That is the one word that I most associate with the history of my paternal grandmother's family, going back into the Antebellum days. The evil, atrocious legacy of Slavery soaks our family tree. And today, with the arrival of my paternal grandmother's DNA results, I have a better understanding and acceptance of the true horrors that live on in my ancestry. Her results were:
98.8% British and Irish
0.2% French and German
0.3% Broadly Northwestern European
0.3% Nigerian
0.2% Angolan and Congolese
0.1% Iranian, Caucasian, and Mesopotamian
0.1% Unassigned
Are her results surprising or shocking to me? Well, no. She is a tried and true Southerner of White Southern descent, and since the British were the major colonizers of the Old South, it is not surprising at all that she is of mostly British descent. I can trace different lines of her family back to Kent and Norfolk, for example, and it is through her that I can trace my descent from Medieval Royalty and Nobility. But the African ancestry is also not a surprise either, mostly because my own DNA came back 0.2% Angolan and Congolese. Under the ludicrous "one drop rule", if taken to its logical extreme, we are both black. But there are other conclusions that I can draw based on my own research.
1. It is very likely that both of my Southern grandparents descend from African Slaves
My paternal grandfather, Luther Allen Saddler Jr., has a possible descent from John Punch, an African indentured servant who attempted to escape to Maryland and was sentenced in 1640 to serve as a Slave for the rest of his life, unlike his White counterparts- the "first legal sanctioning of lifelong slavery in the Chesapeake." And because John Punch was probably from Angola, it was possible that my initial DNA result included DNA from him. Punch's descendants intermarried with white women, and eventually became white men with distant African ancestry. BUT- the discovery that my grandmother has partial African ancestry shatters this notion, and shows that I could have African blood through both of my dad's parents- Luther, through John Punch, and (LIVING) through the unnamed Slaves.
2. My ancestry traces back to both sides of the Atlantic Slave Trade- the Master and the Slave
Through my paternal grandmother, I can trace descent from multiple Slave owners. In 1860, on the eve of the Civil War, at least four of my ancestors owned Slaves: Aaron B. Strickland (19 Slaves), Mourning Collum (2 Slaves), George Washington Winn (3 Slaves), and James F. Benton (5 Slaves). Before 1860, many other Slave owners darken my tree: Michael McKenzie Mattox. William Fuller Sr. Michael Creger. Ezekiel Stafford. Simon Smith. The Reverend William Eason. Robert Deshazo. And so on. These men made their fortunes off of the cruel, inhumane exploitation of other humans, viewed as their property, merely because of their origin. But the flip side is also true in my DNA- I descend from Slaves as well, the victims of these cruel men. And probably from multiple Slaves, from multiple owners. This contradictory nature of history is a cruel fact.
3. I definitely have Sub-Saharan African ancestors who lived post-1500
There is no denying that I am of partial African descent, no matter how distant it is. Not only do I have a possible descent from a specific African individual on my paternal grandfather's side, but my paternal grandmother's DNA results show that 0.5% of her DNA is of Sub-Saharan African origin. There is no possible way to deny the facts of my heritage. I have African ancestry, regardless of what anybody claims. And this African ancestry probably includes more then one African ethnic group, too.
NOW, why do I associate the word "Evil" with this reality of African heritage?
Because it is a fact, that the history of the United States of America, as well as of many other Western nations, is built on the oppression and subjugation of African people. My family history is no different. My ancestors profited off of human suffering and torture. I have African American cousins on my DNA results, as well as African Slave ancestry, so I can also say very clearly: At least a few of my Slave owning ancestors were rapists. The sexual torture and violation of African people was commonplace on Slave plantations in the Old South, and my family is apparently not exempt from this. Not only were my African Slave ancestors sexually violated and assaulted, but this likely happened at the hands of other ancestors of mine. There are also probably many, many Slaves who were assaulted, raped, whipped, beaten, and tortured by my ancestors, who I do not descend from. The White South of Antebellum days was a kingdom of evil. Because of this, I do not think it is far fetched to say that my very existence is a moral abomination. I exist because of rape and torture. My existence comes from acts of human oppression, white supremacy, and racial terrorism. And my ancestors defended this institution, both by propagating the institution by distributing their Slaves to their descendants in their wills, as well as by taking up arms for the South and for Slavery in the American Civil War.
I appreciate my African ancestors, whose names remain unknown, and probably forever will be, and I am fond of studying the possible regions of Africa I have some roots in- Nigeria and Angola. But I am definitely not fond of how it happened. Even more sickening is how the brutally barbaric institution of Slavery was defended by many in the Antebellum South!
John C. Calhoun, 7th Vice President of the United States, the "Cast Iron man": "Never before has the black race of Central Africa, from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually… It came to us in a low, degraded, and savage condition, and in the course of a few generations it has grown up under the fostering care of our institutions."
James Henry Hammond, Governor and US Senator for South Carolina: "I firmly believe that American slavery is not only not a sin, but especially commanded by God through Moses, and approved by Christ through his apostles."
Men like John C. Calhoun and James Henry Hammond (who was also a pedophile who raped 4 of his nieces) defended Slavery, the vile institution that ensnared my ancestors in immorality, as a positive good. What is the positive good of Slavery? The institution of rape, forced labor, torture, beatings, whippings, and the separation of families? My heart breaks merely thinking of the unspeakable torments that my ancestors sickeningly gave to their so-called "property", human beings kidnapped and held in bondage by my forefathers and bloodline. I share the DNA of evil, brutal men who are irredeemable. Slavery is America's original sin, and it is a sin America can never truly atone for. Millions upon millions of lives were ruined and lost to this horrifically awful institution, and even today the African American community suffers generational trauma and discrimination because of the long lasting effects of Slavery and Jim Crow. The black-white wealth gap is atrocious. Black farmers face systemic discrimination. Black neighborhoods are often poor and dangerous. Credit discrimination is rampant, and overt racism is still rampant in this country. Police violence continues to snatch African Americans from the world and from their families- lives ruined because of hatred. Until America truly atones for her crimes through paying Reparations to the descendants of Slavery, America should be known as an evil land with no conscience and no soul, for her awful and wicked human rights violations and crimes.
To acknowledge my family's role in the systemic oppression and near-genocidal war on African people, I am going to make donations to five organizations focusing on the African American community: Black Lives Matter, the NAACP, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Sentencing Project, and 100 Black Men of America. I encourage all descendants of Slave owners to do their part in advocating for racial justice, as well as national Reparations, criminal justice reform, and an end to police violence.
Support African people and the African diaspora, victims of the torment and torture of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Rest in peace, to all who were enslaved, and especially to the Slaves in my own ancestry. You will never be forgotten, even if we do not know your names or ethnic origins. Your struggles can never be forgotten.
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