Alex Haley’s Other Roots: African-Americans with Irish Ancestors

“My own grandmother about whom I’m now writing in my father’s book, my mother’s side went into Roots, but on my father’s side, both paternal grandparents were the parents of white Irish fathers and black slave mothers. Therefore, I’m part Irish. I can’t feel Irish to save my soul, but it’s a fact.” Alex Haley Interview

Alex Haley’s great-grandfather James Jackson was born in County Monaghan in Ulster and emigrated to the South. Since Jackson’s father was born in Ireland and his mother was born in Scotland, we can certainly say that he was Scotch-Irish and that Haley, therefore, is of Scotch-Irish descent.

Ulster ancestry of African-Americans can be a difficult subject for both Ulster-Americans and African-Americans to discuss. Before the Civil Rights revolution of the 1960s, few Scotch-Irish had any desire to claim blacks as relatives and in these more enlightened times we’re embarrassed, if not ashamed, because we know that this is the legacy of “children of the plantation”-- offspring of slaveowners and their female slaves. While those liaisons may have been mutually agreeable at times, some measure of coercion was the rule, with rape & physical assault all too common. Nor do painful episodes end at conception. In Haley’s fictionalized account of the Scotch-Irish branch of his family, the title character Queen, his grandmother, is cast out after the Civil War. Jackson refused to acknowledge his paternity and his wife despised her.

From the African-American perspective, identifying white ancestors used to be a way of truthfully putting on airs, but now there’s far less to be gained from talking about that branch of the family. And more to the point, these personal histories can be upsetting.

Nonetheless, several celebrities have acknowledged this mixed ancestry. Alice Walker, author of the Color Purple, explained her spiritual background this way: “I'm a pagan Buddhist who was brought up as a Christian. The pagan part connects me to all of my roots - my African, my Scottish, Irish, Native American, all connected at that pagan root.” Rosa Parks had a Scotch-Irish great-grandfather.

With other African-Americans, their ancestors are described as “Irish”, which could mean either Irish-Catholic or Scotch-Irish. Just guessing, Derek Jeter’s mother is probably Irish-Catholic, since he’s from New York, but Billie Holiday is more likely Scotch-Irish since she is said to have been one of “seventeen children of a black Virginia slave and a white Irish plantation owner.” Jimi Hendrix’s mother Nora Moore was the daughter of a full-blooded Cherokee mother and an Irish father. Ishmael Reed has written about his Irish ancestors and Ella Fitzgerald is described as having “distant” Irish roots. Malcolm X was light-skinned with reddish hair.

Muhammad Ali’s ancestry may include a Scotch-Irish branch through the Moreheads, but one of his great-grandfathers was Abe Grady, who migrated from County Claire during the 1860’s and married an African-American woman in Kentucky. Grady was probably Catholic, not Scotch-Irish.

In the cases of Colin Powell and Claude McKay, their Irish and African ancestry came via the Carribean. McKay was a first generation immigrant from Jamaica, while Powell’s heritage includes Native American blood, too.

Are these famous African-Americans atypical of U.S. blacks? Probably. In a few years, DNA tests for ancestry will be inexpensive and common, but we can surmise a bit already. We know that very few blacks here are entirely of African descent. Many have Native American blood and many had white great-great-grandfathers. Since so many white southerners have ancestors who came to America via Ulster, it only stands to reason that many African-Americans can say the same.

Roger Beebe made a short film which I haven’t seen yet, but the theme, apparently played mostly for laughs, is that black athletes with Irish names are Irish-Americans. He may be more right than he knows.

Sometimes, slaves and ex-slaves took on their owners’ last names. Sometimes their owners were their fathers or grandfathers. Maybe Shaquille O’Neal has no Irish blood. There are currently seven other black NBA players whose last names begin with the Celtic “Mc” (McCants, McCarty, McDyess, McGrady, McInnis, McKie and McLeod). Maybe none of them have ancestors from Ulster, but their great-great grandmothers must have lived close to someone who did.

Knowing the likely personal histories involved, I honestly can’t blame any black person for choosing to shun Ulster roots. But as an historical and political reality, I think it’s better if we all acknowledge how closely the cultural ties are between African-Americans and the Scotch-Irish. In any case, I’m proud to say that I might be related to any of these celebrities. Especially Rosa Parks. I really want to be related to her.