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 forgot to say that she looks like she could be related to The Rock. lmfao
idk something’s off about paula. she aint ugly but she aint pretty either. she kinda looks like a shemale. very masculine looking. is she a hermaphrodite?
I don’t know why y’all are so hurt she chooses to identify as black, it’s her business. It doesn’t always mean they’re ashamed to be white they just might identify with their black culture more.
I thought she was Puerto Rican. There are PR girls who look like her.
Frankly speaking, I identify with my black heritage because the black part of me has been criticized for many years about the choices my parents made 30yrs ago. Plus, its always the first thing people ask about or notice so they label you as such…”black I see so black you be”!
For some odd reason, the black race doesn’t deny me of anything other than welcome who I am as a person and doesn’t try to dominate or impose anything on me because of what they see in front of them. Now my family think I’m beautiful and a good person; but they hated me as a kid. The alcoholic wino &%^#@, seems to be interested in what I am doing and why I choose not to care about them, when in fact they are the ones who made me think this way about them.
Unless you live it you don’t know it. White people can be very cruel with their insensitive and impulsive comments when they are upset, even when its your mother who made you the way you are. It is hard to please the white race and so I am very comfortable identifying with my black sisters and brothers as we all fight in this struggle to be recognized as human beings. I don’t hate any person or race. I just know first hand of what whites give. I have lived amongst them and worked above and underneath them. You just can’t be proud of something so pale and flaky on the outside, but can be so mean, dark, viscious and cold on the inside…they do apologize because they realize that you hurt or that you still remember and you are growing up, but by then its too late. It only takes one racist act or one racist statement.
A child once scared and scarred, will always be wary of the racist monsters lurking in the shadows, even if its your older brother and sisters and grandparents. Your hatred made me strong and successful, too bad you guys are plagued by misfortunes, addictions, illnesses and death.
I remember my old weary black grandma aways used to say that GOD IS WATCHING, and I never believed her, or in him, how could be watching cruel intentions and let them play out? You were right he was watching and all that you said and promised came through, I wish you had lived long enough to see, but yes you were right, he is always watching!!! I model my ways and my heart is like yours Granmuber!LUB U MUCH!
I’m happy that you are now successful even when your black side was criticizing you. For me my black side was/is super critical of my Filipino and Italian side than vice versa my mom side could careless. I think for me identify with all aspects in degrees while I’m usually looked as as black in the states, while at school I’m looked typically as a Italian speaker, and near the family that I’m close to Filipino. I feel as long as you feel true to yourself that is where your identity comes from.
I went when your white side was critiquing you.