Thomas Jefferson alongside Black descendant holds 'a mirror' to U.S.

Shannon LaNier, a ninth-generation descendant of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings, wore the same sort of outfit as his famous ancestor for a Smithsonian Magazine piece, "American Descendants."

But LaNier, who is Black, said in the article in the magazine's July issue that he chose not to wear a wig for his likeness of his great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather.

“I didn’t want to become Jefferson,” LaNier said. “My ancestor had his dreams — and now it’s up to all of us living in America today to make sure no one is excluded from the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

LaNier, a TV host in Houston who co-authored a book about his family, "Jefferson's Children: The Story of One American Family," also said of the third U.S. president, “He was a brilliant man who preached equality, but he didn’t practice it. He owned people. And now I’m here because of it.”

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