US President Joe Biden and every living former president other than Donald Trump are direct descendants of slaveholders, according to an investigation conducted by Reuters. .“We do not inherit guilt for our ancestors’ actions,” Harvard University African and African American research professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. told Reuters on Tuesday. .Former US president Barack Obama has slaveholder ancestors on his white mother’s side. Trump’s ancestors came to the United States after slavery was abolished. .Reuters found one-fifth of the US’s presidents, representatives, Supreme Court justices, and governors are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved black people. .Among 536 members of the last Congress, it determined at least 100 descend from slaveholders. Of this group, more than one-quarter of the Senate — 28 members — can trace their family to at least one slaveholder. .The politicians from the last Congress include Republicans and Democrats alike. They include Republican senators such as Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), Tom Cotton (Arkansas), and James Lankford (Oklahoma) and Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire), and Maggie Hassan (New Hampshire)..Two of the nine sitting Supreme Court justices — Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch — have direct ancestors who enslaved people. .Reuters determined 11 out of 50 governors descended from slave owners. They include eight chief executives of the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America, which seceded and waged war to preserve slavery. .Two of them — former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and North Dakoka Gov. Doug Burgum — are seeking the Republican nomination for president. .South Carolina — where the US Civil War began — illustrates the familial ties between politicians and the history of slavery. Every member of the state’s nine-person delegation to the last Congress has an ancestral link. .South Carolina’s two black representatives — Republican Sen. and presidential candidate Tim Scott and Democratic Rep. James Clyburn (SC-6) — have relatives who were enslaved. Each of the seven white members are descendants of slave owners. .Reuters said at least 8% of Democrats in the last Congress and 28% of Republicans have such ancestors. The discrepancy of Republicans reflects the party’s strength in the south, where slavery was concentrated. .While white people enslaved blacks across northern states, slavery had become a southern enterprise when the Civil War commenced. .Gates said the investigation is saying “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.” .“This is a learning opportunity for each individual.” .“It is also a learning opportunity for their constituency and for the American people as a whole.”.American genealogist Tony Burroughs said there are millions of Americans who descended from slaves. .What is unclear is how the proportion of leaders who descend from slaveholders compare to that of all Americans. Among scholars, there is no agreement on how many Americans have a forebear who enslaved people. .Ancestral ties to slaveholders have been documented for a handful of leaders such as Biden, Obama and McConnell. Scholars and journalists have examined slavery and its legacy, including how the north profited from the institution and the role it played in decisions of past political leaders. .This investigation is different. It focuses on the most powerful US politicians now — many of whom have voiced key positions on policies related to race. .Few were open to discussing the subject, as one-quarter of those identified as having slaveholding ancestors offered any comment to Reuters. Among the silent were politicians who have spoken before about the legacy of slavery and called for racial healing. .Burroughs said Reuters would “probably have a lot of people who are struggling.” He said the granular detail it provided the leaders — names, places and circumstances linking their families to slavery — makes this information more powerful. .“But it’s hard for them to be in denial when they have the specific facts in front of them,” he said. .American critical race theory activist and former Black Panthers member Angela Davis discovered in February she had white ancestors, and one arrived on the Mayflower to the US in 1620..READ MORE: Critical Race Theory activist revealed to have multiple white ancestors, including slave owners.“No, I can’t believe this,” said Davis. .“My ancestors did not come here on the Mayflower.”
