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
@Charlotte,
What part of Texas are you from? I’m from Dallas and grew up in the Oak Cliff sector of Dallas which has been predominantly black for a while. There were bi-racial kids around all the time and I don’t ever recall them being treated any differently than the rest of the kids.
I think maybe you had insecurities about your mixed race and being different. Kind of like the DeBarge family who grew up in a black neighborhood but were shameful of their white father.
I want to marry her PERIOD!
I get so tired of people saying it’s Afrocentricism that makes black people claim half-black/half-something else as black people. No, honey it was the white lawmakers that instilled the one one drop rule long ago. The enslavers that let the black women raise the children as only their own. I could easily say that Eurocentrism is making the Spanish (the ones in Europe, not Latinos) and the Italians be claimed as white. When they’re a mixture of African, Arab and European.
i think she is half white well she looks biracial
thats what it says on wikipedia even though thats not a trusted source
but if she says she is black then i cant really argue with her
Paula is half white/Black. I personally know her and her cousin and I are very good friends. She is a very nice woman and has been that way since I first met her when she was attending film school in California. So I confirm that she is half white/black. H
Okay that was really nice what she said about black people and all and u should be proud of what u are…..and it is her business…..but didn’t she marry a white boi?