Ancestry.com Pulls Ad After Accusations Of Whitewashing Slavery
Ancestry.com, a DNA testing company, is under fire for a controversial ad that depicts a white man romantically pursuing a Black woman in what appears to be the antebellum south. The company has been accused of whitewashing the violent history of slavery.
The ad, first posted on April 2, was called “Inseparable” and posted on Ancestry’s YouTube channel, a white man and a Black woman were described in the caption as “lovers.”
"Abigail," the man tells the woman. "We can escape to the North. There's a place we can be together, across the border."
"Will you leave with me?" he asks her as the video fades out.
In a statement to Buzzfeed, Ancestry apologized. "Ancestry is committed to telling important stories from history. This ad was intended to represent one of those stories. We very much appreciate the feedback we have received and apologize for any offense that the ad may have caused."
Many accused the company of portraying a revisionist version of history, ignorant the sexual assault of Black women by slave owners. Even post slavery, sexual assault against Black woman was often ignored.
The advertisement is also in the process of being removed from television.
This latest whitewashing comes years after a similar incident involving Ben Affleck. Prior to the airing of his episode of PBS’ Finding Your Roots, the actor requested that his slave-owning ancestors be cutin the episode. After the famous Song email hacks, Affleck’s history went public. He apologized on Facebook. “I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves,” Affleck explained. “I was embarrassed. The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth.”
Sounds like some folks from Ancestry.com to Hollywood actors need to accept the truth of our history.
