By now, the world knows exactly how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellfeels about the issue of reparations for slavery. The debate about paying the ancestors of enslaved Black Americans was sparked last month when House Democrats held hearings on the issue. McConnell made clear at the time that “none of us currently living are responsible” for what he called America’s “original sin.”
The Kentucky Republican went on to tell reporters that “by fighting a civil war, by passing landmark civil rights legislation” and even by electing an African American president. So, it’s not all that shocking to learn that two of McConnell’s great-great-grandfathers were actually slave owners in the 19th century, according to U.S. census records.
It seems clear now why he’s so against the ADOS (American Descendants of Slavery) movement which seeks to reclaim/restore the critical national character of the African American identity and experience, namely through reparations.
Happy Birthday To Educator And Activist Mary McLeod Bethune
It’s worth noting that many Americans have ancestors who owned slaves, especially in the south. McConnell reportedly spent his early childhood years in Alabama before eventually moving to Kentucky.
Details about McConnell’s ancestors were uncovered by NBC News through a search of ancestry and census records. The senator’s two great-great-grandfathers, James McConnell and Richard Daley, owned at least 14 slaves in Limestone County, Alabama and all but two of them were female, the report states.
