The recent interview of Alex Wagner with Patrick Gaspard, the CEO of the Center for American Progress, has brought attention to the journalist’s roots and ethnicity as she supports Black rights and has focused on showing Donald Trump disrespecting Black people.
Alex Wagner is of mixed origin. Her mother, Tin Swe Thant, is a Burmese from Rangoon, Burma. She had to change her name to attend an English school, which greatly impacted Alex.
Meanwhile, her father, Carl Wagner, is a white Irish Luxembourgian third-generation American from northeastern Iowa, making Alex 50% Asian (Burmese) and 50% American ethnicity.
It is clear that Alex Wagner is not black, but she has always been liberal about the existing racism, whether it be against Black or Asian Americans who try to be modest amidst the discrimination they face.
The host says she felt outraged and sad when she heard her mother’s Asian roots were willfully erased by her grandfather to study and be a part of American society.
What surprised Alex was when her mother participated in a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, fighting for racial justice when she herself had to give up her roots. This made Alex proud that at least her mother was paying attention to the ongoing racial injustice.
Alex Wagner is Catholic, amidst a Buddhist mother and a Jewish school
Alex Wagner is 46 years old American, born on November 27, 1977, in Washington D.C., to parents from different regions and heritage.
Her mother, Tin Swe Thant, is a devout Buddhist from Burma (now Myanmar). Meanwhile, her father is from a tiny town near the Mississippi River in Northeastern Iowa and belongs to a large Catholic family.
Alex is the only child of her family, and given her parents’ ancestry, she is of mixed race. She grew up accepting her religion as Roman Catholic, as her dad wanted it to be.
She recalls that as a child, she attended a Jewish nursery school and used to tell people that she was Jewish when she was not.
Growing up, Alex had to face various racist comments, including one she heard from a person who asked if she was adopted at age 12, given she did not look American.
This huge setback eventually led Alex to advocate social liberalism, find the truth about her tribe, and write FutureFace: A Family Mystery based on her own life. Her other works include An Epic Quest and The Secret to Belonging.
Alex Wagner is also famous for her other endeavors; she hosts Alex Wagner Tonight on MSNBC, is an editor at The Atlantic, and runs The Mole reboot on Netflix.
While achieving success in her career, Alex built her family by marrying her husband Sam Kass, a former White House nutrition policy advisor and assistant chef, on August 30, 2014.
She and her husband have two sons: Cyrus Mindon Kass, born in 2017, and Rafael Thiha Kass, born on April 16, 2019.
Both of Alex’s sons have a Burmese middle name, as she wanted her children to maintain her mother’s heritage and remember their roots, although they are growing far away from it.
Additional Information
- Alex Wagner’s mother came to America in 1960 and is currently 80 years old. Her english name was Maureen Thant Gyi.
- Alex was the anchor of the Now With Alex Wagner daytime program and co-anchor on CBS This Morning Saturday.
- She has a net worth of $3 million, and Variety recently included Alex Wagner on the list of Impactful Women in May 2024.
