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
Black is just a way to say that you are mixed with African ancestors and the degree of this mixture is not important. Bi-racial is a new term that gained popularity within the last decade or so.
She can consider herself whatever she wants.Genetically she is biracial and there’s nothing she can do about it.
I for one don’t understand what she meant by the term biracial as a bad term. Tto say the majority of biracial ppl who are at least half black biologically as a means to feel superior feels wrong to me. Since when is it a crime to accept both sides of the family? I dont condone her for just seeing herself as black. I understand her genetic makeup biologically may not match up to who she identifies as on the outside and inside, and that’s fine. She has every right to identify as whoever she feels comfortable being, or what she feels she is. But I don’t appreciate her comment about biracial being offensive because while she might feel that way for herself, she has no right to set that standard for anyone else who may identify as biracial.
I just don’t understand it. Why does she think ppl who identify as biracial (who are genetically half black) are trying to separate themselves from the african american community???
Sorry, got a typo of the second sentence in my first post. I meant to say, “To say the majority of biracial ppl who are at least half black biologically IDENTIFY AS BIRACIAL as a means to feel superior feels wrong to me.”
because they do, and sometimes they do it to sound better! Not all but some do!
On average, 18% of the African-American genome is of European origins due to racial intermixing. This would suggest that Paula is roughly 59% Caucasian and 41% Sub-Saharan Negroid ethnically. The world is moving rapidly to a mixed race blend of ethnicities due to the high geographic mobility of from different cultures and the increasing acceptance of sexual partners from other ethnic backgrounds. In years to come, the tag “Black” or “White” will not mean anything.
As far as I’m concerned, she summed it up perfectly herself. She’s black; She never said she was 100% black. Who can really say that they are 100% of any race but she sure looks prodominately black to me and apparently to herself as well. Beautiful and Smart Lady.