"She was ridiculed"
Shay Banks-Young imagines the trials that Sally Hemings had to endure.
Theme: Opinion of Sally Hemings
Shay Banks-Young
Shay Banks-Young is a radio and TV personality and poet in Columbus, Ohio. After genetic testing in 1998 established a connection between Madison Hemings's brother Eston and Thomas Jefferson, she went on the Oprah Winfrey show and met Eston's descendant Julia Jefferson Westerinen. Since then Banks-Young and Westerinen have been bringing a discussion of racial issues, titled “A Conversation in Black and White,” to audiences around the country.
Interview Information
31 May 1996, Columbus, OH
Interviewee: Shay Banks-Young
Interviewer: Beverly Gray
19 July 2000, Charlottesville, VA
Interviewees: Shay Banks-Young, Julia Jefferson Westerinen
Excerpts
"They cannot erase Sally Hemings"
Shay Banks-Young talks about the reluctance through the years to talk about the Hemings-Jefferson relationship.
"I don't put him on a pedestal"
Shay Banks-Young gives her opinion of Thomas Jefferson and his presence in her family tree.
"Our heritage is not based on the shadow of Thomas Jefferson"
Shay Banks-Young notes that her heritage goes past the legacy of slavery.
Themes: Family, Racial Identity
"She and I have gone beyond cousins"
Shay Banks-Young describes the close relationship she has developed with distant relative Julia Jefferson Westerinen.
Theme: Family
"Color has nothing to do with family"
Shay Banks-Young describes meeting family members of all races
Themes: Family, Racial Identity
"Our heritage has been confirmed"
Shay Banks-Young describes the importance of her family's oral history being validated by DNA and historical consensus.
Theme: Oral History Transmission
"A very wonderful reputation as a good man"
Shay Banks Young describes her ancestor Madison Hemings
Theme: Racial Identity
Ancestry
- Elizabeth Hemings 1735–1807 John Wayles 1715–1773
- Sally Hemings 1773–1835
- Madison Hemings 1805–1877
- Harriet Hemings Butler 1842–1925
- Shay Banks-Young
Related People
- Madison Hemings ancestor
- Julia Jefferson Westerinen cousin