I can’t help but chime in on the closest thing to scandal that the genealogical world has seen for a while.
Last season on the PBS series “Finding Your Roots”, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. did a segment on Ben Affleck’s ancestors. The ‘megastar’ actor and director, Affleck, supposedly lobbied the host to withhold the fact that one of his ancestors was a slave owner. Gates was supposedly torn between the risk of upsetting, and perhaps damaging, the icon’s reputation and disclosing the facts that were found. Emails went back and forth between Gates, who is a Harvard professor, and PBS.
Gates, who claims to have ‘full editorial control’ over “Finding Your Roots” decided to leave out the ancestral black sheep and instead, focus on other compelling elements of the Affleck family tree. All was well until Sony Studios had their emails hacked earlier this year. Guess what some of those hacked emails dealt with…BINGO…the Affleck family cover up. Everything became public last week.
Affleck has gone public admitting he pushed to have that ancestor left out, because he was embarrassed that a member of his lineage was a slave owner. “It left a bad taste in my mouth”, were his words. He also said he regrets ever having requested that the information be omitted. Too little, too late. Mr. Gates and PBS are under direct fire for making the decision and for letting the decision stand.
So what do we do when we find a black sheep in our family tree? Do we apologize for their actions…do we cover it up like Ben Affleck wanted to do…do we understand that we are not responsible for the actions that happened hundreds of years ago, even if it was one of our line? Affleck was not the only guest to have slave owners in his ancestry. Other guests that discovered a similar ancestor were Ken Burns, Derek Jeter, and Anderson Cooper. I am sure they were as embarrassed as Affleck was when they found this out, but they accepted it as part of their history and moved on. Just recently on another genealogical series, “Who Do You Think You Are?”, Bill Paxton discovered slave owners in his ancestry. He said that he was sorry to hear that, but it is a part of the reality of that time. He moved on with grace and dignity.
History is not always pretty. We have wars, family feuds, war deserters and bigamists (my family has one). Slavery, discrimination, heinous acts committed in the name of race or religion happened and are recorded. What we seem to forget is that people, even back then, were merely human. Slavery is wrong, morally and ethically. If you asked someone who lived in the southern US 150-200 years ago, they would claim it is the norm. It’s not pretty, but it is our history. To ignore the unpleasant events in the past is to do everyone a great injustice. How can you learn from past mistakes, if you are not willing to admit they even existed? If the black sheep pops up in your family tree, don’t try to hide it…you don’t need to celebrate it either. List it as a fact, something that happened, and go on. I am sure you will find so much more good people in your tree than bad.
But, getting back to the scandal at hand…What damage was done to PBS and the series “Finding Your Roots”? Is anyone ever going to be able to trust the hundreds of hours of work put in behind the scenes in dusty courthouse basements and dark microfilm reading rooms? These are the people who will pay the price – the hard working researchers who did just what they were supposed to, only to have an executive decision made that casts a shadow on what, if anything, can be believed.
As of now, the Affleck episode is no longer available for viewing on the PBS website. Is PBS pulling an Affleck and trying to hide what embarrasses them?
Last season on the PBS series “Finding Your Roots”, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. did a segment on Ben Affleck’s ancestors. The ‘megastar’ actor and director, Affleck, supposedly lobbied the host to withhold the fact that one of his ancestors was a slave owner. Gates was supposedly torn between the risk of upsetting, and perhaps damaging, the icon’s reputation and disclosing the facts that were found. Emails went back and forth between Gates, who is a Harvard professor, and PBS.
Gates, who claims to have ‘full editorial control’ over “Finding Your Roots” decided to leave out the ancestral black sheep and instead, focus on other compelling elements of the Affleck family tree. All was well until Sony Studios had their emails hacked earlier this year. Guess what some of those hacked emails dealt with…BINGO…the Affleck family cover up. Everything became public last week.
Affleck has gone public admitting he pushed to have that ancestor left out, because he was embarrassed that a member of his lineage was a slave owner. “It left a bad taste in my mouth”, were his words. He also said he regrets ever having requested that the information be omitted. Too little, too late. Mr. Gates and PBS are under direct fire for making the decision and for letting the decision stand.
So what do we do when we find a black sheep in our family tree? Do we apologize for their actions…do we cover it up like Ben Affleck wanted to do…do we understand that we are not responsible for the actions that happened hundreds of years ago, even if it was one of our line? Affleck was not the only guest to have slave owners in his ancestry. Other guests that discovered a similar ancestor were Ken Burns, Derek Jeter, and Anderson Cooper. I am sure they were as embarrassed as Affleck was when they found this out, but they accepted it as part of their history and moved on. Just recently on another genealogical series, “Who Do You Think You Are?”, Bill Paxton discovered slave owners in his ancestry. He said that he was sorry to hear that, but it is a part of the reality of that time. He moved on with grace and dignity.
History is not always pretty. We have wars, family feuds, war deserters and bigamists (my family has one). Slavery, discrimination, heinous acts committed in the name of race or religion happened and are recorded. What we seem to forget is that people, even back then, were merely human. Slavery is wrong, morally and ethically. If you asked someone who lived in the southern US 150-200 years ago, they would claim it is the norm. It’s not pretty, but it is our history. To ignore the unpleasant events in the past is to do everyone a great injustice. How can you learn from past mistakes, if you are not willing to admit they even existed? If the black sheep pops up in your family tree, don’t try to hide it…you don’t need to celebrate it either. List it as a fact, something that happened, and go on. I am sure you will find so much more good people in your tree than bad.
But, getting back to the scandal at hand…What damage was done to PBS and the series “Finding Your Roots”? Is anyone ever going to be able to trust the hundreds of hours of work put in behind the scenes in dusty courthouse basements and dark microfilm reading rooms? These are the people who will pay the price – the hard working researchers who did just what they were supposed to, only to have an executive decision made that casts a shadow on what, if anything, can be believed.
As of now, the Affleck episode is no longer available for viewing on the PBS website. Is PBS pulling an Affleck and trying to hide what embarrasses them?
