Short answer: Yes. Lester Holt identifies as African-American.
His background is mixed, and that matters to the full answer. His father was African American. His mother was of Jamaican descent.
Holt’s family history includes African American, Jamaican, Indian, and English roots. That mix is why a one-word label alone can feel incomplete, even though his own identification is clear.
Who Is Lester Holt?
Lester Don Holt Jr. was born on March 8, 1959, on Hamilton Air Force Base in Marin County, California.
He is an American journalist and news anchor. He joined NBC News in 2000, after a long career in local television, including 14 years at WBBM-TV in Chicago.
His main NBC roles have included:
- Co-anchor of Weekend Today from 2003 to 2015
- Weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News from 2007 to 2015
- Weekday anchor of NBC Nightly News from 2015 to 2025
- Anchor of Dateline NBC since 2011
On June 18, 2015, he became the permanent weekday anchor of NBC Nightly News. He became the first African-American to solo anchor a weekday network nightly newscast.
What Changed in 2025?
Holt stepped down from NBC Nightly News in 2025. He did not leave NBC.
He announced the move on February 24, 2025. His final weekday NBC Nightly News broadcast was on May 30, 2025.
Tom Llamas took over the weekday anchor role on June 2, 2025.
Holt moved to Dateline NBC full time. He had been its principal anchor since 2011, and the change let him focus on longer-form reporting for the show.
Any article that still lists him as the current weekday Nightly News anchor is out of date.
What Is Lester Holt’s Ethnic Background?
Holt was the youngest of four children of June DeRozario and Lester Don Holt Sr.
His father, Lester Don Holt Sr., was African American, from Michigan, with family roots in Tennessee. He served in the U.S. Air Force.
His mother, June DeRozario, was of Jamaican descent. Her background is the more complex part of the story.
His mother’s side of the family
Holt’s maternal grandparents were born in Jamaica.
His maternal grandfather, Canute DeRozario, was of Anglo-Indian descent from Spanish Town, Jamaica. He was one of 14 children born to a father from Calcutta, India, and an English-born White Jamaican mother.
His maternal grandmother, May, was Afro-Jamaican, born in Manchester Parish, Jamaica. She was raised in Harlem, New York, where Holt’s mother was born.
Holt has spoken about those roots himself. During a Today show segment on Jamaica in 2012, he said his maternal grandparents were born, raised, and married in Jamaica. He also noted his maternal grandfather’s Indian and English parentage.
That history explains why descriptions of Holt sometimes mention Jamaican, Indian, English, and African American heritage together. All of those threads are present, but they do not change his own identification.
How Does Lester Holt Identify?
Holt identifies as African-American.
That is the key point for this question. Identity is not decided by adding up fractions of ancestry. Holt’s public identification, his family history, and his place in broadcast history all point the same way.
His appointment in 2015 was widely reported as a milestone: the first African-American to solo anchor a weekday network nightly newscast.
Early Life and Education
Holt grew up largely in the Sacramento area in California. He graduated from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova.
He attended California State University, Sacramento, where he studied government. He left during his junior year to take a job at a San Francisco radio station.
He did not complete that degree at the time. In 2015, Sacramento State awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.
That detail corrects a common error. Holt did not graduate from Stony Brook University or Colgate University, and he did not earn a standard degree in communications or journalism from Sacramento State. The honorary doctorate came later, in recognition of his career.
Family Life
Holt has been married to Carol Hagen Holt since May 8, 1982. They married in San Francisco.
They have two sons, not three:
- Stefan Holt, born in 1987, who became a television news anchor
- Cameron Holt, born in 1990
Stefan and his wife Morgan have three sons. Holt is therefore a grandfather through Stefan’s family.
Details about Holt’s private home life beyond what he and his family have shared publicly are not included here.
Career at a Glance
| Year | Role |
|---|---|
| 1981 | Began in television news at WCBS-TV in New York |
| 2000 | Joined NBC News |
| 2003–2015 | Co-anchor, Weekend Today |
| 2007–2015 | Weekend anchor, NBC Nightly News |
| 2011–present | Anchor, Dateline NBC |
| 2015–2025 | Weekday anchor, NBC Nightly News |
| 2025–present | Full-time anchor, Dateline NBC |
Holt has covered major national and international stories across that career. He has also moderated presidential debates, including the first 2016 presidential debate.
Why the Question Comes Up
Holt’s mixed heritage sometimes leads people to ask whether a single label fits him.
The answer is straightforward when his own words and reporting are used:
- His father was African American.
- His mother was of Jamaican descent, with Afro-Jamaican, Anglo-Indian, and English roots.
- Holt identifies as African-American.
Reducing him to only one part of that history would miss the Jamaican and Indian threads. Ignoring his identification would miss the point of the question.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Lester Holt Black?
Yes. He identifies as African-American, and his father was African American.
Is Lester Holt biracial?
His background is mixed. His father was African American and his mother was of Jamaican descent, with Afro-Jamaican, Anglo-Indian, and English ancestry on her side. Holt himself identifies as African-American.
Who are Lester Holt’s parents?
His parents were June DeRozario and Lester Don Holt Sr. His father served in the U.S. Air Force. His mother was of Jamaican descent.
Is Lester Holt still the anchor of NBC Nightly News?
No. He left the weekday anchor role on May 30, 2025, and moved to Dateline NBC full time. Tom Llamas succeeded him on June 2, 2025.
Who is Lester Holt’s wife?
Carol Hagen Holt. They married on May 8, 1982, and have two sons, Stefan and Cameron.
Did Lester Holt graduate from college?
No, not at the time. He left California State University, Sacramento, during his junior year for a radio job. Sacramento State later awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2015.
