The last time I heard this phrase was in 2005. I remember the precise year because I had my appendix out. The surgery was done on an emergency basis and was a full incision rather than the now more common laparoscopy. I went to my own GP to have the outer sutures removed, and I complained about how rough the work was, saying I was sure I would have a big ugly scar.

"Well," he said, trying to reassure me. "You scar very easily. It's not really the surgeon's fault. You must have a n***** in the woodpile somewhere in your ancestry."

I was as taken aback by his casual use of the N word as by his casual defense of the surgeon who really did a sloppy closing, guaranteeing I would scar more than necessary.

Do I have Black ancestry? I dunno. Not going by official family trees, but of course it's possible. That GP was right about one thing. I do form thicker scar tissue than most white people, and a tendency to form thick scar tissue is (or so I've heard) a genetic trait linked to some Black populations.

The doctor was almost 80 years old at the time. I left his office wondering if he had spent much of his career pondering the racial background of his patients. I remember thinking about the "one drop" principle.