Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke says he has received factual information confirming that both he and his wife are descended from people who owned slaves.
The once Texas congressman writes that the documents showed that one of his paternal great-great-great-grandfathers owned two women in the 1850s. The information also revealed an ancestor related to his wife Amy was also a part of the Confederate army. He says going forward the issue of race relations has been a topic he spoke about however it’s “more personal” now.
“We all need to know our own story as it relates to the national story, much as I am learning mine,” O’Rourke concluded. “It is only then, I believe, that we can take the necessary steps to repair the damage done and stop visiting this injustice on the generations that follow ours.”
If you recall last week information was confirmed that two great-great grandfathers of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell owned 14 slaves. McConnell has been against reparations for descendants of slaves, saying he did not think compensation “for something that happened 150 years ago, when none of us currently living are responsible, is a good idea.”
Democratic challengers have expressed public support for reparations, including Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey and Julián Castro.