C’mon, now, America. You’re starting to scare me with all these surprised-sounding stories:
WASHINGTON // Many people know that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s father was from Kenya and his mother from Kansas.
But an intriguing sliver of his family history has received almost no attention until now: It appears that forebears of his white mother owned slaves, according to genealogical research and census records.
The source for this also links both John McCain and John Edwards to slave-owning ancestors.
Yeah? And?
For a genealogist (like me), this is interesting — but for anybody who was actually awake during their American History or Social Studies classes, there’s nothing new or surprising here.
Many years ago, I remember reading that something like 30% of people who descend from pre-Civil War era families have mixed ancestry. I can’t find the source of that anymore, but as a mixed-ancestry person descended from two separate lines of slave ancestors who lived in New England (rather than the South), you can bet it stuck with me.
Let’s just pause here and think about that for a second. 30%.
And that was just referring to miscegeny — racially mixed relationships between people whose descendants today see themselves as black, or white, or multi-ethnic. That article wasn’t even taking into account the sheer number of descendants of slave-holding families, generally.
When you realize that one couple, who lived well-over 150 years — five generations — ago, could easily have hundreds of descendants, it’s clear that many, many people have some kind of connection to slavery.
This, people, is who we are. This is our America.
Why the surprise?
* * * * *
More thoughts:
Booker Rising, Villainous Company, The Carpetbagger Report, The Moderate Voice.
And, of course, memeorandum has more.
Now, what would be really cool is if they found out that Obama’s ancestor owned one of Al Sharpton’s ancestors (or something like that.)
~EdT.
my father’s family owned slaves and fought for the confederacy. this is not uncommon, as anyone from the south will tell you. it does seem pretty naive to behave as though all the slave owning families simply stopped reproducing, secretly hoping that maybe their genes just went away. several generations later, what is the point in hiding it like it is scandalous? it was a different time – our ancestors cannot be held to our 21st century standards. duh, they’re dead.
gotta love a scandal hungry public.
Descentdent of slave owners here. I think there were two, both field hands. My grant uncle was also an overseers in the early 20th century on Stella Plantation, when things weren’t much better than in the previous century.
What this has to do with anything is beyond me, unless somebody comes looking for reperations.
What’s shocking to me is the number of people in this country who are not descended from apes, but apparently migrated here from some lush garden at the edge of the big flat disk, and where on a clear day you could lean over and see the giant turtle holding up the world.
It may not be sensative to worry about these people, but I don’t know if I want somone in charge of the FAA who believes that airplanes are held in the air by the grace of God.
My question is, does “pure” anything really exist and if so who would want it?Inbread to insanity…..I’m a hybread mutt, good and bad from all my lines.
If there weren’t any mistakes in our past, what could we have learned?
by the by, Hi
The big question is will he have to pay his wife reparations.
roux — that’s the big question for whom?
I just think this whole thing is ridiculous.
Is Barrack really black? Is he black enough? LOL Now we find his ancestors owned slaves…. LOL Who really cares. I certainly don’t……We just found out Mitt Romney’s grandad had 6 wives… who cares…..I don’t.
What these men have done with their lives is more important to me.
The fact that Barrack hasn’t done a whole lot is much more important than what his ancestors did.