Some interesting facts from the AP
- Enslaved blacks often didn’t have a surname, so they chose their own. The AP says it’s a “myth” that they always picked their owners’ last names. Often they picked something entirely different. Understandably, George Washington’s name was a popular choice.
- Twelve U.S. Presidents owned slaves, though only eight had them while in office. Of those, George Washington was the only President to free his slaves. He ordered them to be freed after his wife’s death.
- Booker T. Washington made up his own last name.
- Half of the non-black Washingtons are white. Thirty percent are mixed-race. The rest are either Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander.
- The next “blackest” names were Jefferson and Williams.
- The surname Black is 68% white. White is 19% black
George Washington was obviously white.. So how did 90% of the current “Washingtons” become black?
