DeBarge Ethnicity, Race & Heritage: Is the DeBarge Family Mixed Race? Full Background Explained

Quick answer: Yes, the DeBarge family is mixed race — their father Robert DeBarge Sr. was white American of French and English descent, and their mother Etterlene DeBarge is African American and American Indian. This biracial heritage is the reason for the DeBarge family's distinctive light complexions and features that set them apart in R&B history.

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Is the DeBarge Family Mixed Race? Are They Biracial?

Yes — the DeBarge family is mixed race and biracial. Their father, Robert Louis DeBarge Sr. (1932–2009), was white American, of French and English descent, born in Cicero, Illinois. Their mother, Etterlene DeBarge (née Abney, born 1935–2024), is African American and American Indian, born in Royal Oak, Michigan.

The DeBarges' biracial heritage became part of their public identity. Their light skin, fine features, and mixed-race appearance have been subjects of curiosity and commentary throughout their decades-long career. The family of ten children — born between the 1950s and 1970s — grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and went on to become one of the most celebrated R&B families of the 1980s.

So to answer the most-searched questions directly: DeBarge's race is mixed (white and Black/Native American). Their background is French and English on their father's side and African American and American Indian on their mother's side. Yes — they are biracial.

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What Is the DeBarge Family's Ethnicity?

The DeBarge family's ethnicity is a blend of white European American (French and English) and African American with Native American heritage. This combination gave the siblings their distinctive appearance and contributed to the unique vocal quality and musical sensibility that made them stars.

Robert DeBarge Sr. and Etterlene Abney met in Detroit in the early 1950s, when their interracial relationship was still rare and socially complicated in much of America. They married in 1953 — Robert was 21, Etterlene was 17 — and went on to have ten children: Bobby, Tommy, Mark, Randy, Eldra (El), Darrell, James, Janet, Bunny, and Carol.

The family settled in a predominantly Black section of Detroit before eventually relocating to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the DeBarge children were raised. Despite their father's white heritage, the family was raised culturally as a Black American family, with Etterlene's gospel background as the musical foundation for the children's extraordinary vocal talents.

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Father's Side: White French and English American Roots

Robert Louis DeBarge Sr. was born in Cicero, Illinois, in 1932 and was white American of French and English descent. He met Etterlene Abney in Detroit and married her in 1953, a time when interracial marriage was still illegal in many U.S. states (anti-miscegenation laws were not struck down nationally until 1967's Loving v. Virginia ruling).

Robert's relationship with his children was troubled — he is documented as having been abusive, and several DeBarge siblings have spoken publicly about the trauma of their upbringing. Despite this, his French and English ancestry is the source of the DeBarge family's white European heritage.

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Mother's Side: African American and Native American Heritage

Etterlene DeBarge (née Abney), born in 1935 in Royal Oak, Michigan, and passing in 2024, was the spiritual and musical center of the DeBarge family. Of African American and Native American descent, she was a gospel singer whose deep faith and vocal gift were passed down to all of her children.

Etterlene's African American heritage connects the DeBarge family to the broader Black American experience in Michigan — part of the Great Migration's ripple effects that brought Black families north to industrial cities. Her Native American heritage adds an Indigenous American strand to the family's rich ancestry.

Despite the difficulties of her marriage and the family's troubled history, Etterlene DeBarge is remembered as the person who kept the family spiritually grounded. Her second marriage (after divorcing Robert) was to George Rodriguez, who was Puerto Rican — but this later union did not affect the heritage of the original DeBarge children.

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Grandparents: A Complete Picture

Paternal Grandfather: [Unknown Name DeBarge] — white American of French descent; family based in Illinois.

Paternal Grandmother: [Unknown Name] — white American of English descent; contributed to the DeBarge children's European ancestry.

Maternal Grandfather: [Unknown Name Abney] — African American; part of the Black American community of Michigan.

Maternal Grandmother: [Unknown Name] — American Indian; contributed to the DeBarge family's Native American heritage.

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Nationality vs. Ethnicity

All DeBarge family members are American citizens by birth, born in Michigan. Their ethnicity is biracial — white (French/English) American on their father's side and African American and Native American on their mother's side. Though their father is white, the DeBarge siblings were raised culturally as Black Americans in Michigan, and their music — rooted in gospel, R&B, and soul — reflects that cultural identity.

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Notable DeBarge Members

El DeBarge (born Eldra Patrick DeBarge, June 4, 1961): The most commercially successful solo member, known for hits like "Who's Johnny?" and "Love Always."

Bunny DeBarge (born Etterlene Abney DeBarge, March 10, 1955): A founding member of the group and a celebrated vocalist.

James DeBarge (born August 22, 1963): Known for his brief marriage to Janet Jackson in 1984.

Bobby DeBarge (born Robert Louis DeBarge Jr., 1956–1995): The eldest DeBarge child, founding member of Switch, who passed away from AIDS-related illness.

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The DeBarge Family in Their Own Words on Race & Heritage

"We're mixed. Our father was white, our mother is Black and Indian. That's where these voices came from — from that mix."

— El DeBarge, various interviews on the family's background

The DeBarges' musical gifts — those soaring, androgynous tenors and precise harmonies — are often attributed to the unique combination of their mother's gospel training and their father's heritage. Their biracial background gave them an appearance that was distinctive in 1980s R&B, and their music transcended racial categories to reach audiences across America.

▶ Watch on YouTube →

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Are the DeBarges Alive?

Most DeBarge siblings are alive as of 2025. Bobby DeBarge passed away in 1995 from HIV/AIDS complications. Etterlene DeBarge, the family matriarch, passed away in 2024. El DeBarge, Bunny DeBarge, James DeBarge, Mark DeBarge, and other siblings are alive and have had ongoing musical and personal lives in the public eye.

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Visual Family Tree

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Sources

Family Background

• Wikipedia: DeBarge family — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeBarge_family
• BlackPast.org: DeBarge (1979–1989) — https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/debarge-1979-1989/

Genealogy & Ethnicity Research

• The Root