I found that odd as well.
What I don’t find so surprising is that he fled his white family and chased after every black radical he could find. He embraced it all. I am sure they felt motivated and were happy to hide all this from “white” America. Critical Race Theory and all.
My son is very interested in the Bell story - has been watching interviews and telling me all about it. lol He said the professor bell was all crazed about not getting tenure at Harvard wasn’t even qualified so he didn’t want equal treatment, he wasn’t preferencial treatment.