Ben Affleck Requested His Slave Owner Ancestor Be Censored From PBS' 'Finding Your Roots'The Hollywood Reporter
13 hours ago
Hacked Sony emails reveal that actor-director Ben Affleck requested that his slave owner ancestor be removed from his family tree on the PBS program Finding Your Roots.
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In a series of WikiLeaks emails, the genealogy program's host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. emailed Sony chief Michael Lynton asking "advice" on the actor's request, according to New York Daily News.
"For the first time, one of our guests has asked us to edit out something about one of his ancestors — the fact that he owned slaves," Gates emailed Lynton in the July 22, 2014 email chain.
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Gates went on to say that if word got out of the censoring, the brand would be tarnished and, "even for Batman," would be a violation of PBS rules.
"Now, four or five of our guests this season descend from slave owners, including Ken Burns," Gates continued in the email, suggesting the actor's ancestor "wasn't even a bad guy."
"Now Anderson Cooper's ancestor was a real s.o.b.; one of his slaves actually murdered him. Of course, the slave was promptly hanged. And Anderson didn't miss a beat about that," Gates further wrote.
"We've never had anyone ever try to censor or edit what we found. He's a megastar. What do we do?" Gates inquired of Lynton, to which the Sony chief replied, "I would take it out if no one knows, but if it gets out that you are editing the material based on this kind of sensitivity then it gets tricky. Again, all things being equal I would definitely take it out."
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Gates defended the decision to edit out Affleck's ancestor in a statement posted Friday on the PBS website.
Statement from Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Regarding Finding Your Roots Episode “Roots of Freedom”
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I'm sure that finding out you're a descendent of slave owners has to be a shitty feeling, but it is part of American history and trying to hide that is like denying that it happened. And having that in your lineage doesn't mean that you agree with or condone it.
I'm related to people who did/believed terrible things on both sides of my family, and it is really uncomfortable to think about, but we can't control who we came from. We can control our actions though, and he handled this really poorly. Don't go on a show like that if you can't handle what comes out. If you are curious about your ancestry, there are other ways to get that information than on a tv show.
Unless your ppl came here post-civil war, don't all white people assume they have a slave-owning ancestor?
I mean, my people were sharecroppers (so dirt poor) & I'm still assuming they likely owned slaves at some point.
All of my ancestors settled in NH and Massachusetts so I've always assumed that they did not. If they did I wouldn't refuse to believe it but I have always thought it was not likely. I'm the first generation of my family to live below the Mason-Dixon Line. I could be wrong, of course. I'm no historian.
That being said, I have a hunch that Mr. Ad fleck plans/hopes to run for office someday and doesn't want this to be tied to him if he does. He handled it really foolishly, though.
Northerners owned slaves too, usually just a handful of them for the domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning, etc.
I'm sure that finding out you're a descendent of slave owners has to be a shitty feeling, but it is part of American history and trying to hide that is like denying that it happened. And having that in your lineage doesn't mean that you agree with or condone it.
It really is.
Right before DH's mom died, we went to her house and took some genealogy stuff that her uncle and one of DH's dad's nephews (who is a history professor) had worked on in his retirement.
DH's dad's family came in through Virginia and Jamestown era; we found a Will that included slaves as property to be distributed. We were sort of surprised because DH's family on that branch were Quakers who are generally believed to be against such things. We also found out that many of DH's dad's family moved out into the midwest to avoid conscription- basically draft dodgers except for twin brothers who were physicians for the GAR who died at Andersonville.
Unless your ppl came here post-civil war, don't all white people assume they have a slave-owning ancestor?
I mean, my people were sharecroppers (so dirt poor) & I'm still assuming they likely owned slaves at some point.
All of my ancestors settled in NH and Massachusetts so I've always assumed that they did not. If they did I wouldn't refuse to believe it but I have always thought it was not likely. I'm the first generation of my family to live below the Mason-Dixon Line. I could be wrong, of course. I'm no historian.
That being said, I have a hunch that Mr. Ad fleck plans/hopes to run for office someday and doesn't want this to be tied to him if he does. He handled it really foolishly, though.
And I'm side-eyeing anyone whose American roots go back that far thinking their family was somehow above that. Or that their family was somehow the nice slaveholders. "Good" people owned slaves. That's part of what makes it so horrifying.
Unless your ppl came here post-civil war, don't all white people assume they have a slave-owning ancestor?
I mean, my people were sharecroppers (so dirt poor) & I'm still assuming they likely owned slaves at some point.
This is kind of where I am at. My family was in Kentucky and Virginia pre-civil wat so even if I didn't have evidence that they owned slaves I would assume they did. Who else was working their tabacco plantation.
I don't see my ansectors making a disgusting choice a reflection on me over a century later.
My family in Georgia owned slaves. We only found out about it because a will was found bequeathing "my boy..." to a relative. I don't find it embarrassing. I don't feel shitty about it. It wasn't me or my parents or something. It was my family who lived in Georgia in the early 1700's. My family fought for the Confederacy too. We even had a deserter who left the Confederate army and went to enlist in the Union army right before the end of the war. These are people from a different time and with much different beliefs. Wanting to change history or pretend it didn't happen is a problem.
Yeah, my family has been here long enough I assume I have ancestors that owned slaves. I know I have ancestors that were Sooners. I don't get the point in censoring that, it's not something you have any control over. And you know if it was someone famous, say Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves it wouldn't have been censored.
My family is distantly related to Jefferson Davis and several lines of my family tree have been here since the early 17th century. I have no doubt some of them owned slaves. It's part of my history and part of America's history. I think people trying to ignore or deny this is their way of mitigating any personal responsibility for our current situation.
Post by Miss Phryne Fisher on Apr 18, 2015 15:02:58 GMT -5
Um, of course if his family has been here long someone had slaves in there. It is a terrible part of history, but to ignore that it ever happened or that those people have descendants is ridiculous. What the hell, Ben Affleck?
Post by bugandbibs on Apr 18, 2015 15:27:35 GMT -5
It's too bad he couldn't see this as an opportunity to discuss how far his family has come and perhaps address the work this country still needs to do regarding race.
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My family hasn't been here that long, but DH's grandmother still owns their old family plantation in Mississippi. It's certainly a scar on the family tree. I think his 96 year old grandmother is pretty embarrassed by it, but she doesn't try to hide it. I actually really admire how she talks about it because she's much closer to that generation and it's very eye opening.
Unless your ppl came here post-civil war, don't all white people assume they have a slave-owning ancestor?
I mean, my people were sharecroppers (so dirt poor) & I'm still assuming they likely owned slaves at some point.
I come from upper Midwestern stock (WI & MI) and no slave owners that I'm aware of. I did have relatives in MO (founders of the LCMS) but when things started getting dicey there re the Civil War, they hightailed it to MI
FTR- I am not at all claiming that my ancestors didn't own slaves, but pointing out that I think many people who have always lived in the north don't automatically assume that their ancestors did own slaves. I would not be shocked to find out that my ancestors did, nor do I think I am somehow "better" than those whose ancestors did. I just think the surprise is/would be more common in long term northern families bc history classes give the impression that most Southern families owned slaves and most Northern families didn't. That is all I was saying.
I understood that point.
I think that farther back our "northern states" ancestors own slaves vs the civil war era and that's how it's easier to forget or distance ourselves from the generations that did.
Post by LoveTrains on Apr 18, 2015 22:30:10 GMT -5
I have done a great deal of genealogy and yes I know for sure my ancestors owned slaves. I agree that it's worse to try to cover it up. I have many northern ancestors, including a woman who lived in NYC with a slave as her personal attendant, as well as southern ancestors who had plantations in SC. I think we have to acknowledge that it happened in our families - even if it was 5 generations ago.
I would be highly disappointed if I discovered that a grandparent that I loved and adored had been an awful person who was actively involved in terrible things. Like if your beloved grandpa with the adorable German accent was an SS guard.
But I really don't understand why people really care how some ancestor whose been dead longer than the hoop skirt lived their life. Well maybe that's not right. I understand why they care. Genealogy is fascinating stuff. What I don't understand is why it's personal.
But I think this is a color thing. And I do mean that. Not nastily, just statement of fact. I think black folks presume a slaveholding ancestor. Our people were slaves and there's a good chance one ancestor was the result of rape, making a slaveholder our ancestor or even just an overseer. Who knows?
And honestly, even if your great grand daddy circa 1798 wasn't a slave holder, he was still probably rather racist and believed black folks had a place in this world. Some of them probably would have had slaves if they could afford them.
It's too bad he couldn't see this as an opportunity to discuss how far his family has come and perhaps address the work this country still needs to do regarding race.
I'm not defending him at all, but historically, Boston is one of the most racially divided cities in the country. So he may not be able to unpack his own issues with race enough to see it, kwim?
It's too bad he couldn't see this as an opportunity to discuss how far his family has come and perhaps address the work this country still needs to do regarding race.
I'm not defending him at all, but historically, Boston is one of the most racially divided cities in the country. So he may not be able to unpack his own issues with race enough to see it, kwim?
Still is and I think a lot of ppl don't realize this.
I'm not defending him at all, but historically, Boston is one of the most racially divided cities in the country. So he may not be able to unpack his own issues with race enough to see it, kwim?
Still is and I think a lot of ppl don't realize this.
It's funny because Massachusetts prides itself on being the first (or one of the first) states to outlaw slavery but walk in the wrong neighborhood with the wrong skin color or last name and see what happened/happens. You can watch cops episodes from the 80s/90s and see it and that aspect still exists in many neighborhoods today.
Plus iirc, that outlawing slavery bit is something of a technicality. But I worked a double today and I'm too tired/lazy to look it up.
I'm not defending him at all, but historically, Boston is one of the most racially divided cities in the country. So he may not be able to unpack his own issues with race enough to see it, kwim?
Still is and I think a lot of ppl don't realize this.
It's funny because Massachusetts prides itself on being the first (or one of the first) states to outlaw slavery but walk in the wrong neighborhood with the wrong skin color or last name and see what happened/happens. You can watch cops episodes from the 80s/90s and see it and that aspect still exists in many neighborhoods today.
Plus iirc, that outlawing slavery bit is something of a technicality. But I worked a double today and I'm too tired/lazy to look it up.