What it means to identify as Melungeon

Melungeons are mixed-race people with origins in the Appalachian Mountains. VPM News Focal Point asked Andrew Harris Jr to reflect on his background.
Read More: www.vpm.org/2024-03-21/explor...
www.pbs.org/video/racial-iden...
#virginia #appalachiantrail #appalachia #ancestry #genealogyresearch

[@lindaedwards9756]

I love that !! Can’t erase history, there is good and bad….can’t change it by ignoring it. I am so glad this gentleman was kind enough to give us his perspective. All people are beautiful.

[@Questioner6969]

I am melougeon. I might look white but I am glad I am melougeon. I am glad I was place by God this heritage.

[@lindaedwards9756]

Absolutely 👍

[@malindawilczynski2774]

It was so important to my GM to keep the heritage hidden, including not displaying and later destroying family pictures. However the DNA tells the truth.

[@lindaedwards9756]

Heartbreaking ❤️‍🩹 she was made to feel that way . She would be proud of your courage to be who you are.

[@dominiquedoeslife]

I’m melungeon. This video is so validating and so important. So thankful that it exists.

[@SoldierOfJah]

Do all melungeons also defy the laws of aging?! Cuz when he said 70!!!!

[@Anewme92142]

I love learning this is amazing everybody not just black or white,you must know your history

[@AjWard-nh5tp]

Everybody mixed up, it's pointless to worry about it. 🙂

[@NaturallyGifted77]

True! We are all humans that is what matters

[@Based_Gigachad_001]

No. Many people are pure.

[@AjWard-nh5tp]

@@Based_Gigachad_001 pure what

[@ashley1919100]

@@Based_Gigachad_001 no

[@cynthiapickett7403]

Very interesting; I have partial Melungeon ancestry (only recently discovered) myself.

[@Livelife257]

70 Years old….Wow! He looks GREAT!!

[@summercarr3521]

Exactly what I was thinking!!

[@afromystik4365]

I’ve been doing my genealogy and I have dna matches with the names Mullins, Williams and Goins! Interesting!!

[@guyfaux3978]

The tri-racial identity is common in Brazil, and there used to be all sorts of Portuguese terms for people of specific quantums of this background or that background.

[@PinkTorpedo909]

For Gods sake man change the batteries to the smoke alarm!!!

[@514Exc]

I don’t believe there is a dna group for Sicily, the south shares more African ancestry than northern Italy. He may be Sicilian ancestry, historical darker skinned, prior to losing independence

[@Livelife257]

If we got rid of being just “BLACK or WHITE” we would learn a lot of interesting DETAILS about our ancestry.

[@broadwaydebut1]

I’m sorry to say and shameful that Italian used the word melogean as a slur. In Italian melongean is an eggplant

[@guyfaux3978]

You're mixing up moolinyon and melungeon-- the latter is derived from the French word "melange," i.e., a combination.

[@beverlyodom-jackson2329]

Yes we are all tri racial my family is from Georgia

[@ryancreech7253]

Not a real thing