I may get flamed for this and it’s an ugly observation, but I’ve long suspected that all these claims of having been fathered by plantation owners is just another status-seeking behavior, like claiming their African forebears were kings and queens. Looking at the behavior, you’d think they were the result of willful, impulsive and not very successful white people mating with willful, impulsive and not very successful black people, like maybe white trash and runaway slaves.