More than 100 U.S. political leaders have ancestors who were slaveholders

[June 27, 2023]  By Lawrence Delevingne
 
(Reuters) -

A slave-coffle passes the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., U.S., circa 1815, in this undated handout obtained by Reuters June 22, 2023. Courtesy of Library of Congress/Handout via REUTERS

* At least 100 members of the last sitting Congress aredirect descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people,representing at least 8% of Democrats in Congress and 28% ofRepublicans. * The group includes Republican senators Mitch McConnell,Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton and James Lankford, and DemocratsElizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen and MaggieHassan. * President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. presidentexcept Donald Trump are direct descendants of slaveholders:Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. * Governors of 11 of the 50 U.S. states in 2022 weredescendants of slaveholders, as were two U.S. Supreme Courtjustices. * The Congressional slaveholding ancestors were among therichest in America before the Civil War; three-quarters wereamong the richest 10%. * In researching America’s political elite, Reuters foundnames of more than 700 people enslaved by ancestors of theleaders. * Some 23% of respondents to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll saidknowing that a candidate’s ancestors enslaved people would makethem less likely to vote for that candidate, and whiterespondents who said they’re aware of having a slaveholdingancestor were more likely than other white people to supportpaying reparations for slavery.

(Edited by Blake Morrison)

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