An article in the New York Daily News reveals that Oscar-winning actor Ben Affleck has some antebellum skeletons in his closet that he prefers the rest of the world not see.  Affleck’s ancestors were discussed on the popular PBS special titled, Finding Your Roots, which is hosted by Black scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates. During the filming of the episode which featured Afflecks genealogy, it was discovered that his family tree had slave-owning relatives. Affleck–like many white celebrities and public figures who use the system of white supremacy to deny their white privilege with the illusion that their success is based entirely on hard work or merit–demanded that his slave-owning ancestors be edited from the show.

In seeing to it that his wishes were granted, Affleck got help from executives at Sony by way of Henry Louis Gates when it was reported that Gates “nervously asked a top Sony executive for ‘advice’ in handling Affleck’s special request.”

Here is a video clip of Ben Affleck’s appearance on Finding Your Roots, which originally aired on PBS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-WtVYtJYYM

by B. Clark