Passing in Boston: The Story of the Healy Family
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- čas přidán 25. 03. 2014
- Boston College history professor, James O'Toole discusses his newest book Passing for White: Race, Religion, and the Healy Family, 1820-1920, which documents the extraordinary life of the Healy brothers of Boston.
In the mid-1800's, the Healy brothers of Boston, James, Patrick, and Sherwood, looked like the picture of Catholic success. James was bishop of Portland, Maine; Patrick, president of Georgetown University; and Sherwood, chief supervisor of the building of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The Healy's were not typical members of the Boston Catholic elite, but the children of a multiracial slave couple from Georgia.
Bad America. One can't imagine the life our ancestors HAD to endure. As for those who loves authentically, how sad. And the church ought be ashamed.
My grandfather was three quarters White. His mother was half White (light skin) and his father was White. My grandfather always lived in a town in Ms. He grew up playing with Whites and Blacks and he was highly respect by both. He identified as a Black man. It was an opposite passing. He spent his life convincing others that he was Black. Everyone at home knew him as Mr. Hayes. Because of his claim as a Black man did hinder him financially. His whiteness also allowed him opportunities not granted to other Black men.
Growing up with multiracial and multicultural family members made me a more sociable person in any environment especially immigrants.
Much respect to your father.
Hi what part of Mississippi is your relative Mr. Hayes from? I have a William Hays from Simpson County. He lived to be 107. He was know by Uncle Bill by whites and blacks
Amazing story but that’s not passing. He was open about his race, passing is when you try to get away from or hold on to an identity that is inaccurate. Typically People of color, that are able and life their life as a passing for shore person, does so to reap a benefit. Your grandfather was biracial but others couldn’t tell and he made his race known, much different.
My nephew is mixed race, Black father / White mother. He didn't really know his father, for his father was a "rolling stone" and had fathered 16 children, by 15 different women. Nine of the children managed to plan a get-together to meet their other siblings. All 9 still keep in touch, via phone, social media, etc. They are all across the US, from Boston to San Fran. They plan meetings in different places, the two big cities, the large state of California, and the New England area as well as the Mid West in Northern Kentucky and South Western Ohio a few times a year.
What does your nephew identify as, if you don't mind me asking?
The Jesuit order that founded Georgetown University owned slaves and sold several to buy more land to expand the campus. This history was documented in an episode of Finding Your Roots featuring the actress S. Epatha Merkerson, whose ancestors were among the enslaved sold for the expansion. How ironic that one of the university's presidents was not only Black but also a slave by condition.
The Healys never lived as slaves.
@@sandraatkins2539 I didn't say they ever had. The law in America used to be that a child bore the condition of its mother. Had they not passed for White, the Healys would have been enslaved.
Information is power
A very informing & enlightening video, thank you for your efforts in this endeavor of educating a people very much in need of it.
Father Sherwood Healey resembles many people from the Mediterranean coast. If they had known his true identity, he would never have been accepted. Do not mislead your viewer. Even the churches were segregated. The Healys were viewed as White men. In 2021, the Healy relatives still pass for White.
Very Very interesting. I watched the whole video and wished it was longer.
Check your pulse...you might be a zombie by now...
My opinion is that they did what was necessary in that time to get ahead and get education. To eat , live and be better. They were brave to do so. They beat them at their own game playing the race thing ok. So just leave them alone and get a life.
It’s history that requires study and inevitable make us better as a people. To forget about the past can lead to repeating it.
The numbers were great for those that passed but went largely unaccounted! Why because what's done in the dark comes to light! Imagine if all those that Raped, Married, Loved, people of African origin and those that "Passed" acknowledged their Truth! What if they collectively lived out loud, loved, fought for their/our human right at that time. Or dealt with the choices they made. I feel we wouldn't have to try redefine our Global Nations today. Because we would have dealt with Racism, educational inequalities, injustices, equal access to Healthcare, financial ascension, Economics, Housing equalizers and more wouldn't be a thing of contention today. But the change is coming. Those of you that feels "one should get a life", just know we are and do. However, it is often stopped by Whites, the others that believed they are more entitled. Hence, racism and vestiges of old ideals continue! Think about that!
We all in this Country of the US are Americans...Live with That!
They may have passed b/c being black back then was so much more than just skin tone and features. The way one, dressed, spoke, wealth, education, mannerisms, demeanor, self confidence, and so much more.
They passed because they looked white, they had a wealthy white father who paid for them to get an education, and assimulate. Period. Having darker skin like their mother they would have been enslaved and not received those opportunities.
It still is today, just to a lesser extent. I know from experience.
Passing was such a common practice back in the day, with many people creating stories and never disclosing their true heritage to their new families. The idea of any White American being "100% White" is incredibly hilarious at this point.
And we all came from mixed dna so the whole argument is moot.
That family was scared of its own shadow.
'IT SEEMS SURELY OUR GREAT GOD MIXED HIS CREATURES ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN.'WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE WORLD NOW IT'S NOT ONLY A BEAUTIFUL PLACE ,BUT ALSO A ' RICH ONE DUE TO THIS INTEGRATION'.I JUST CANNOT IMAGINE HOW INTERNATIONALLY ,THERE IS GOING TO BE TO ANY DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS IF WE DO GO BACK TO WHERE IT WAS.UNITY IS SO IMPORTANT. IN FACT I DO NOT EVEN KNOW HOW THIS HATRED STARTED WHEN IN THE BIBLE ,THE TEACHING OF TOGETHERNESS IS SO STRONG." TIME TO MOVE FORWARD FOR THE SAKES OF ALL.' OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN,PLEASE ASSIST US '.GOD IS THE MOST POWERFUL ,THE KNOWER AND THE SUSTAINER.
My great great great great great grandfather, William Colbert, was from Scotland. I, now, hereby declare that the supposed 'one drop rule' goes both ways!
Thank you for sharing ♥️🇨🇦🌏 would love to learn more, the descendants
Remember their father is a millionaire. Money always g as a voice if its own. We can imagine that he paid significant money to the Church in order to "shelter" his children. I must give old man Healey credit for protecting his children from avoiding the evil institution of slavery.
That's what I was thinking.
@Sandra Atkins The Healy Father OWNED their MOTHER, she carried 9 CHILDREN for her Slave master, Healy. Healy Enslaved people that look like me. He is NO HERO for educating his Bi-racial Off-spring {Privileged Children} using the $$$Millions Healy acquired on the BACKS of ENSLAVED African Americans. {Caps are for HIGHLIGHTED points, not shouting}.
@@SC-uq2jf The you people STOP claiming the Healy Family for your "race." Their accomplishments (which YOU people want to claim as your own) were financed by hiring out slave labor in Georgia. You types love to redefine relationships as "rape." If so, you were honored by it, based on the way you try to drag their offspring into your "race."
Thank you.
Most interesting video. The Healy's were truly a remarkable family. And their Father must've possessed "Balls of Steel".
However, their had to be such sadness and shame within each of them.
Thank you for uploading this video.
AD Powell powell....are you related to them or have you recently taken a dna test that um "surprised " you. You're extremely emotional about this story. I truly want to understand the source of your pain about this.
AD POWELL They were UNDENIABLY BLACK PEOPLE, so deal with it he he he....Only a white supremacist would try to claim mixed Black people who were successful in life as to make white people seem more important than Blacks.... later mate
tuutts39
They were COWARDS to claim to be white to exscape the oppression of while denying their father and mother. Instead of standing against racism and making a TRUE CHANGE for their people's painful lives, so don't fool yourselves about them being courageous.
tuutts39
You don't know what blacks who could never pass went through and for them to never see or talk to thier parents who Love and raised them ever again is an unGodly cruelty. You only care about what happens to white people and not blacks or any other kinda people obviously. You have all this sympathy because they married into white society and thier children are white.
@@awakingmind5251 I"m not sure the words "cowardice" and "courage" are appropriate. Do you have a particular pride in black people being hung? Do you think the father should have kept them in slavery? What do you think the mother/wife would have thought of the father had he not put them in places where they would be safe? There are all kinds of points of view about these things but the answers more complex than the binary choices you suggest.
I come from a family is very similar to this one. They probably agree amongst themselves that they were going to be white and pass. They probably explain the darker ones,by saying they have some Latin blood in them or some Native American blood in them . That's how the turn blackish came about. They would say, they had Italian Latin, or Native American ancestry. To explain the darkness in their complexion. Sometimes they wouldn't have children. Because they were afraid that the black gene would show . Sometimes but not all the time they act slightly prejudiced .Against blacks in public to deflect. To make it seem like they weren't black. Used to be a saying white in public black at home. Believe me there were a few blacks that knew even the lightest one was black. Because black people can always tell their own. No matter how white they look. Buy them being slave they would be considered Runaways ,.So when the church took them in. They probably made them look like orphans. That's why they called the priest Dad.
This wasn't as uncommon as you think. A lot of white slave owners had mistress wives. Thomas Jefferson and Sally hemings for one . The Creoles in New Orleans,. Malugen I think they're from Virginia. The rompope mountain people. Descendant from Revolutionary War soldiers Native Americans and black people. In New Jersey. And redbones I'm not for sure where they're from . plantations all through the South a little from the north .Where Master slept with their slaves. DNA tests are coming out showing it happened a lot. And DNA don't lie.
Yeah there was a lot going on back then . Too bad America hasn't learned from its mistakes.
Droid phone
I looked at your page. I saw that you like black Lodge. They're my favorite drum. My favorite song is Soldier Boy . I'm a pow wow dancer women's traditional. Are you native to?
I'm fascinated. We have a verbal history in our family that there's "an indian in the woodpile", supposedly one of the greats married an "indian" from New Orleans. I found a picture of all the brothers in the family in my great grandpa's generation, one of them definitely has black features, similar to the 4th brother at the beginning of the slideshow. I'm doubting there's any white family with a long history of living in the states, who doesn't have black somewhere in their past.
Sally Hemings was Thomas Jefferson's slave. She was a young girl when he began molesting her, producing other slaves. Therefore, he was a pedophile. There was no marriage of any sort. He didn't even make provisions for her to be freed upon his death. Remember he had a wife too.
.
Very enlightening and educational US history ☮️
They did the best they could given the skin they were born with. I do not believe they were free to live life on their own terms. They were masters of playing the hand they were dealt when the game is set against their true identity. If they were free to live their lives they would not have had to pass.
I could not agree more, it seems that all of their children were aware at least at some
level of their mothers race and what it would mean to "admit" it. As you said it is a
shame that they had to hide it. But nobody can blame them.
Agree
Ive never researched my family until recently, and iam surprised to inow i have a history. This is so awsome! I hope there lives werent that terrible. I knew i had african ancestors but not on the Healy side. I wish america could over come our racist problems.
We enjoyed this immensely. Before Bishop Healy was simply a token. But like Al Smith, whose grand father was an Italian sailor acquired the family name because a customs official could not understand his Italian name, his ancestry irrelevant to his identity as an Irish Catholic.
wonderful video. Sadly some of the comments below suggest that there are people who are unaware of the scientific fact that skin color is a result of long term exposure (thousands of years) to our sun's rays, i.e if a group of people all with white skin move to Africa their descendants over the next 10,000 years will have darker skin. The same applies to people with darker skin moving to (for example) Sweden. We are all related. Some of us are good some of us are bad. peace out.
The human genome has been decoded and all humans alive today any and everywhere on the planet share a common female ancestor. The mitochondrial DNA traces back to this Eve in Africa. So we, unlike our ancestors, have the scientific proof that we all belong to the one race Homo Sapiens Sapiens; whose phenotype (physical appearance) exist on a spectrum from people who have no melanin (albinism) through ivory, beige, tan, golden, copper, nut brown, chocolate, and people with a saturation of melanin so intense the skin radiant blue black. The National Geographic Society has tracked the migration out of Africa to populate the entire planet.
We don’t have to be limited by 19th century ideas for organizing ourselves.
This lecture on the Healy family is a clear and simple demonstration that “race” as we use it is a social construct. And the mental, emotional, intellectual, and physical characteristics attributed to people according to race are fluid and malleable for the reason- that it’s all made up!
@@deborahpollitt7533
Don't forget Eve's husband Adam.
Jesus. Hair like wool. Feet like brass.
@@henryottis295 lol Henry Ottis (aka Chris Rock)
PLACE WATERS that will never happen. You cannot get black from white. But you can get white from black . Climate have nothing to do with it. White people were made 6000 yrs ago. They were made from weaning out the melanin from black people by marrying the lighter ones to the lighter ones. This process took 600yrs. Today it takes 3 generations.
I found the OJ reference about the physical appearance of one of the Healy brothers reprehensible, sensational and wholly unnecessary in a presentation about the acceptance of a mixed race family in antebellum America. I am descended from a mixed race family where we range in appearance from quite dark-skinned to passe' blanc. My grandfather was the darkest of four brothers. His other brothers were light-skinned men with light blue, gray and green eyes and were more accepted by the rest of the Virginia- bred part of our family that were a blend of white, mostly Swedish, Native American and black. They were freed persons of color since the 1700s. Many blended into white society. We are fiercely proud of our heritage where some of our ancestors fought in the Civil War.
nolalibertine...he gets away with it because he is the predictable arrogant, ignorant white apologist faux-academic con-artist...he thinks because he "says it" then it must be true and it must be accepted without question...nothing worse than a deluded self-serving white who DARES to interpret the experience and history of others "because I say so"...
What wrong with the O.J reference ?. The said picture does look like a young light-skinned black man. Similar to what O.J. looked like back in the day. There's nothing reprehensible about what he said.
OJ is proven innocent ! You would not have complained if he said “ looked like nazi Hitler or Nazi pope or Nazi husband of that child murdering , kidnapping queen of English
My great Uncle could have pass for white but, he didn't. But, back in the 50s here in Detroit, he could get a job anywhere. My father, his Uncle. Told the story about his Uncle William working at a very good job. Unfortunately one day he forgot his lunch and his black wife brought his lunch to him. When the white boss saw, that. He ask him. Who was the colored young lady? And he said that was my wife. They fired him on the spot. That has always stuck with me. Life can be so cruel. I felt so sad for my uncle. I loved him so much. And he became an alcoholic. And sadly died. It wasn't easy back in the day, if you couldn't be identified for what you really were. Sad!😢
He was White as that's how society saw him. His little admixture of Black blood doesn't make him a whole Black man.
The old one drop rule has caused mass confusion among Black Americans !
... He owned slaves.
In other words, he enslaved human beings to turn a financial profit.
One of his slaves, Eliza Clark...
In other words, One of the people enslaved by him, Eliza Clark...
There is valuable information here. For myself, it's hard to listen to the language used, albeit common and pervasive in USA culture broadly speaking, more so still when this was recorded, language which tags People as "slaves" or "masters, as basically things or "owners," language that pushes a continuous support Of complectionistic prejudice. All if this and moee6, rather than more accurately describing the facts: People were enslaved (held captive, abused and mis-treated As If "farm equipment"). They were Not the things (the slaves) they were treated as. The fellow human beings who were enslaved were called, "slaves," as a means to use language as if clearly defining them by those holding them captive and otherwise condoning the enslavement of fellow human beings, using dominant cultures chosen language to undermine the realities that All of the People mentioned were in Fact People, Human Beings, and Not the roles ascribed to any of them
People were enslavers ("rulers" of concentration camps, of human beings, fellow human beings who were being treated As If things, regardless of the number of persons held captive), again, using dominant cultures chosen language to undermine the realities that All of the People mentioned were in Fact People, Human Beings, and Not the roles ascribed to any of them.
This issue has been dear to my heart for decades. It's important for me to share this perspective.
Thank you for reading, perhaps to see anew what we hear And think And feel with and in regard to language.
Side note to the featured speaker on the vid: Please listen to your intonation when the first slides are shown, particularly when showing the last pictured brother of the family to be discussed. Thank you.
Thank you, also, for the talk.
They also became priests...whatever opportunities they had as opposed to slavery...what choice would you make?
Sad storyl
Somehow I don’t feel they lived happy lives! They were separated from their mother and father and grew up in a catholic school! What a nightmare!
Yes. Most of them hid within the church. Priests and nuns aren't expected to marry and procreate.
When was this book first published?
What is the name of the book? I would like read it if it's in the public library.
I thank our HEAVENLY ABBA YAHUAH for allowing this to finally come to fruition, concerning the mindset of MEN. He promised he'd make KNOWN the things is done in the dark. Both races were IGNORANT. Because of their LACK of
KNOWLEDGE they are being destroyed to this very day. Many EVILS have taken place, NOT because of the color of the black skin. It goes much deeper than the EXPERTS are willing to acknowledge: Though the TRUTH is in their face. But their hearts are far from the TRUTH. OUR HEAVENLY ABBA YAHUAH CAME IM THE FLESH OF A BLACK MAN.
They ALL WERE Black even though they LOOKED white,the fact that they LOOKED white DOES NOT matter,they are just as black and MORE black as a person that is PURE black and so dark that they are black in color.
You're not making any sense. In those days people judged you by what you looked like. They looked white and in reality were MIXED people. Not just black.
These were mixed people who had white privilege, they were never treated as black people because they did not look black.
@@sapphirebluemo mixed didn't matter in those days, in this country. Anything 10 percent black or more meat that one was BLACK. Anything else of what one is would be completely ignored. Times were truly black and white in those days.
"God has a way of leveling out things and for those that don't believe in God then , Karma is the HBIC in "2020"!
2020 PARIS FRANCE IS FEELING IT TOO!!
The morale of the story is if America wasn't so racist we would all do better
It’s not difficult to see the children took on their father’s identity, and, being Irish Catholic in those days was not exactly a great upward leap. Extraordinary in some respects but not really in others. And back then, without completely accurate records, SSNs, government intrusions, etc., many people could relocate and change their identities in some shape or form or leave a “past” behind them and start a new life. That was part of the draw to America in the first place
that’s that racism run amuck for a “better life”
Makes it sound copacetic …
@@playablue do you doubt they had a better life than they would have?
This was obviously a conscious decision on their part to consider themselves White and to also ignore the elephant in the room. While the denial of race and passing was very common, it is, none the less, tragic. It's a form of self-hatred.
"Only a single drop of blood..." Do you mean, Only a single discernible Ancestor/or Relative?
Blood as in your dna! Your whole make up ! Not your skin color.
It sounds ridiculous and it is. Only an excuse to disempower a group of people.
Yes, any ancestry.
White people made the one drop rule , it's nonsense.
I believe Everyone is mixed with something. We have no idea who our ancestors slept with many years ago. No way of knowing those stories
We are all one blood according to the Bible. Noah had 3 sons we all of one of the 3 sons of Noah. God didnt make no new people
Did he show a picture of the kids mom? Likely she was only part black
You are correct. She was mixed-race.
There was a lot of people that could pass because my sister died they used to call us black and white my sister looks Italian she looks White I'm dark-skinned and I definitely look black we were sisters and anytime anybody try to step up to my sister that was black they had to deal with me cuz it was my sister and they need to leave her alone lot of the times when the kids found out that we were sisters they just stop bothering her they didn't socialize with my sister but they did not try to give her no more crap after they knew I was her sister
Disappointed they didn't have a better camera man who would show the pictures
Their own terms? I beg to differ they conform to somebody else’s terms.
I guess they didn't go home and visit their parents much
It is not color but blood. The blood they carry from their slave mother place her at the matriarchal head of all those descending from her. The only way to end the blood lines is for the last surviving relative to die without issue. They all owe their very existence to her as the matriarch. Apperance and color eases and reassures many that phenotype defines you and can erase your entrance into the world as a descendants of the other.
Only because our ancestors die and we can hide who is in our background that society say is less than can they feel safe Otherwise how accepting and even cheering them on to define themselves as other would society be if she the matriarch was standing live in the flesh before them, ready to embrace her grandchildren to the 3rd and 4th generation. And let's not forget her side of the family.
This is true.... These ppl did what they could to see that their children WOULD be free mobile To live a s free people in the USA......oh my God People get with the program......... And what happened to the youngest of the siblings. Of This plantiontion owner
They never married, for the most part. So the secret was never exposed?
I so wish that a black professor had told this .
This man in my opinion gets D- for this presentation !
The remsrk regarding O. J. IS SO IGNORANT !
angos love study so be glad
one thing about those of British descent, they love to study history, so just chill and be glad somebody does!
No way in.hell he looked like OJ Simpson 😳 🤣
I really not sure the man's intention.
Is the speaker black? Just curiois
I thought the same thing
He's a Healy look-alike.
Aye, the Black Irish....
I'm happy to go along with a good joke - cruder the better! - but just for the record the phrase "black Irish" has nothing to do with being of African ancestry.
@Lynda Anthony "black Irish" actually refers to the jet black hair of the Celtic Irish. A huge number of Irish people have very fair complexions being blonds and red heads and that has ironically become the stereotype of the Irish. But that's NOT what the indigenous Irish looked like. These fair-complexed people are the biological descendants of other European invaders, most often Vikings. The indigenous Celts, on the other hand, have straight black - not just brunette - hair and skin that easily tans. My mother, whose maiden name was O'Neill, had that kind of hair and skin. That's what it means to be "black Irish."
@@johnscanlan6337 so the black Irish are the descendants of the Drooads. I apologize for my misspelling.
@@johnscanlan6337 I believe it means having Spanish heritage.
@@enolamsamoht Druids. Also, possibly Asian. "Black Irish" have Spanish heritage The elder Irish immigrants of the U.S. east coast despised Italians. Evidently, they might have been more tolerant of people from Spain.
How did their father treat the rest of his slaves. Did he teach the children's mother to read or any of her family. I find this father to be exactly like the rest of the slave-holders. Did their mother ever write to them? I can't believe you think they are close knit if the entire bunch treat their mother like something other than their mother.
Did he say Ralfe Lauren was passing for White.Peace
No that's not what the first man was referencing. He was talking about other forms of passing. Ralph Lauren is Jewish and changed his last name as a lot did. Do the research.
@@teeart356 Thanks for the feedback, and yes I do know how to research.Peace
The were educated.
Many Irish knew their original ancestry America has a short memory and forget when the Irish and Scicillians were known as black. But we won’t get into the fact that every child is a descent ant of Eve. While not all are descendants of Adam. You all said they were but reality is they were not.
The mother of the Healy boys wasn't totally black....
Tahnn Ju we
Get OVER yourselves, already......
What! Are they going to call the average Mexican Black now as the average is 3 to 6% Sub Saharan African and the same goes for many Latinos depending on the country they are from and they have no discernible Black phenotype!
Sad individuals. SMH
This is an amazing story, however he raised money for a school that got started on the sale of the slaves they owned. That is really very unfortunate to do so!
That is what they did to SUPREME COURT JUSTICE CLARENCE TOMUSE
You know what he saying is something special. Hawaii family in the South that was going to Europe and they needed to get blood test and they have to get to get the passports well them being racist whites and to get there then I got their passports is set on their colored they were partially black but they look white the people was upgrades they were screaming they were hardly so you got to take the blood test again we are quite turned out the same favor Black lost their mind there was nothing they could do they have to look at themselves for who they were and that was not going to be easy when this white family so-called was racist against the people who they were black
Lmao, I like how he hsitaed saying the word "Nigro."😄😄😄Gotta love my White people they trying folks give them a chance.
Not QUITE the N word he wanted to use.
It is ridiculous to say that out of 4 brothers 3 are white and one is black. Neither of those brothers looked like a black man to me.
The Jesuits saved those children. Period
I'm very interested in the Healy's story. However, watching this video in 2023 and listening to the micro-agressions is too difficult. ("Sherwood looks like a young O.J. Simpson but we won't let him play the part in the movie."" If these 4 men walked down the street which would you say is Black?") I stopped watching and won't read the book. I'll research the story of the Healy Family myself.