Utah's Ancestry.com Removes Announcement Criticized for Exploring Why Many African Americans Have White Ancestors

A genealogy company based in Utah has been criticized for publishing an ad that explains in a very romantic way why many African Americans have white ancestry – describing a story from the perspective of a white savior while the main historical reason is rape.

Ancestry.com put its advertisement online this month and has aired it in Utah on cable networks. The company removed the video from its YouTube page shortly after the Salt Lake Tribune asked to comment.

Called "Inseparable", he shows a white man trying to convince a black woman to flee with him to Canada, with a legend that calls them "two young lovers". This seems to be happening in the 1800s.

Advertising is "incredibly problematic," said Noel Voltz, an assistant professor of African American history at the University of Utah. "It's messy," she added. "They are referring to something that is really a story of sexual exploitation and helplessness."

The video begins with the white man saying, "Abigail, we can escape to the North."

The woman starts to say something, but is immediately cut off when he interrupts. "There is a place where we can be together on the other side of the border. Do you want to go with me? "Pursued the man.

The advertisement then goes by the name – Abigail Williams – but it's not clear if the plot is based on a faithful story, which, according to Voltz, is possible, though highly unlikely.

Ancestry.com, which is based in Lehi and employs 1,600 people, did not specifically address this issue in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

"Ancestry is committed to telling important stories of history," the statement said. "This advertisement was intended to represent one of these stories. We very much appreciate the comments we have received and apologize for any breach that the announcement might have caused. We are in the process of removing the ad from the TV and removing it from YouTube. "

Voltz asked how the company had approved the advertisement. She said that it encouraged people to erase history and reflect on the relationships that white masters had with black slaves so touching and beautiful. In reality, she said, it was mainly about coercive measures. "Most of the blacks in the world are mixed because of the rape that took place in slavery," she said.

Many commentators on social media have also criticized advertising. Kimberly Atkins, a reporter for the NPR affiliated radio station in Boston, tweeted that the information on the descent of many American blacks "is as painful and traumatic as it is illuminating," she added.

For those who trace their family lines, there are often gaps, added Voltz, because rapes and assaults were not recorded.

Jeanetta Williams, president of NAACP Salt Lake City, said the ad ignored history and presented a bad story. "People see things like that and think it's true," she said. "He does not describe the facts."

The video appeared to have been originally targeted at the Canadian audience of Ancestry.com and was published under a page of this branch of the company. For Voltz, this does not make it more acceptable or more understandable.

"There is no configuration in this sense that makes sense," she said. There was also slavery in Canada. "

The 30-second video shows the man and the woman, with her in a long hooded cape, running along a dirt road. They stop near a brick and wooden building near a small shingle porch. He takes out a ring and says his three lines.

For many members of the black community, the publicity raises tensions over the interactions between President Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings, Voltz added. Jefferson has fathered many of his children. Some have presented this story by calling Hemings his "mistress". But Voltz declared that it was his property and that this dynamic of power did not create a consensual relationship.

Hemings did not have the freedom to say "no," said Voltz, and the woman in the video also does not seem to be free to speak or make her own decision.

"The white owners came and raped black women," said Williams. "They did not have a choice. If they did not allow it, they would be beaten or killed. "

A man on Twitter called it colonization. Another said it was "an irresponsible and not a historical description". One speaker said the company should "stop with revisions". Another said it was not the story of An Ancestry.com.

Melissa Murray, a professor of law at New York University, asked if the woman in the commercial was supposed to be the man's slave and whether the ad had passed the tests in the newsgroups.

She wrote: "Was there no other scenario that could illuminate the value of DNA testing?"