Childress Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 (edited) Both sides of my family owned slaves pre-CIvil War. I feel no ancestral guilt, a barbarous, even Nazi-ish notion in my opinion. But, apparently, Affleck does. To the point of pressuring the host of 'Finding your Roots', Henry Louis Gates, into deleting the embarrassing passage and igniting a mini-scandal. Affleck later manned up and apologized. During the censored interview, he did take pride in a youthful ancestor who joined Washington's army. Yankee superstar, Derek Jeter, learned on the show that he's also a descendant of slaveholders. He found it amusing. Edited November 30, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted November 30, 2016 Author Share Posted November 30, 2016 Anyone else on the Forum with disreputable or controversial ancestors? Don't be shy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pericles Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 2 hours ago, Childress said: Anyone else on the Forum with disreputable or controversial ancestors? Don't be shy. Who doesn't have disreputable or controversial ancestors? Country boundaries and wealth disparities are the products of shameless and brutal self-preservation and tribalism, all the way back to when we were swinging in trees, red in tooth and claw. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted November 30, 2016 Share Posted November 30, 2016 4 hours ago, Childress said: Anyone else on the Forum with disreputable or controversial ancestors? Don't be shy. Mum's Hungarian relatives served as Anti Aircraft crew for Axis in WW2, and steppdad served in RAF... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 1, 2016 Share Posted December 1, 2016 I am a white Southerner, so yes some of my ancestors were small-time slave holders. After Emancipation, many whites had black "servants" who were technically free, but in fact were underpaid with few or no options to improve their lot. This condition continued for at least a century after Emancipation, when I left the South and lost touch with current conditions there. Do I feel guilt about that? Not especially, but I do feel that as part of a privileged race there is a responsibility to assist where I can efforts on behalf of backs to achieve educational and employment parity. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 1, 2016 Author Share Posted December 1, 2016 The stain will never be lifted. Sorry, Michael. Along with thousands of other Americans, our family counts Pochahantas as an ancestor. My cousin is really into it. He's a member of some sort of Algonquin society, posts on affiliated forums and claims to own Powhatan's peace pipe, an unimpressive artifact in my estimation. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 2, 2016 Author Share Posted December 2, 2016 On 11/30/2016 at 1:14 PM, Pericles said: ... red in tooth and claw. Always loved that expression- so brutally graphic- and assumed it was ancient, but no. Google reveals that it originated with the Darwinist Richard Dawkins in 'The Selfish Gene'. Kudos to him and to you for using it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 (edited) 4 hours ago, Childress said: Always loved that expression- so brutally graphic- and assumed it was ancient, but no. Google reveals that it originated with the Darwinist Richard Dawkins in 'The Selfish Gene'. Kudos to him and to you for using it. Surely Alfred, Lord Tennyson 19th Century, if not before... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Memoriam_A.H.H.#Nature.2C_red_in_tooth_and_claw Edited December 2, 2016 by Wicky 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 2, 2016 Author Share Posted December 2, 2016 You're right and Tennyson would have been my first guess. Google somehow routed me to Dawkins. Good pick up. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 On 11/30/2016 at 10:23 AM, Childress said: Anyone else on the Forum with disreputable or controversial ancestors? Don't be shy. No not at all https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Hare_murders probably not related, but I tell the Jehovah witnesses I am when they come knocking. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 5 hours ago, sburke said: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burke_and_Hare_murders Sounds to me like the kind of thing you would do. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted December 3, 2016 Share Posted December 3, 2016 3 hours ago, Michael Emrys said: Sounds to me like the kind of thing you would do. Michael Hey if the Witnesses feel the same way, it's a win for me! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 3, 2016 Author Share Posted December 3, 2016 (edited) I remember my father showed us the will of his great-great grandmother. The yellowed document was recorded in Alabama and dated around 1840. In it, she bequeathed eight of her slaves to one of her sons. Each slave was denoted by a first name: Robert, Jack, Betty etc. What struck me the most? Her incredibly graceful and elegant handwriting. Sorry, Robert VI. Edited December 3, 2016 by Childress 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 3, 2016 Author Share Posted December 3, 2016 17 hours ago, Michael Emrys said: Sounds to me like the kind of thing you would do. None of my business, but did you and sburke share a commune in Millbrook, NY in the early 70s? Or the East Village or Venice, CA? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 17 hours ago, Childress said: What struck me the most? Her incredibly graceful and elegant handwriting. And many people back then shared that trait. They also could spell and use proper grammar as well, and neither was this confined to those with college educations (a rare thing in those days). Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 10 hours ago, Childress said: None of my business, but did you and sburke share a commune in Millbrook, NY in the early 70s? Or the East Village or Venice, CA? Never been to Millbrook. I did live on a commune in California from 1972 to 1978. And I spent a year in Venice 1968-69. I doubt that S made it to either place. He can be soooooo unhip. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 4, 2016 Author Share Posted December 4, 2016 I applied to a commune but was turned down due, I suspected, to hair. I sported an unkempt afro. At the time flowing locks, Jesus style, were de rigueur. Think the Allman Brothers. I live a few miles from Venice. It's been yuppified. Single apts go for $2000+. Modern hippies can't come up with the scratch. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 2 hours ago, Childress said: live a few miles from Venice. It's been yuppified. Single apts go for $2000+. I know. I was back for a visit in 1974 and it had already changed a lot in just that time. I watched the series Californication and if you knew what to look for, you could get a lot of what it is like now. When I was there it was the last of the grand days of its past. It was a marvelous place where every demographic seemed to get along in relative harmony. Except for the cops, who were like sharks. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 5, 2016 Author Share Posted December 5, 2016 21 hours ago, Michael Emrys said: I watched the series Californication and.... Checked out that show but couldn't get past the opening episode with the nun and you-know-what. However, I wished Breaking Bad never ended- pure brilliance. There are probably hundreds of series set in LA from Dragnet to The Shield, a compelling if brutal experience. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 5, 2016 Share Posted December 5, 2016 3 hours ago, Childress said: Checked out that show but couldn't get past the opening episode with the nun and you-know-what. The show was one long male fantasy. It got pretty ridiculous at times, but it also had some redeeming virtues, so I watched it from beginning to end. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share Posted December 9, 2016 On 12/2/2016 at 2:32 PM, sburke said: ....I tell the Jehovah witnesses I am when they come knocking. JWs? They can be relentless and thrive on opposition. My tactic is to declare myself an LDS member in good standing, normally a respectful stand-off ensues. Recently two well-scrubbed young people, a guy, and a girl, showed up at the door. I sniffed missionaries. 'Sorry, I'm LDS', I said smiling. They beamed. Turned out they were Mormons and began bombarding me with questions: really? which tabernacle? who's your bishop? Er, uh. I nearly converted, they were extremely warm and friendly and the girl... wow. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 lol One of these days churches will figure out that strategy for recruiting men. We really are suckers. Advertisers and vendors have known it for years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 On 12/4/2016 at 0:25 AM, Michael Emrys said: Never been to Millbrook. I did live on a commune in California from 1972 to 1978. And I spent a year in Venice 1968-69. I doubt that S made it to either place. He can be soooooo unhip. Michael Damn straight baby, I lived in unhip poor Brooklyn. Finished high school at a place that I just found out was closed as it ranked worst in academic performance. Despite that I won the regent's scholarship there. Now my old neighborhood is total hipster land. No more old guys hanging out playing dominos in front of the bodega or roosters crowing all the time (I gotta suspect they were for cockfighting). I had friends in the E Village though squatting (no not that way) abandoned apts. Saw Venice, Looked far too lame. The one that got me though was the squatters in W Phila, this one girl slept in a coffin and kept a pet rat. Wack jobs mostly coming from wealthy parents. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Emrys Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 3 minutes ago, sburke said: Damn straight baby, I lived in unhip poor Brooklyn. Finished high school at a place that I just found out was closed as it ranked worst in academic performance. That explains so much. Michael 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Childress Posted December 9, 2016 Author Share Posted December 9, 2016 2 minutes ago, sburke said: Finished high school at a place that I just found out was closed as it ranked worst in academic performance. Despite that I won the regent's scholarship there. Similar experience here, also in NY actually Westchester County. I was struggling academically in my junior year, the bottom 10% of our class according to my advisor, a hopeless case. Out of the blue, I scored as a National Merit Finalist. After this was reported in the school newspaper I lost the few (loser) friends I had. They began looking at me squirrely. 'Damn straight baby, I lived in unhip poor Brooklyn' Bad timing, sburke. It's now gentrified. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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