Paula Patton
Patton in 2011, photo by s_bukley / Shutterstock.com
Birth Name: Paula Maxine Patton
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States
Date of Birth: December 5, 1975
Ethnicity:
*father – African-American
*mother – German, English, smaller amount of Dutch
Paula Patton is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films Hitch, Idlewild, Déjà Vu (2006), Jumping the Broom, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 2 Guns, Warcraft, and Sacrifice (2019).
Her father, Charles Patton, is black. Her mother, Joyce (Van Raden), who is white, has German, English, and at least 1/16th Dutch, ancestry. Paula has identified herself as Black. She has stated:
I find it [the term “biracial”] offensive. It’s a way for people to separate themselves from African-Americans… a way of saying ‘I’m better than that.’ I’m black because that’s the way the world sees me. People aren’t calling Barack Obama biracial. Most people think there’s a black president.
Paula has a son with her former husband, singer and songwriter Robin Thicke.
Paula’s maternal grandfather was Benjamin Alexander Van Raden, Jr. (the son of Benjamin Van Raden and Grace Read Alexander). Paula’s grandfather Benjamin was born in New York. Paula’s great-grandfather Benjamin was born in Nebraska, the son of Carl Edward Holeman Van Raden, whose father was Dutch and whose mother was German, and of Louisa Bergman, whose parents were German. Paula’s great-grandmother Grace was born in New York, and had English ancestry. Grace was the daughter of Robert Read Alexander and Laura Davis, who were from Massachusetts.
Sources: Genealogy of Paula’s maternal grandfather, Benjamin Alexander Van Raden, Jr. – https://www.wikitree.com
Obituary of Paula’s maternal grandfather, Benjamin Alexander Van Raden, Jr. – http://www.legacy.com
Marriage record of Paula’s maternal great-grandparents, Benjamin Van Raden and Grace Read Alexander – https://familysearch.org
Paula’s maternal great-grandfather, Benjamin Van Raden, on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Paula’s maternal great-grandmother, Grace Read Alexander, on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Paula’s maternal great-great-grandparents, Carl Edward Holeman Van Raden and Louisa Bergman, on the 1880 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
I think it’s all a matter of one’s personal opinion & feeling. All Af Am are mixed with something. If we’re not biracial, then we’re certainly multiracial. Folks you have no idea all the ethnicities you’ve derived from.And no fault of our own. SMH.But, we are identified as being Black or Af Am. So, if she wants to identify herself with being Af Am, so be it. Whatever floats her boat I think it should be respected.I’ll certainly never have a problem being black. I love it!
I think that’s silly and offensive to your mother. Who care how “the world” sees you. Don’t let afrocentric people who stand strong for something they barely know anything abt bully you into pleasing them. I was made to feel bad for being mixed as well, I got iover it. I’m confortable being multi-ethnic and I’m proud of it all.
To charlotte
Ok,I’m not going to get into all that I’m not black stuff.What I want to know,is where is it you guys live that people will bully you for being half/half?I always hear people saying this,but I’ve never seen it.Now I ‘ve seen them get mess with because they were full of themselves,but never for being mixed.So where does this go on at.
P.S.
I will say one thing,Afrocentrics are the ones that force you to say your black?I think you got that backward,it wasn’t them that made up the rules
@ Fuzzybear, First let me say thanks for responding without hostility. Second I grew up in Tx and in the hood lol. Being that Tx is still racist. We as black people tend to be more uptight about who we lay claim on being black. I was deeply rooted in african american studies and have no shame, as a matter of fact I’m very proud of mny african american culture. However I learned my personal geneology. Boh of my parents are bi-racial and both grew up comfortable with that. I never was forced to choose or place a label until I got in school and always got the dreaded question “what you mixed with?”. And let me tell you I got that more negative feedback growing up in a poorer neighborhood than I did when I moved to the suburbs. Anyway I came a bit strong but when she stated that being biracial was insulted it annoyed me. How cam you have a white mother (if in fact she does) and diss the women’s heritage that you were born to? That’s wack.
To Charlotte
Texas!,wow I didn’t know they do that over there.My mom alway told me how white people acted,but black.See I’m in LA,and I never seen that before which is why it’s so strange to me.Was it more of a fixed dark skinned color around,that you would stand out?Because until I started using the internet alot,I never heard of any of this stuff.Well anyhow thank you for answering my question
To charlotte
hello,I was talking to my mother(yes I do talk to to my moms,shock huh).Anyhow,she couldn’t believe it,she said this had to be something new.She spend her high school years in texas with her cousins.They were all(light bright dam near white)and no one ever bothered them
charlotte. your completely right. i hate how other ppl try to make other biracial ppl “choose”
their pride is in the way and they are just ignorant racists.
when a white chromosome and a black chromosome tie together, than your a mixed child. and its as simple as that.
theres no shame in that.
i feel like its the ppl you surround yourself w. that try to make it have shame in it or having to choose. but it is not.
Paula is beyond gorgeous. Too beautiful.
wow, i could of sworn that she had some native american in her….
she still hot as fuk !!!
I agree with you Paula. You should “Label” yourself African American. Stand strong, be proud and when you’re offered to play a role other than African American, REFUSE IT !!!! For the cause !!!!! We’ll just pretend that you played Kate Morales in swing vote and we will do our best to not notice that your husband or father of your child is a white boy…….. Was that you that played a role opposite Denzel Washington where you were killed but he was able to reverse it with some sort of gov. secret time and space development? Anyway we’ll also pretend that the man who played your father in that movie was/is Mexican which again would have made you something other than the Strong African American woman that you claim to be. I say show the world tat you are serious about African American and REFUSE ANY AND ALL ROLES THAT PORTRAY YOU AS SOMETHING OTHER THAN AFRICAN AMERICAN……
Sincerely,
Juan ( A Mexican American that doesn’t like seeing Latino/Latina roles played by anyone other than a Latino/Latina person) Oh don’t think that there are No Black Mexicans (African slaves were in Mexico a hundred years before the U.S. however, the 200,000 – 500,000 African slaves of Mexico, through miscegenation has now left the country with a 2 % visible Afro Mexican population and the rest of us have what the African Americans call, “PASSING” Yes, the rest of us are Afro-Mestizo…Latinos come in all colors and come from S. America, the Caribbean and the lower part of N. America called Mexico but we still have a Latin look, something that says, hey, Lauren Velez is black but she is Latina in her mannerisms and or looks. You on the other hand look like a woman that is half black and half white (Not Latina) NOT AN AFRO LATINA OR AFRO MESTIZA BUT A FULL FLEDGED AFRICAN AMERICAN…Translated means one of your parents is African American and the other is Irish, English, German or any other European stock that DOES NOT fit the Latina or AFRO LATINA MODE……..
In the movie with Denzel her father was cajun not. Hispanic.
To CHarlotte
I though he was creole
@JUAN YOU JUST AMAZED ME AND IT WAS VERY INTERESTING BECAUSE IM A BLACK GIRL WITH A MEXICAN BOYFRIEND WHO HAS BLUE/GRAY EYES AND PALE SKIN WITH BLONDISH-BROWN HAIR AND WE’RE HAVING A BABY.
You boyfriend is just one of the pink ones idiot!!!