O 'Rourke says that he and his wife are descendants of slave owners

Hope at the White House Beto O 'RourkeBeto O 'RourkeHouse Democrat on O' Rourke: "I would not count it yet" Castro responds to criticism from Obama's DHS secretary: Open borders are a "right argument" Biden, Warren top poll of the 2020 democratic campaign PLUS (D) Sunday revealed that he and his wife, Amy, were descended from slave owners.

The former Texas House legislator wrote in a Medium article that he had recently received documents showing that his paternal great-great-grandfather had classified two women, Rose and Eliza, among his belongings.

"The fact that enslaved Americans belonging to my ancestors are being denied their freedom, their ability to accumulate wealth and their entire civic rights in America after slavery also has long-term repercussions for them." their descendants, "wrote O & # 39; Rourke.

"I benefit from a system that my ancestors built to privilege themselves at the expense of others," he added in his message, a defense of reparations.

"We all need to know our own history with respect to national history, just as I learn mine, it is only at that time, I think, that we will be able to take the necessary measures to repair the damage caused and to stop visiting this injustice the generations that follow ours "

O'Rourke said that the benefits he had gained from slavery and the resulting "institutionalized forms of racism" gave him the responsibility to change the country.

The hope of the White House has underlined many of its political promises, including the fight against the underfunding of minority-majority public schools, the granting of federal capital to minority-owned businesses and to women, reform of the universal health system and criminal justice, in the context of the legacy of slavery.

O'Rourke pointed out that he would continue to support reparations for the descendants of slaves, "starting with an important national conversation about slavery and racial injustice".

The reparations debate is reinstated in the traditional political discourse after the first hearing of the House Judiciary Committee in ten years in June.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson LeeSheila Jackson LeeReflections Bill gains ground in the House Senate Democrats want reparations talks to go away O & # 39; Rourke: Cash reparations policy "stops the conversation" on the issue MORE (D-Texas) to form a commission to study whether black Americans should receive compensation for slavery is gaining ground in the House, many hopes for 2020 approving the move.

O'Rourke previously said that all Americans must understand the history of the country before the United States can claim compensation in cash.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Is strongly opposed to this initiative.

After his opposition to the repairs, a report by NBC News revealed that McConnell's ancestors had more than a dozen slaves in total.

In response, McConnell said it put him in the same camp as former President Obama.

"You know, I find myself again in the same position as President Obama.We are both opposed to reparations and we are both the descendants of slave owners," McConnell told reporters. .