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Birth Name:
Willard Christopher Smith, Jr.
Birth Place:
Wynnefield, West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Date of Birth:
September 25, 1968
What Race or Ethnicity?:
African American
The American actor and musician was born to African-American parents. He has two children by Jada Pinkett who is of mixed ethnicity.
He first gained fame as a hip hop MC by the name of The Fresh Prince alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff. He then starred on the television series the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
Source:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=630360
Profile by mzpreciousz and Ethnic
Celebrities sharing similar heritage:
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
No way is he full blooded. He’s got some Caucasian blood in him. It’s easy to see what “africans” that ain’t trully africans.
I can see if a “black” person is a mulato with no problem. I like Will Smith but he’s not pure race.
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It is obvious that Will Smith is mixed with something, he probable doesn’t even know it goes so far back. This reminds me of the British/Jamaican sport star Colin Jackson, he believed that he was 95 per cent black with a little drop of European,once the dna test was done it showed that he also had Carib/Taino Indian as well. I am black British of Jamaican ancestry, I always thought of myself as one hundred per cent African proud of fact that there was no mixing of the genes for me. I had to change my view when I went on holiday and found out that my grand mother on my mother’s side was part Taino Indian, then it clicked why mother had straight her and me and brother had inherited this, but I really had to accept this when both black and white people would ask about my hair texture. Blacks who have any ancestry of slavery do tend look just a little bit different from full blood west Africans. I am about Naomi Campbell’s colour so I am not light skinned, I have never ever been mistaken for an African by other blacks or the whites or even Indians. I bet this is the same for many black Americans and Caribbeans, you have to wonder why this is. I have been on holiday in places like Italy,Spain,Greece and France and when asked where I from I always give the answer Africa, they are not fooled for one minute, they shake their heads in amusement and tell me I must be American, what I want to know is how in the hell do they know.
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Why is it obvious that he is mixed with something? Because he’s light skinned? Not all african-americans have the same skin color if you haven’t noticed this already. And just because some are light doesn’t mean they all are ‘mixed.’
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@what?
Well to be real most Blacks outside of Africa were from West Africa (slavery). West Africans tend no to be Light-Skinned People.
They tend to be medium brown to Dark-Skinned.
So if a person is light-skinned, unless a person is recently from another part of Africa like South Africa of Ethiopia, 99% of the time they have mixed ancestry.
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Look here honey if you go to Africa with PURE Africans the features are some what different. He is mixed with something.
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I always thought he was part Cherokee and White, Cherokee cause his cheekbones are high and round, and his eyes have that great slant to them, and part White cause his skin is light-ish.
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You are the biggest idiot if you think every light skinned black person in this world is mixed. I pity you.
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Lov Diz Guy! No Homo!
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Mace thanks for the comments. Its makes sense what you wrote. As mixing sometimes goes back hundreds of years its hard to identify ancestry without DNA tests.
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another thing african american does not mean having some native blood.this is away for those to deny there african roots again. the term african american was to connect blacks back to africa in america.the american part is no brainer since aafrican american were born here.
here is some good info-
Best Answer – Chosen by Asker
Very interesting question! According to a man who has performed DNA testing on black Americans, only approximately 10 percent have Native American ancestors:
He said many blacks wrongly believe they are descendents of Native Americans.
“If you ask 10 African-Americans if they have Native American ancestry, eight of them will say yes, but when we actually test them, it’s less than 10 percent,” Kittle said.
The historians and archaeologist and anthropologist have shown that the bulk of the enslaved Africans came from northern Nigeria to southern Angola’s parts of western central area, and so we have a database that encompasses that area and so when we test these African-Americans, they pretty much match to there about 95 percent of the time,” Kittle said.
Other Answers (7)
Due to stigma and discrimination, MANY persons have been known to claim Native Amer. ancestry, instead of admitting to African American.
I would estimate that probably 1/2 of those that think they have Native Amer. , really do not (not limited to those with African Amer. ancestry), and many become very upset, when they do the actual research.
If you want to know if it is true or not, you can always do the actual research of your ancestors, and find out what the records show. There is no need at all to guess what “might” be true or not.
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Where are all these test done,because I never hear anything about them.Also I don’t they ever tested anyone in my family,but yet I already know mine
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some african americans have not native blood or white blood at all.some are still unmixed.
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now that’s true
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Lol, yeah like 3% of the black population. And they just came here from Nigeria.
There is such a thing as trying to be too black homie, chill out.
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not really, recent dna has proven that more african american have some white blood more so than native american blood.one lady on a show by henry gates thought she had some native blood but it turn out that she had some white blood,not native. .
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Will Smith is also part Native American.. It’s said it on IMDB.
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D2009, thanks for the comment. I think a lot of African Americans would say they have some Native American blood, so i dont think its really necessary to include that. The term African American would already mean their is some mixed blood.
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Awsome!!!! he’s such a good actor!!! and still good looking even thow he getn old!!!
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