Riffing off of Siddhartha’s post, here’s a photo of the most prominent mixed Black-Brown American family that I know of:

The auntie in the center might have been America’s first desi First Lady!

Can you guess who this is? Answer after the fold.

Dr. Alan Lee Keyes (August 7, 1950 —) is an American politician, diplomat, neoconservative and social conservative activist. He is a member of the Republican Party, a talk radio host and a frequent candidate for public office.

He served in the U.S. Foreign Service, was appointed Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and then became U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations under President Ronald Reagan.

In 1979, he was assigned to the consulate in Mumbai, India, where as a desk officer he met his wife Jocelyn… The couple have three children — Francis, Maya Marcel-Keyes and Andrew. The Keyes are a devout Roman Catholic family.

Keyes is notable for his unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Presidency in 1996 and 2000 and for the U.S. Senate in 1988, 1992 and 2004. [Link]

Jocelyn Keyes looks more (steroetypically) desi in this photo, without the bouffant ‘do:

Alan and Jocelyn Keyes in Israel

Daughter Maya identifies with both her Indian and Black backgrounds [this is from an exchange where somebody mistakenly tells Maya not to call herself Indian, thinking that Maya was simply a fan of India, hence the defensive tone]:

… yes, I am Indian… I am actually MORE Indian than I am anything else… My mom is Indian. All my mom’s side of the family is Indian. My mom is South Indian (Tamil/Malayali) by birth, but was born and raised in Calcutta… Since my mom is Indian and my dad is more mixed than my mom, this makes my BLOOD more Indian than I am anything else. My aunt, cousins, grandmother, and tons of other relatives live in Tamil Nadu, which is where I stayed in India… I am MULTI-RACIAL, but I have MORE Indian blood than I do African-American or anything else (Really, I’m about 5 different ethnicities, but PRIMARILY Indian, and then black)… people assume I’m black only and refuse to accept that I’m Indian also ;-)… [Link]