her third great great grandmother was multi racial and so was her second great. Photo shows Sarah Sheilds as almost white looking plus William Shields and his brother only had children with multi racial slaves then all the line went white.
Who cares we r all American, it's a little racist u r even bringing this up! Aren't we past That! Please don't tell anyone who they should fall in luv with! This is coming from someone with Irish Bohemien heritage.