Bryant Gumbel

Gumbel in 2016, photo by Debby Wong/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Bryant Charles Gumbel

Place of Birth: New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.

Date of Birth: September 29, 1948

Ethnicity: Louisiana Creole [African, French, approximately 3/32 Ashkenazi Jewish, distant Corsican Italian, possibly 1/16th Mexican, and English]

Bryant Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster.

Bryant is the son of Rhea Alice (LeCesne) and Richard Dunbar Gumbel, Jr. His brother is television sportscaster Greg Gumbel. Bryant is married to Hilary Quinlan. He has two children with his former wife June Baranco.

His parents were both black, of mainly African and French descent. The Gumbel family in Louisiana is of German Jewish origin. Bryant is of approximately 3/32 Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. He also has distant Corsican Italian, and possibly 1/16th Mexican, and English, roots. Some of his ancestors lived in Haiti.

A DNA test whose results were displayed on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2017) stated that Bryant’s genetic ancestry is:

*65.1% European
——–*33.6% Northwestern European
——–*16.2% Southern European
——–*7.1% Ashkenazi [Jewish]
——–*6.5% Broadly European
——–*1.7% Eastern European
*34.1% Sub-Saharan African
*0.5% East Asian & Native American
*0.3% Unassigned

Bryant’s patrilineal ancestry can be traced to Elias Gimpel/Gümbel, who was born, c. 1776, in Framersheim, Hessen, Germany, and to his wife, Kaye Hirsch.

Bryant’s paternal grandfather was Richard Dunbar Gumbel (the son of Cornelius Joseph “Jack” Gumbel and Marie Valentine Allain/Allen Prevost). Richard was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was a founder-member of the city’s Autocrat Club. Bryant’s great-grandfather Cornelius was born in Lakeland, Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, the son of Karl/Cornelius/Carl Gumbel, who was a Jewish emigrant, from Albisheim, Bavaria, and of Angelina/Angelic/Angelica Charamel/Charemel. Bryant’s great-grandmother Marie was the daughter of John Prevost and Marie S. Allain.

Bryant’s paternal grandmother was Marie/Mary Lucretia Soulé (the daughter of Etienne Soulé and Eugenie Lumina Duplessis). Marie was born in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Etienne may have been the son of Henry Etienne Soileau and Adelaide Louise.

Bryant’s maternal grandfather was Adrian/Adrien Bartholomew LeCesne (the son of Albert Joseph LeCesne and Alice Lamotte/Lamothe). Adrian was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Albert was the son of Gustave Augustin LeCesne and Louise Blanc/Blano; Gustave’s paternal grandfather, Louis-Nicolas LeCesne, was born in France. Alice was the daughter of Martin LaMotte, who was born into slavery, and of Henriette Jaillot. Martin fought for the Confederacy, and later the Union, during the Civil War.

Bryant’s maternal grandmother was Adele G./Clotilde Gaignard (the daughter of Charles L. Gaignard and Pauline Prampin/Foster). Adele was born in Louisiana. Charles was the son of Louis Gaignard and Élisabeth Eulalie/Eulalia Warburg. Élisabeth’s father, Bryant’s great-great-great-grandfather Daniel Samuel Warburg, was a German Jew, who was born in Hamburg, Germany. Pauline was the daughter of Delie/Delle Prampin and Adèle Gonzales, whose family appears to have been Mexican.

Sources: Genealogy of Bryant Gumbel – https://www.geni.com

Bryant’s father on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Bryant’s paternal grandfather, Richard Dunbar Gumbel, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Bryant’s maternal grandparents, Adrian/Adrien Bartholomew LeCesne and Adele G. Gaignard, on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

24 Responses

  1. andrew says:

    His maternal grandma had Mexican ancestry, according to this: https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/LYCM-Z3K

    This tree identifies Etienne Soulé parents too

    • Dannon says:

      The huge problem with Family Search is how unreliable it is. It stood to do more research on, but don’t just take it for what it says. Anyone can edit it. It is very easy too. All you have to do is have an account. It takes like 2 seconds to add someone. I’ll do more research and come back to ya!

  2. LoLo A says:

    @andrew is right. People are getting defensive and thinking as individuals and what’s familiar vs. stepping back to look at the rationality and systems at play.

    Rupaul is the reverse of Bryant Gumbel with his continental breakdown (60 Sub-saharan African/30 European), but Ru is Black. However, Bryant isn’t White, he is also Black, even though he is mostly European. Why? Because of the history of African slavery in the US and the One Drop rule. So what people are currently calling a “personal preference” is rooted in the aftermath of the One Drop rule and how that intersects with cultural affiliation due to perceived race in present times. In the past, mixed and Biracial people (who didn’t “pass”) were only allowed to be Black so they WERE and decades of affiliating this way has influenced people up until present times.

    Had it been Europeans who were enslaved to Africans in the US, then mixed and Biracial people would be claiming White as their race and culture. History and the winners definitely affect how we see things now. It doesn’t mean that we can’t evolve, though.

    Also, a lot of people we call Black in the US are Biracial. (Although Boris Kodjoe is originally German). And saying that Africans come in many shades is true, in terms of the continent of Africa, as Africans can be any race. But in the US, Black people come from Sub-saharan Africans, mostly West African. Those people are not light in color, rather varying shades of brown. Boris Kodjoe, Shemar Moore, Lenny Kravitz, Lisa Bonet, Jasmine Guy all look like people are a Biracial mix of a West African and European. Not to mention, non-Americans like Sade and Bob Marley do too. Instead of saying that Black people come in all shades, lumping Biracial and mixed people together as Black, look at why you are saying that and is it REALLY true or just your personal preference based on perceived reality. That’s okay, just own up to why you are doing it…just remember we are individuals and appearance should not dictate who we are.

    My culture and my preferences aren’t determined by my outward appearance, no matter how much people want to choose for me the way I should identify, as well as my likes/dislikes, how to speak, how to present myself, etc.

  3. memphis says:

    Andrew, who are you to define to identify someone else’s personal identity of themselves? The idea of “blackness” is social political. According to this particular DNA test Bryan Gumbel has more genetics from his European ancestors than African…that does not mean the world still doesn’t see him as a “black” man. Brazilian samba legend, Neguinho da Beija Flor, is a very dark skinned man seemingly 100% of African descent but his DNA results had him 67.1% Euro and 31.1 % African. In terms of having very black skin and identifying as “black” but not have any African DNA ..a good example are the indigenous Australian Torres Striat Islanders. They look African but are closer genetically to Asians but identify as “black”. The notion of race took hundreds of years to formulate as ” fact” but only is a notion.

  4. andrew says:

    So now you have to change to: Louisiana Creole (French, African etc…).

    • fuzzybear44 says:

      Why , his African is still higher than his French

      • andrew says:

        I understand that it’s hard for you to change a backward mentality

        • fuzzybear44 says:

          You’re the one who wants to change things, it’s fine the way (STLUCAS ) put it. If anyone around here has a backward mentality, it’s you. Yes I can see he’s majority European, I don’t deny that. However his African ancestry is still higher than his French ancestry. So why do you have a probably with the way it’s written? I know you (national front) guys have a problem with black people being in front, but you’re just getting silly here

          • andrew says:

            The point is that except for 3/32 Ashkenazi Jewish and 1/64 Corsican (the English part isn’t clear), his Euro ancestry is all French. Also Beyoncé’s mother (first Creole example coming to my mind) has more French/Euro ancestry than African and it’s very well documented.

          • andrew says:

            You North Americans have a problem. Keep calling mixed-race people “black”. That’s wrong. Rosé wine is not white or red, it’s rosé. You get my oenological metaphor, I hope.

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            First off, do you understand math? 34 still is higher than 33

            Secondly, in regards to Tina. what you are said to have in your family tree, and what you personally inherit in you Dna are two different things . Tina could get all that Euro ancestry or she could get very little of it. We want know until her Dna test

          • andrew says:

            Those DNA categories (“Northwestern European”,”Broadly European etc) are highly questionable. His European ancestry is largely French.

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            @andrew

            Quote(You North Americans have a problem. Keep calling mixed-race people “black”. That’s wrong. Rosé wine is not white or red, it’s rosé. You get my oenological metaphor, I hope.)

            Just North Americans? No I’ve seen a good number Europeans do the same thing. Secondly, you’re jumping all over the place. This started off because you wanted to re-word Bryant ethnicity, and now you’re on this subject.

            Now as for calling a mixed person( black), I have stated many times, that I don’t call anyone anything they don’t already call themselves. I don’t take away personally choice. As for myself, being a person of Mixed ethnicity, I prefer being called black, and if it seems wrong to you or anyone else, well that’s your problem. Bryant calls himself black as well as his son. Beyoncé and her sister call themselves black, you’re going to tell us what we can call ourselves?

            Now back to your original statement. by your logic , there are very few black people in Western hemisphere Then again there are millions of self-identified white people, who shouldn’t be seen as white anymore. Are you going to lecture them on how they should identify? or is it just us darker folk?

          • andrew says:

            I don’t consider you and all the people you have mentioned as “black”. Not at all. Once I remember my mother (who has no interest in this kind of stuff) calling Will Smith “mulatto actor” while we were watching an interview of him on tv, it was circa 2006. Also I remember a random discussion between me and a friend of mine, and he said about Beyoncé “she’s not black”. Your umbrella term is not alwais valid.

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            @Andrew

            Quote(I don’t consider you and all the people you have mentioned as “black”. Not at all. Once I remember my mother (who has no interest in this kind of stuff) calling Will Smith “mulatto actor” while we were watching an interview of him on tv, it was circa 2006. Also I remember a random discussion between me and a friend of mine, and he said about Beyoncé “she’s not black”.)

            First off No offense to your mother, but it doesn’t matter how you , her or your friend want to perceive Will Smith,Beyoncé, me or anyone else over here. Our own individual perspectives are the only opinions that count. you don’t get a vote

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            @Andrew

            Quote(http://l.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/hFu5obMTOJ6ivMdwD1UXvg–/aD0xMTUyO3c9MTc0MTtzbT0xO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/9e36cb4631a871fc24c4c8471d65a728b54edffc.jpg
            https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0509/9993/files/21426197074_d476f48458_o_f6cc07d9-dcba-474c-9511-8c664dd69962.jpg?v=1494579100

            Yes, I’ve already seen your narrow view of what a black person should look like. I don’t deny that those are black people, But they are just one aspect of what black people look like.You know I could sit here and trade pics with you all day

          • andrew says:

            “As for myself, being a person of Mixed ethnicity, I prefer being called black”

            I will never ever understand it. I think it’s offensive for real black people (not brown like you) from Sub-Sarahan Africa.

            “I know you (national front) guys have a problem with black people being in front, but you’re just getting silly here”

            I’ve alwais voted in my life for what it’s called “Democratic Party”in your country, and alwais been a fan since my childhood of African Americans like Michael Jordan, Eddie Murphy, Jimi Hendrix etc… I just think that your Afrocentrism is sick and I think one-drop rule is something obsolete.

          • fuzzybear44 says:

            @Andrew

            Quote(I will never ever understand it. I think it’s offensive for real black people (not brown like you) from Sub-Sarahan Africa.

            Well here’s the great part, It doesn’t matter if you understand it, or that you think it offends SSA’s. As I said before,
            (You Don’t get A Vote)

            Anyone with any sense know all Africans come in different shades of brown. :
            See this is a SSA man also
            http://empirefmonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/traditional-ghanaian-wedding-9.jpg

            So are these men:
            http://www.africanmuscle.com/Mag/photos/42.jpg
            https://pinetworth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Nnamdi-Asomugha.jpg
            Every bit as African as the ones you picked

            Quote( I just think that your Afrocentrism is sick)

            My Afrocentrism is sick? OH you mean when I show TRUE FACTS about black people in history, and you try to disprove them, CAN’T and people get to see that you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re right, I guess that would make you sick

            Quote(I’ve alwais voted in my life for what it’s called “Democratic Party”in your country, and alwais been a fan since my childhood of African Americans like Michael Jordan, Eddie Murphy, Jimi Hendrix etc…)

            Big deal, Everybody likes African American culture, doesn’t mean they like us as a people. I seen a racist on t.v state how much he hated black, but would let his sister marry Eddie Murphy.

            However as a favor to you, in the future, you might not want to say things like that. It like saying your best friend is black, but no one has ever seen that best friend.

            Quote( I think one-drop rule is something obsolete.)

            Okay, but I don’t use the one-drop rule, and I never met anyone who has. As I repeat, I DON’T CALL anyone anything they don’t already call themselves

          • andrew says:

            The one who has a narrow view is you, not me. You didn’t realize at first that the likes of Boris Kodjoe or Giancarlo Esposito or Madison Keys were biracials. That’s why you have no idea of what a full black person look like, as someone wrote here. You’re in good company, though. Once I read the comments section of a Lenny Kravitz YouTube video and many people didn’t wonder that he was half-white. That is dumb.

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