Ben Affleck Requested His Slave Owner Ancestor Be Censored F

[msmerymac]

Apr 18, 2015 13:05:03 GMT -5 incogneato said:

Apr 18, 2015 12:55:40 GMT -5 gardengal said:

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.

Literally every single one of my ancestors lived in NY. So it WAS quite a shock to find out that some owned a family of slaves. NY didn't outlaw slavery until 1814, I think. 

So I get it, in a way. It's an icky feeling, to put it mildly. But it's not a reflection on Ben Affleck as a person, nor is it THAT shocking, really. So this story is weird. 

[bugandbibs]

Apr 18, 2015 23:05:32 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Apr 18, 2015 15:27:35 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

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?

Oh, yeah I know. I was thinking about it from a more generic point as opposed to him specifically. Although, it would be even more powerful considering the culture in Boston for him to confront his family's past. Honestly, I feel more sad than outraged that he asked to have this scrubbed from show's footage. It feels like a wasted opportunity.

[Deleted]

didn't we recently discuss how southern college students pre Civil War would bring their slaves with them to college?

[Deleted]

I'm reading wiki but it seems many northern, mostly Northern Atlantic states started freeing slaves in the late 1700s. However, in many of those same states, anyone who was enslaved before the passage of the law remained a slave for life. But their children could not be enslaved.

[LoveTrains]

There was a really interesting piece in the NYT around Presidents' Day about George Washington. He brought slaves to philly which was the capital for a bit when he was first president. After 60 days or 6 months or something he would hVe to rotate them out bc if they stayed in PA too long they would become free.

[MrsAxilla]

Apr 18, 2015 12:55:40 GMT -5 gardengal said:

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'm related to Mark Twain, either decended from his brother or his uncle, I can't remember right now.  At any rate, his father, uncle and brother owned slaves.  White guys in Missouri in the 1800's?  Um, yeah...  

[summer]

Ben Affleck is a household name but since when does he have clout? What's he gonna do to me if I don't take it out? I would have absolutely left it in. Maaaaybe I would have let him go home and think about a better reaction than a temper tantrum, then re-shoot the reveal of this info but even that really is too much. Ben Affleck is not all that.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2015 6:39:14 GMT -5 summer said:

Ben Affleck is a household name but since when does he have clout? What's he gonna do to me if I don't take it out? I would have absolutely left it in. Maaaaybe I would have let him go home and think about a better reaction than a temper tantrum, then re-shoot the reveal of this info but even that really is too much. Ben Affleck is not all that.

I'd just tell his wife on him. I feel like she's the one who keeps him in line. Like Ben, does Jennifer know you're being stupid?

[gardengal]

Apr 18, 2015 23:09:58 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Apr 18, 2015 12:55:40 GMT -5 gardengal said:

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.

It's more likely that someone in your family line worked as an overseer if they were poor.

Well, may I should have said "If you're white & your ppl were here pre-Civil War, don't you assume that your ancestors were shitty?" Because, you're right, there were a lot of moving parts of the system & they are/were all bad.

[foundmylazybum]

Had he never watched the show?

[Cicero]

People: Europeans had slaves. Europeans were involved in the slave trade. Just because your family was not here to be a part of American slavery does not mean that no one in your family tree ever owned a slave.

[hopecounts]

Apr 19, 2015 7:54:30 GMT -5 @helenabonhamcarter said:

Apr 19, 2015 6:39:14 GMT -5 summer said:

Ben Affleck is a household name but since when does he have clout? What's he gonna do to me if I don't take it out? I would have absolutely left it in. Maaaaybe I would have let him go home and think about a better reaction than a temper tantrum, then re-shoot the reveal of this info but even that really is too much. Ben Affleck is not all that.

I'd just tell his wife on him. I feel like she's the one who keeps him in line. Like Ben, does Jennifer know you're being stupid?

That's my assumption O think BA is what my Mama calls 'so book smart he's life dumb' and Jennifer is his common sense/executive function who says nope that's a dumb move just shut up

[ttt]

I just don't get the point of him doing this. It's not like what his great-great-great-great-great grandfather did is some sort of stain on his personal character. And now, by trying to get it omitted, he has ensured that it's a huge topic of discussion that people who otherwise wouldn't have given a crap are now talking about.

[gpw]

Apr 19, 2015 11:15:01 GMT -5 foundmylazybum said:

Had he never watched the show?

This was my very first thought.  Although, he was probably languishing under the delusion that northerners didn't have slaves.  

I would love to hear his reaction to his actions now.  Whether, he's thought about it.  What his "people" will tell him to say.  

[UMaineTeach]

Apr 19, 2015 6:39:14 GMT -5 summer said:

Ben Affleck is a household name but since when does he have clout? What's he gonna do to me if I don't take it out? I would have absolutely left it in. Maaaaybe I would have let him go home and think about a better reaction than a temper tantrum, then re-shoot the reveal of this info but even that really is too much. Ben Affleck is not all that.

I want to hope that if I was in charge of that decision, I would tell him that we tell the whole story or we tell no story and he's off the show.

[greeneggs]

My grandmother grew up on a small plantation and lived there until her family lost the house in the Depression so it's not a shock that ancestors way back in my family owned slaves. It's not something I'm particularly proud of or advertise but it is a basic fact and even the laziest genealogist could find that in less than an hour.

I'm more bothered that my fantastic gumbo recipe was taught to my grandmother by the plantation cook who was born a slave on the property and remembers watching a Civil War battle from the top of the house as a very young child. One day I'm going to teach DS how to make it and I'm not looking forward to having that conversation with him. Knowing that fact was wholly unremarkable and fairly common in most UMC circles in South Louisiana but it feels so much more awful now that I've been out of the Deep South for most of my life.

[heyjude]

He has elected office stars in his eyes. It's clouding his better judgment.