I will COMMENT on Professor Kiracofe's remarks in each paragraph below. Herb
Barger

David Kiracofe wrote:

> The renewal of the Jefferson-Hemings scandals --
> or "fiasco" -- has emerged to overshadow what I, as a
> professional historian, had hoped would be the larger
> imapct of the DNA studies.  That is, I had hoped the
> findings would focus greater attention on the
> complexitities of slavery and racial categories in
> early America. COMMENT: And so would the politacally correct historical
> revisionists among us. The simple amateur DNA Study originated only to
> prove or disprove the Carr brothers involvement. When the DNA eliminated
> them, in the absence of others to compare with Thomas Jefferson and the
> Jefferson DNA, Nature assumed that Thomas just had to be the only one
> suspect. If Dr. Foster had given Nature the information that he knew about
> Mr. Jefferson's brother, Randolph and five sons, that I had given him,
> there would be NO way that Nature could write such a false and misleading
> headline. However Dr. Foster did make it perfectly clear and cite some
> references I had asked that he list, in his 2nd article of Jan. 7, 99, but
> it was too late.....some of the media and others with agendas were
> "crowing". Bottom line, "Never leave our valuable history in the hands of
> amateurs and "authorities" who have reasons to distort history and
> science." LET US ALWAYS HAVE A 2ND OPINION, JUST AS IN IMPORTANT MEDICAL
> DECISIONS!

> So many of the issues involved in the specific Jefferson-Hemings case
> appear unanswerable: what was their relationship? (If it wasn't sexual,
> what was it? why were her children manumitted? etc. -- if it was sexual,
> what was the nature of that relationship? consensual or coerced? amatory or
> convenience?).  DNA will not answer such questions even if it can provide a
> 100% guaranteed answer to paternity. COMMENT: My long study of this issue
> and NOW that I assisted Dr. Foster on the study from an inside knowledge, I
> am able to see where things went WRONG, who makes them go wrong, who is
> benefiting from the false headline and the motives of those involved. There
> is NOTHING to show a Thomas Jefferson-Sally Hemings relationship anywhere.
> He only mentions her name three or four times with reference to some minor
> things such as baggage etc. She received average issues of food, clothing
> and bedding as other slaves. Some recent films and Sally Hemings programs
> on TV (PBS Frontline & A&E Biography, I was interviewed extensively for
> both programs BUT you did not see my opposing views), have tried to make
> the public believe the rumors were true. We all heard so much on the CBS
> series on Sally Hemings, one of those was,  that while in Paris Thomas
> Jefferson and Sally Hemings signed an agreement to release her childern at
> age 21........WHY did Beverly wait to age 24 to RUN AWAY? I have never read
> anywhere of Mr. Jefferson being untruthful and going back on a contract.
> WHY would he now go back on such an agreement (if there was one). We also
> now are able to see that either Madison Hemings or Samuel Wetmore (an
> abolitionist who wrote the article) of the Madison article in Pike Co.,
> Ohio are far from being truthful by stating that Madison was named by Dolly
> Madison while she was visiting Monticello when he was born. She was NOT at
> Monticello on January 19, 1805 and neither was Thomas Jefferson. There are
> many inconsisties in the article and the back up of Madison's friend has
> much to desire in truth according to TJ's grandson, Thomas Jefferson
> Randolph.

> I for one would like to see more discussion of the
> complexities of race and slavery as indicated by the
> Jefferson-Hemings case.  A number of people have
> commented on the matter of racial mixing and mulatto
> people in the South, but what we have in this case are
> some extremely "white" mulattoes -- Sally Hemings
> herself was at most only one-fourth of African descent;
> her children then only one-eighth.  Some of Hemings'
> grandchildren eventually passed into the white
> community.  Doesn't this complicate a picture of white
> masters and black slaves?  How many slaves were people
> who looked white?  To get back to the original scandal -
> - Callender's story of "Tom" who was recognized in the
> neighborhood, was not the black image of his reputed
> father, but probably a very white one. COMMENT: Generalities again about
> the slavery issue......NOT the DNA issue.
> All the masters did it so Jefferson MUST have did the same. The DNA Study
> has been surrounded by people "repeating" the same things about slavery and
> about mulattoes around Monticello. There were several white/black liasions
> going on, some with Sally's mother. Anyone care to comment on the 5 weeks
> absence of Sally for 5 weeks training away from the Jeffersons in Paris,
> EXACTLY 9 months prior to her return to Monticello in Dec. 23, 1789??? Dr.
> Foster and I also discussed alternatives to the Woodson claims.

> I was struck by this issue lately while looking at some photographic images
> from the Reconstruction period of children in a freedman's school.  The
> pupils appeared to be both black and white -- an integrated classroom.But
> of course this was not the case; the children were all freed people.
> COMMENT: What does this observation have to do with the DNA Study?

> Continuing to fight over Jefferson's reputation seems pretty unproductive
> in light of the bigger picture.
> David Kiracofe Texas Tech University COMMENT: It is just not wholy about
> Jefferson's reputation......it's about lies and false statements cast by
> politically correct historical revisionists who are teaching our children
> in some of the universities today. In my research and the research of many
> others there is NOTHING to prove that Thomas Jefferson fathered any Hemings
> child.
>

Herbert Barger
Jefferson Family Historian

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