In 1998, a DNA Study found that descendants of a man named Eston Hemings, a slave at Monticello and the son of Sally Hemings and purported son of Thomas Jefferson, had the Jefferson Y-Chromosome and Haplogroup. In light of other historical evidence, such as acknowledgment from friends of Thomas Jefferson that he did have a sexual relationship with Hemings, most scholars, as well as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, which runs and operates Monticello, have accepted Jefferson’s paternity: but not the group of descendants that owns the graveyard of Thomas Jefferson and his WHITE descendants.

The Monticello Association, despite an overwhelming amount of historical evidence, voted in 1999 to keep the Hemings descendants from being buried due to an apparent lack of historical evidence. The reason they have given has been long discredited: members such as former MA President John H. Works are known to be racist, as stated by his own brother, David, a fellow white descendant of Jefferson. Additionally, members of the Monticello Association have been cruel and unkind to descendants of the Hemings family, such as Nat Abeles’ wife, who took advantage of the trust of Sally Hemings’ descendants and pretended to be one to join and spy on one of their group chats.

The cruelty and unjust racism in the Monticello Association has gone far enough: it is time to open the graveyard to all descendants of Thomas Jefferson, regardless of color. By signing this petition, you are continuing a fight to stop racism and white supremacy from reigning over a graveyard dedicated to all of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson, not just those who are purely white.