Beyoncé is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who was born on September 4, 1981, in Houston, Texas, U.S. . Her father is African-American, and her mothers ancestry is mostly African and French, including French ancestors who lived in Canada. Beyoncés maternal grandparents were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles, with roots in New Iberia. Through her mothers line, Beyoncé is a descendant of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard and of Jean-Vincent dAbbadie de Saint-Castin and his wife, Marie Mathilde Pidianske/Penobscot. Beyoncé has also said that she has Nigerian ancestry, which she may have discovered through a DNA test.

In a past interview, Beyoncés father explained that he initially thought her mother, Tina Knowles, was white, and he dated mostly white women or "very high-complexion black women that looked white" due to colorism, which is the prejudice or preferential treatment of people based solely on their skin color. However, Beyoncé has made her racial identity and modern racial politics central to her public image, and she has positioned herself as a mixture of different places and colors.