Donald Trump is the only living president whose ancestors were not linked to slave ownership, a report claims.
Reuters published the report
According to Reuters, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama are all descendants of slave owners. But there’s more since at least 100 lawmakers descended from ancestors who held slaves. Some of the names include Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch.
Obama’s ancestors had slaves from his mother’s side
Reportedly, a man who was related to Barack Obama’s mother owned two slaves. But, the Trump family arrived in the U.S. later, and that’s why the 45th president is not among those who are somehow related to slave owners.
Other politicians with slave-owning pasts
The same cannot be said about Republicans’ competition for the presidential nomination, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who were also reportedly linked to families with slave-owning pasts.
It is not a blame game
Harvard University professor and PBS “Finding Your Roots” host Henry Louis Gates Jr. found these findings to be intriguing, claiming, “Look at how closely linked we are to the institution of slavery, and how it informed the lives of the ancestors of people who represent us in the United States Congress today.” He added that this was not a blaming game.
Trump family arrived after slavery was abolished
Trump’s grandparents were not born in the US and did not come to America before slavery was abolished.
German and Scottish roots
His paternal grandparents came from Kallstadt, Germany, and emigrated to the US at the beginning of the XX century. Trump’s mother, Mary, was born in Scotland.
Reuters’ list of slaveholding ancestors
Reuters reported that Biden has one direct ancestor, “five generations removed, owned one slave.” Obama also has one direct ancestor, only six generations removed, who held two slaves.
Bush and Carter’s ancestry
George Bush has one director ancestor, six generations removed, who owned 25 slaves. Bill Clinton, like Biden, has one direct ancestor, “five generations removed, owned one slave.” And Jimmy Carter has one direct ancestor, four generations removed, who owned 54 enslaved people.
It does not explain Trump’s questionable defense of the Confederacy
In June 2020, Trump said he “will not even consider” renaming Fort Bragg and other military installations named after Confederate generals.
Dubious claims
He called them “Monumental and very Powerful Bases [that] have become part of a Great American Heritage,” despite the Pentagon’s willingness to discuss the issue.
Previously, he had a firm stance
In 2015, during Trump’s first news conference as a presidential candidate, he was asked whether he agreed with then-South Carolina GOP Gov. Nikki Haley’s decision to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State Capitol grounds.
Let it go
Trump replied, “I think they should put it in the museum,” adding, “Let it go. Respect whatever it is you have to respect because it was a point in time, and put it in a museum. But I would take it down, yes.”
“Very fine people on both sides”
In 2017, in Charlottesville, white nationalists protested the city’s decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee and one counter-protester was run over and killed. Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides” while allegedly arguing to keep the statue.
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