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The New York Times has a Q&A with National Book Award winner Annette Gordon-Reed, author of THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO. Here's an excerpt:

How did you first get interested in Jefferson?
I first read about him in the third grade. He was into books, and I was into books, too.

But millions of people are into books.
But he was a slave owner and at the same time talked about the equality of all mankind and wrote the Declaration of Independence. I thought that was odd, to have those two things together.

Your book reminds us that black and white is not as clear-cut as separatists like to pretend. Sally Hemings was the daughter of a white father and a slave mother, and three of her children grew up to live as whites.
People talk about Obama as if he were some new thing.

Right, the first interracial man!
It's astonishing. Sex between the races was more common in the 18th century than it is now.

How do you know?
Based on the children. Slave owners had children with enslaved women.

Read the entire interview.