More than the skin we are in

Trying to trace the lineage  
of the family is such a task  
skin color alone doesn't tell it all  
on mom's side especially formidable  
since so few living still remain  
  
But also the scope  
a tale of many parts  
Native American, Scottish, and even Chinese  
grandma was able to operate in two worlds  
at the height of segregation she  
was able to operate in two worlds  
  
The McNeils of Scotland loved the sea  
yet the cargo was hardly free  
for my ancestor dealt in slaves  
the trade of the triangle was his game  
  
Came to America and was smitten  
with a Lightfoot in a Texas tribe  
claimed Houston as home  
from there mom would be born  
  
Not sure how the Chinese fit in  
a chapter to be later examined  
but a wide path to retrace for me  
and that just accounts for one side  
  
Dad's family so much bigger  
also rooted in Texas land  
like mom Native American bloodline  
and here is where the African stands  
  
In my ignorance I can't tell which part of Africa  
but all brothers want to claim a certain one  
known for the sexual prowess  
but legends and myths are for another's command  
  
I can say some wild stories  
my uncles and aunties even tell today  
great grandma taking shots and her husband  
who wasn't faithful everyday  
  
Or the stories about visitors  
who got drunk and made wild eyed claims  
from everything to inventions and space invaders  
and then given the oddest of nicknames  
  
Branched out to Michigan and the California  
Los Angeles where fate was kind to me  
mom meet dad at social work convention  
from that they shared chat and coffee  
  
My family line is not that unique  
if you factor in trysts behind  
the woodshed and all  
so to say it's just "white" or "black"  
is only a minor part of history's call