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The U.S.

Census didn't count blacks until 1870.

Before that, we were possessions, enumerated like cows and horses.

No names.

Just ages and gender, listed on slave schedules.

Like many blacks, I knew the names of relatives born in the past century, but couldn't go back much further.

As a race, our history hasn't been passed down, mainly because slaves weren't allowed to read and write, they weren't given last names and their families often were split up.

A child sold away from his parents would know little about his heritage.

It also can be a genealogical dead end when one encounters a child fathered by a white man.

Just finding out the father's name can be difficult.

Elders often weren't told the details or may not want to rehash them.

Blacks and whites of earlier generations may have had children together but rarely lived in the same home, which means there is no census record linking mother and father.

I know of three such shadowy unions between black women and white men that predate 1900 in my family tree - which explains in part why I have such a significant amount of European blood.

I believe there are others, although I can't begin to trace them due to the paucity of pre-Civil War records for blacks.

But I have a ...

Edward M.

Kennedy, D-Ma., said he expected the administration to have to address the Plan B issue “fair and square” before von Eschenbach could be confirmed.

House members, including Rep.

Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., have raised concerns about the safety of prescription drugs such as the painkiller Vioxx and allegations of a too-cozy relationship between the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry.

Sen.

Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, wrote Leavitt this week to stay that in the past few years “there has been an undeniable absence of strong leadership at the FDA.” The FDA oversees the regulation of medical devices and more than $1 trillion annually worth of food, drugs, cosmetics, animal feed and other products.

They account for 25 cents of every dollar spent each year by people in the United States.

John Seffrin, the national chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, noted that von Eschenbach has seen cancer as a doctor and survivor.

“You have an admixture of talent, experience and sensitivity that make him, I think, uniquely qualified to be a regulator at an agency as important as the Food and Drug Administration,” Seffrin said.

On the cancer front, von Eschenbach has endured criticism of his stated goal of eliminating suffering and death due to the disease by 2015.

“This is a case of misleading people,” said Dr....