I admit my favorite TV Show is “Grey’s Anatomy” and one of my favorite actresses is Ellen Pompeo, who stars as Dr. Meredith Grey. Yes, I know Ellen is not a real doctor, she’s an accomplished actress and for that she needs a certain degree of intelligence.

I recently found out that Pompeo, who is white, is married to a black man. So far, so good, but then she said that she is a “white lady with a black husband and black children.” She has also been outspoken about race and diversity. I would think in this day and age of so-called race and diversity, she would acknowledge that her children are biracial or multiracial. Instead, she apparently embraces the one-drop rule.

In a recent article in ENews, called “How Ellen Pompeo Deals with Being Called a ‘White Bitch,’” Pompeo “credits her compassion with being able to withstand racially charged criticism.” What exactly does that mean? Is she compassionate because she married a black man? Does she take racially charged criticism for having black children? Ironically, on her television show, she adopted a black, not biracial child. Is she confusing real life with her acting life?

Ellen then explained it this way: “So I suffered trauma at an early age. My mother died when I was 4,” Pompeo responded. “And I think that when you suffer any kind of trauma, especially as a child, I think you learn compassion, and I think that that makes you a more compassionate person. At the root of it, compassion is a great practice.”

I am astounded by the number of people I see who talk about race “just” being a “We-All-Are-One” syndrome. Maybe we aren’t. Maybe there are important differences in those crazy genes that everyone is talking about like they know them personally. Maybe there really is something to Sickle Cell Anemia and blacks. Perhaps we need to know more about Tay Sachs and the Jewish Population. Maybe Cystic Fibrous really is more prevalent in whites. This is not a medical television show; it’s real life and could be a matter of life and death.

Marrying interracially and having multiracial children is not like winning an award for acting. It doesn’t take people with great people skills, intelligence, pain, suffering, or even compassion. It takes falling in love.

 

Susan Graham

President

Project RACE

 

 

Photo Credit: Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Refinery29