Ainsley Harriott Appalled His Own Family Were Slave Owners | Who Do You Think You Are
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- čas přidán 12. 06. 2021
- Ainsley returns to the Jamaica archives to go further down the Harriot line. To his dismay, he discovers that his great-great-grandfather was a slave owner! James Gordon Harriott, wasn't a black slave as he had thought, but the descendant of a long line of white slave owners.
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Ainsley Harriott travelled to the West Indies to uncover his roots and soon discovered that Caribbean history isn't quite as 'black and white' as he'd imagined.
Ainsley thought he already knew a lot about his father's side of the family. He'd been told that his great-grandparents, on the maternal line, had come to Jamaica as indentured labourers from India. But when he began his research, he was shocked to find himself heading down a very different path in his family's history.
He had thought that the Harriott ancestry was straightforward. Ainsley knew his great-grandfather was in the colonial West India Regiment, and had assumed that they were descended from slaves.
In Barbados, he confirmed that his great-grandfather had a distinguished military career, and learnt that he had fought for the British Empire in the Sierra Leone 'Hut Tax War' - an increasingly violent protest against British tax collecting in the protectorate.
But he also encountered some extraordinary family details. He discovered how, in the time of slavery, one of his ancestors, an unmarried 'free black' woman, accumulated enough money to buy seven houses. His next discovery was even more surprising. Ainsley's great-great-grandfather, James Gordon Harriott, wasn't a black slave as he had thought, but the descendant of a long line of white slave owners. - Zábava
This is why you are not responsible for your ancestors actions.
Who saying anybody is responsible. Europeans continue the evil legacy of their ancestors in systematic racism. So you may not be ‘responsible’ BUT you are not better when you continue the affects of discrimination based on Race to modern times
Tell that to the so called reparation crowd!
@@eastonvonschist2283 Reparations will never happen.
I mean, that line cuts both ways. You can make the same arguments about taking pride in your ancestors accomplishments.
@@taoliu3949 You can take pride in your ancestors' accomplishments or you can feel bad about what your ancestors did, but you are not responsible for their actions.
Slavery has gone on throughout world history.... the Romans, the Vikings, the Chinese, the Arabs etc etc etc. You cannot be your brother's keeper....and you cannot be responsible for what your forefathers did, but you can be a decent human being & have respect for your fellow man. Let's be better than what went before.
👏👏👏♥️
Well put.
They will get there in the end but our civilization might be destroyed in the meantime.
Amen
*YOUR brother's keeper...not you're
This is why teaching history in context is extremely important.
history should be called hoestory because its so bias
As I commented above, rewriting the historical record to fit your preconceived modern notions leads to distinctly uncomfortable revelations like this one here. This is why revisionism is simply wrong.
Unfortunately, there is a very large number of people who believe that's offensive.
Careful now! That statement could be interpreted as Hwyte supremist.
This why teaching HONEST history is important. The whole world has been involved one way or another and 1.5 million whites were enslaved by the Muslim ship pirates along the west coast of England, France, Spain, Italy, etc several hundred years ago. Children were even taken and the conditions were horrible.
Respect to the guy for coming into terms with his past and realizing that history isn’t as straight forward as you want it to believe
But it wasn't his past! His ancestors were different people.
History is straight forward, until its twisted by revisionist
His past? Is he over 200 years old to do what he found?
My nephew, from Nigeria, said capturing and selling slaves was a common thing in most Africans family history. The race of people had nothing to do with it. It was only about the money.
Yes, all ethnicities have participated in slavery.
So true, other tribes enslaved each other, and sold them to traders. Not a race issue a money issue
To bad so many people don’t understand this, slaves came in every color in the old world ,Asia, and Africa
I've noticed Africans living in African countries are more than willing to acknowledge and be open about the truth of slavery and selling there own people . Yet African Americans , and African British and Jamaican deny it happened , and claim blacks selling blacks didn't happen at all.
@@LadyThunderbird63 Well that's because its still happening in Africa albeit on a smaller scale..
"We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did.” - Thomas Sowell
I like Thomas Sowell. Very wise man.
20 years ago that might have been a hilarious line in an absurdist comedy sketch. Today, it’s a perfect description of our politics and not at all funny.
A great man and a great quote.
@@lisamoore6804 every day my respect for him grows
Good quote from a money hungry dude who will say anything to attain it.
Ainsley once was in a lift with me and my autistic daughter. The lift overrided my stop and went up to the top floor in the bookshop. I think he was attending a book signing n my town, and was surrounded by people all wrapped up in getting him to the signing. He observed that my stop was cancelled and his stop took presidence . On exiting the lift he turned to us and apologised. You can’t teach empathy and class. That made a lasting impression on me.
Empathy would of been telling the driver to take you and your child to your destination first. He put his self importance and ego before a special needs child.
@@marjolewis9405 He might not have asked for this but an employee of the book store set it.
We learn empathy and class from our parents (or not). You can definitely teach it.😄
@@marjolewis9405 what an odd view of the world you have.
@@trishloughman5998 I realize that putting children first is radical thinking. Too bad more people don't think the same way. Imagine all the suffering that would be alleviated if everyone thought to put children first. Just image putting children before celebrity, how novel. Thank you for recognizing my great thought process.
Ainsley: "Omg.... he owned slaves......"
Women showing him papers: With a smile on her face.. "Hey owned one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight slaves... :D"
X.X
Lol, I caught that too 🙃
She’s not even smiling, what are you on about?
Not literally...it just seemed like she was because of the way she presented it.
@@yourarseismine1016 don't take everything so literally dumdum
Seems to me she was just amused by his shock and ignorance.
I'm not sure why he is surprised. The lack of understanding about the realities of slavery always amazes me.
Because the reality of slavery is hidden and lied about to children from decade to decade over time.
Yes but your family should know some of the truth. Why rely on people who perpetuate to tell you the full 100. Makes no sense 😕
That is so true.every people group enslaved each other and others
the ignorance..... some blacks paint whites who owned slaves as the only ones who ever did so .....yet it was other blacks throughout Africa who sold their fellow blacks INTO slavery to begin with! yet many choose to conveniently ignore these facts.....
@@banker1313 Arabs were some of the most prolific and brutal slavers back when slavery was common place, but every race has either enslaved or been enslaved, the word slave itself comes from the sheer amount of Slavic peoples who were enslaved.
And there ladies and gentlemen is why you never judge.
I don't mind if you judge me.
@@ryanong3517 no I really don't like to judge. I really liked the video and am just commenting to show others that we are not perfect.
I can't speak about what happened in other countries, but for the U.S., if your family history in this country goes back to the 1700s, it is very possible that you are not what you think.
@@zanthus7 I can say for good or bad I have traced both sides back to the mid 1700’s where they came to this Country one side from Scotland the other side from Germany. Both sides just dirt poor farmers. Although not perfect I’m sure they were just plain people you would not look at twice on the side of the road. But just hard working people.
So true.
I love how matter-of-fact the lady is. Like "yep, that's how things went back then. Different times eh?"
Agree! Very down to earth.
He was so disappointed I felt that he didn’t have the “roots” scenario but in fact the opposite . . I come from a family who have stated they dislike the English funnily enough I did the DNA suspecting we were mostly English. I was not disappointed .
There’s an American comic who traced his family’s slavery history. Found out their owner was an Indian chief. Inconvenient truths abound.
Who?
@@eleahanz1334
Don Cheadle. Sorry for not originally naming him, a bit lazy apologies :)
Yup and he found out he was not an Indian At all he was just a guy work in the field.😏
Also Native Americans were allied to the confederacy.
@@jherrera3058 😏
Every family has a king and a horse thief in their past. You cannot hold a person alive now, responsible for what happen in the past.
Ironically that’s bonded slavery, to pay for the sins of our fathers.
Pretty sure my family was all bog-trotting pig thieves, but I utterly agree.
True... and a King, (all of the nobility really) is someone who sets himself above others by right of birth. He claims that he is inherently superior, favored by God, and can therefore assume power and deprive others of some of the most basic rights. Many times, people living under a feudal system were even denied the right to leave, being bound to the land as serfs. A slave has value to the person who claims to own him because slaves can be sold. And the slave can expect some basic upkeep from the slaver. But a serf has no value as he can't be sold and the local lord really has no obligation to care for him in any way... The local lord does claim the right to something like half of what the serf produces though. So I personally wouldn't be proud to say I descended from the nobility. That being said, it would be absurd to try and make someone who did descend from the nobility feel guilty for abusing the serfs some 500 years ago. People are responsible for their own actions, not the actions of their ancestors. Believing that they do is essentially believing in the concept of racial guilt, which is the most murderous form of racism.
Ancestors of slaves should be grateful.. and proud of their slave heritage. Their Ancestors were strong survivors and essentially payed for their citizenship through blood sweat and tears. Had they not been sold into slavery they'd be in some Shithole country that still believes in slavery. Everyone's past is filled with rights and wrongs.. People need to acknowledge the past and learn from it. Move forward without malice and judge people on their character not the character of those who preceded them.
I know that we had “allegedly “ a couple of family members that liberated a horse or so on a few alleged occasions. I’ve heard that we were related by my mothers side to the youngers on their dads side. Might be might not be.
I've always liked Ainsley, never a trace of pretentiousness about him compared to so many other TV cooks.
Makes a cracking meme too
top tier meme, and passionate cooking too. you could feel his energetic cooking thru the screen.
Ainsley isn't really a cook, he is a failed comedian who decided to try his hand at being a TV chef. If that had fallen through, he'd probably be a be a presenter on Strictly Come Dancing or something by now.
@@SAHBfan he became successful. thats what counts
@@SAHBfan and yet hes a loved entertainer.
Look how dope that handwriting was back then. Crazy they don’t even teach cursive anymore. I always try to write in it just to keep it alive.
It's like art :D
@The Chad. Look bruh, give it up already. With all these handheld devices any form handwriting will soon be extinct 😂
My school teaches cursive.
Nobody is responsible for their ancestors conduct. Only their own.
Except us "whites" that are born guilty (to all bad things that ever took place in the history of the world). This is the *only* acceptable story, according to *every* mainstrem western "intellectual" and politican of today. Other point of views are criminalized.
@@herrbonk3635 here here
If your grandfather stole someone's house and land... then he dies. If you inherit that stolen property, and pretend that you have it because of "hard work" and refuse to give it back... The YOU become responsible as an accessory to your ancestor' crime, after the fact.
@@jonothandoeser In that case, practically *all* owned land and all countries that exists today should be "given back"... They are all "stolen", usually several times. Note that this includes countries and land owned by (say) africans too. Most of it was taken in brutal tribe wars, both before and after european colonization.
@@jonothandoeser my grandfathers were born around the turn of the century (1900) and stealing people's houses wasn't really a thing then. And I didn't inherit jack from anyone.
This why history should never be cancelled or changed
Unfortunately this history doesn't follow the narrative that only some of our families sucked at some point in the past. So it must be erased so a whole people can be vilified, while claiming oppression of another.
Absolutely, Mr Willis…
Communists
Love to change history and control your view of the past completely agree with you on this comment mate
Just remember that history is taught by teachers in schools, using books.
As American society currently stands, the Right has been cutting educational budgets for decades. More recently, they have tried to remove slavery from history books by vehicles like the 1776 Commission.
They're currently rallying against Critical Race Theory, most likely as a distraction from what they are doing. They are also crying and screaming about the removal of statues, which are NOT major vehicles of history, and were put in place at strategic times such as The Reconstruction [post-slavery], or even more recently during The Civil Rights movement.
No doubt, these are Right-wing distractions so that they can continue to attack historical teachings by continuing cuts in educational budgets, as well as demanding edits in history books and attempts at implementing educational limitations.
So remember that Republicans are working very hard to "cancel" and "change" history, every day. This is the only thing they do, beyond being obstructionist.
Yes, history must be remembered and taught. This happens through schools and books, not statues. Do not be misdirected by these self-serving snowflakes.
Are you talking about status of slave owners being taken down in public? Because if you are, that's not cancelling history. As you can see in the video archives exist all over the world and always will, that document these people and this history... Statues of slave owners, rapists and criminals should be in museums. And that's why this type of history should be learned in schools.
When he says "I'm not uncomfortable with that" she's like, "oh, you will be in about 15 seconds"
As someone who works with rare manuscripts I cringed every time he touched his face with the gloves worn to protect documents.
Well Jbrook in his defence: he was in shock
News flash - Ainsley Harriott forced to pay reparations to himself.
and pull his own statue down burn his house and steal his own nikes....WLM
That's done in bad form. Slavery leaves scars that last generations.
@@DTavona SLAVER HAS WENT ON IN EVERY COUNTRY AND CIVILISATION SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME AND MANKIND.
STARTED BY PEOPLE ENSLAVING THEIR OWN PEOPLE .
awe tell us about it 🤭 problem here is we are only talking about 1 race and 1 culture.... that feels they where the only ones hard done tooo eah. Shame the rest have been forgotten.
U all seem yo push the narrative it was only the British who, looted enslaved and colonised country's
Don't see use digging up the French,Romans, or the Spanish dead ancestors... wonder why eah 🤭
Or how about the Portuguese WHO ACTUALLY STARTED THE SLAVE TŔADE
Without them none of this would have been possible.
🙄🙄🙄🙄
Lol
Through her father's lineage, Vice President, Kamala Harris has slaveholder heritage. This occurred in Jamaica.
And?
You go back far enough and this is likely true of most people alive.
@@rickb.4168 …..and if she had been a republican? Would you say yeah and then?
Why does that not surprise me
@@GORT70 c'mon ..you know it only counts against Republicans .
“Give your slaves a good old rub. Yeahhh bwoi!”- George David Harriott
😂😂😂
@@higherpower254 “Before you go do you recognise some of these things?” 🥕🍌🥒🌽
Crack up! 😂😂😂
Ffs looooooll
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Seeing this man cry instead of laughing and smiling hurts to the rest of us as much as it hurts him to find out about that stuff
The only reason the slave trade was able to grow so large was because of the vast slave trade already active in Africa.
It was so integral to the economies of the African nations that when the British made it illegal to take people from the African continents, several African leaders protested it.
One of the big slavers said, “ you have three things we want, ball, brandy, and gunpowder. We have three things you want, men, women, and children” when Europe passed anti slavery laws.
Started by the Arabs
Fon pire Benin made £250000 1837 a fortune , wouldnt give uo slavery for anything while the English spent 40% of GDP Same time to abolish slavery .
The false i ndignation made me laugh
@@Marcus538 *British spent 40%
Bet you won't read that in the Guardian 😁
We are all descended from heroes and villains, and sometimes whether someone is hero or villain depends on when you look, and who is doing the looking.
Spot on
Most of us are descended from ordinary people who lived ordinary lives. But ordinary people can do horrible, or exalted, things.
Very, very wisely put.
I'm gonna assume that there's no German equivalent of this show.
"Your grand-grandfather Klaus worked as train engineer in Poland during WWII."
Fair play to Ainsley for letting that air - nowadays, there are many who wouldn't dream of letting that type of skeleton out of their closet because it would be 'problematic' to their grifting. Can you imagine if that was Diane Abbot or David Lammy? Respect to the man. We move on from these issues of the past by discussing them, understanding them and ultimately realising it was long enough ago that it doesn't really matter today, thankfully.
If Abbott and Lammy originate from the Caribbean or the US ( not directly from Africa) chances are their stories will be very similar
Ainsley is a top bloke and a brilliant chef
@@andym9571 Very true. Perhaps more so than in the US, there was a LOT of mixing between Africans and Europeans.
@@k.c1126 Well, the DNA says that there was a lot of mixing in the US as well.
Lammy has said he has Scottish ancestry
Daily reminder that chattel slavery still exists and existed for thousands of years prior to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
Yes ! Another basic but very inconvenient Fact for those who garner power via selectively crafted narratives.
It involved all races as owners and slaves
Yup, and ALL the nations still engaging in slavery are brown nations. But whatevs to reality when you're a libtard.
Chattel slavery is slavery by law where the slave is designated a possession and the slave owner can petition a government for redress if the slave "misbehaves". That DID NOT exist for thousands of years prior to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
@@kernalbert4939 Where is your definition from? This is from Wikipedia:
"[C]hattel slavery was the usual form of enslavement in most societies that practiced slavery throughout human history...."
A king deep in the family line. I'm not royal. A slaveowner in the family line. I'm not responsible. A Union soldier in the family, killed at Antietam. I'm not a hero. I am solely what I've made of my life.
Amen! And, if an ancestor was a slave - you wouldn't be a victim.
Well put.
I'm going to copy this. Well said sir.
You have overcome your ancestors. It’s a good thing.
@@sshaw4429 the only thing we overcome are our personal life and out own mindset. That's hard enough, don't need to dredge up people 100 years dead into it.
It's sad looking at "the happiest man" fell ashamed about his ancestors.
He'll have to pay himself reparations, then cancel himself, then put out a statement begging for forgiveness for something he didn't do.
😂😂😂😂😂
Well Ainsley, welcome to the real world where we are all interconnected and underneath our skin we are all exactly the same color. 🥂🍾
no, not true. its a FACT that certain races are higher IQ than others! stop this bs we are the same. I am NOT the SAME as some no name in bumfuckland.
@Mujaahid Arian People are not the same. If we were why dont we look the same English and Russian are different Japanese and Vietnamese are different Some are smarter and some are dumber
@Mujaahid Arian If we are the same why dont we evolve the same with same facial features and evolve the same societies, People are always on about diversity but then also say we are the same.. so its our differences that make us the same ?
@Mujaahid Arian Yes and there are factors that determine intelligence like IQ average and you should look at those.
@Mujaahid Arian he was born in 1997, give him a break. He just discovered his own willy.
All families might find people on both sides of the slavery line: owners and owned.
There is not a person alive on this planet who is not descended from both slaves and slaves owners.
Traced my family to 1345 none were slaves or owned slaves.
@@LadyThunderbird63 , which country? Almost every European person is a descendant of land bonded serfs.
@hatchet face
You honestly expect anyone to believe that you have traced every single one of your ancestors back to the 1300s, let alone the idea that none of them were slaves or owners..?
Or are you only referring to your patrilineal line and sexistly ignoring all the women and their parentage?
Either way, I call BS. Troll
@Ella Sterling , Irish were slaves all over the Caribbean, too. Look up Irish Slaves in Jamaica and Irish Slaves in Barbados on Google and you'll get a whole crazy history.
If you look up Irish Slaves in the US, Google helpfully corrects it to Irish Slave Myth, because the future US was evidently the only place in the new world Cromwell sent no Irish Slaves.
This is why you don't judge people of the Past with the modern standards.
History is history. you don't forget it or bury it or deny it. You learn from it.
The family stories we are given are often not "quite" the truth. I found that out when I did my own family tree. A whole branch of the family was "forgotten" when they didn't live up to the family ideals.
Slavery has always been part of African society. Fairly common practice to capture and enslave enemies and of course sell them on. Europeans did not go scampering around Africa capturing slaves themselves.
The Portuguese tried a bit, but died from malaria, so they too resorted to just buying slaves from the ports and not risking the diseases in the jungle.
Yes I don't know why everyone is judging events of the past with modern values. For Millenia if a country or people's were more powerful than another and their neighbour had anything they wanted they would invade and occupy and pillage. It is the spoils of war and that is just what happened back then with all nations. If you overpowered your enemy then what's theirs was then your property. Its just how it was.That is how all empires were built.
Europeans bought the captured Africans and took them to the new world, which the Europeans didn’t have to do.
@@shadowguard3578, the point being made is that when it comes to the history of slavery no one has clean hands, neither are they uniquely guilty.
@@shadowguard3578 Africans participated in slavery long before the Europeans showed up. It was a part of society for a few thousand years. Slaves were taken during times of conflict, and it was also customary in some regions for people to surrender themselves as slaves in times of famine and poverty. When the Europeans arrived on the scene, Africans sold their slaves to them knowing that they would be taken from Africa. For the Africans in power, this was normal. Both were complicit.
Poor guy to learn about your family history in this way. He's a brilliant chef and a joy to be in the company of. The swearing caught me off guard though LOL.
He’s such a lovely lad Ainsley.
Slavery was inhumane ,but it was something that almost every human society praticised in some extent,i'm from DR Congo and both side of my family had slaves,when i was a kid we had a maternal" great uncle "who we used to visit often,but years later my mother told us ,he was not really a great uncle but him and his family used to be my maternal grandfather slaves ,but my grand father who were a chief did take care of him and pay for his treatment as a kid ,so he was like a member of the family.
Our ancestors were not perfect ,some of them were oppressors and others oppressed ,and some just inherited an imperfect world and did not know a better alternative.
This is a good lesson in collective guilt. Mr. Harriott now has to learn that he bears no responsibility for the actions of his relatives. My father, who fought in WW II, once quipped that he may have killed some of his cousins , being the son of Austrian/German immigrants. By the same token, I had to learn not to feel personally responsible for the actions of my ancestors, even if some of them may have been slave holders or Nazis.
And the same goes for pride on what your ancestors have achieved, because the 'good' is remembered the 'bad' is wiped under the carpet. And many things depend on which side of history you are on, for never forget the Austrian and German cousins fought and sacrifized their lives for their country as well. No one has clean hands after such a war!
Just make sure your descendants don't do it again. Raise them well. That's why you can't forget history and run from it claiming innocence.
Collective guilt is such a crock. I'm not responsible for what my ancestors did. But I don't have guilt.
@@theropesofrenovation9352 Right, we are responsible only for our own individual actions and nothing more.
And you are not responsible for the good they did either. No my Dad was a war hero. An entrepreneur. The mayor. Blah blah.
Ainsley has the most calming tone of voice I have every heard.
Ainsley: hehe *b o y*
What a shock…slavery was universal. 🤦♂️
Of course, but Caucasian took it to an abominable level that angered heaven thus the nuke bomb will soon wipe Europe off the planet; simultaneously, uK, US, Europe will hit never to rise again. As you already know Roman Empire melted into modern Europe. Iron feet beast of Daniel’s prophecy that devoured all mankind, the 4-corners of the earth with iron teeth and trampled underfoot whatever left, they pledged allegiance with the dragon to build the the global beast system for the coming world leader from the west, the man of lawlessness. The indescribable ferocious beast bring mankind to close. Thanks Yah! we get to go sooner. The rock cut from heaven will smash all the wicked and evil mankind’s kingdom to establish the eternal kingdom of righteousness. Hallelujah! Let’s repent, forgive and be ready to go in absolute righteousness. Hallelujah!!
Recently found articles about my 3 X great grandfather being charged with cruelty to animals in the 1870s (he was a farmer) and also for beating up his brother in law/business rival (?). We all have some dark parts in our family tree, it's best to learn about them and try to learn from their mistakes. Not much else we can do.
When the consequences and legacies of Slavery, Colonialism and Empire still live with us today, you're wrong - there's allot for you to do.
Have you checked if your 3 X great grandmother was a sheep?
And just like that, suddenly you are not responsible for what your ancestors did...funny how that works.
Somehow ... he’s still the Victim
@@JDAfrica Oh most definitely
@@JDAfrica Oh most definitely
No one ever said you were responsible for the actions of other people centuries ago, absolute clown.
@@moneyro8573 There are people calling for reparations today. How is that not saying that the current generation is responsible?
Why is he appalled by that? I have everything from murderers to nuns in my family tree. If I go far enough back I, as well as most here, have kings in there. Also, I am of Scandinavian decent meaning I can guarantee I have both trells (slaves) and slavers (everyone) in my blood. I dont understand why people think this is relevant to anything that matters.
I'm from the Caribbean and I can garuntee you almost everyone here has at least one slave owner in their ancestry. The fact that he's surprise just shows me they don't teach about chattel slavery in Britain at all. Can't say I'm surprised.
Literally the girl who showed him wasn't even that shocked lol
@@itscris1973 Exactly. His response is the result of people hiding the past instead of learning from it. It's a big part of the problem in the US... It's nearly impossible for anyone who has ancestry in the country before 1850 to evade the taint of slavery. Caribbean people are a lot more realistic about that historical data.
i have scandinavian and irish heritage so there's 100% change my family roots were both enslaved and did the enslaveing. it is what it is. Theres nothing I can do to change that, and I wouldn't be here today (as in being born) without it.
It's thinking your ancestors were victims only to find out they were a perpetrator. It's a bit shocking of a mindset change--but I've always grown up knowing the most disavory parts of my ancestry so it's easier to shrug off as "well that was them."
People never think about who initially owned the slaves and were happy to sell them.
I think you have a slightly skewed view. The African slavers would attack enemy villages, take the villagers captive, and sell them on to the Europeans. Very few of the Africans who were sold to into slavery in the Americas had been slaves in Africa. Rather they were kidnapees, or at best, prisoners of war.
This kind of raiding and carrying off of people was SOP for warring cultures and civilizations as far back as the Sumerians and the Elamites.
Yes. Slavery existed EVERYWHERE and was practiced by people of ALL types.
In our past owning slaves was the norm for so many cultures. We now recognize it as morally repugnant. They didn't back then. End of story.
There are more slaves in the world today, right now, than there have ever been at any other point throughout all of human history. The race grifters simply don't pretend to care about them, because it's not politically convenient to pretend to care about them.
Are you aware of modern day slavery ?
@@heavenlymermaid2192 They're aware, it just doesn't matter or mean anything to them.
China didn't get that memo, apparently
Also, many philosophers and learned people have renounced slavery for millennia.
Who your ancestors are doesn't decide who you desire to be. You're a good man, the fact this discovery upsets you proves it.
he is not a good man
he is an evil man who was pushing a narrative that sins of father follow you
that why he is shocked
he is not a victim but an oppressor lol
Only upset because he doesn't fit the narrative anymore.
@@sonaruo Still, respect to him for not trying to bury this skeleton when it did come out. Maybe it opened his eyes and changed his attitude after it.
Really felt for Ainsley watching this. Powerful. Imagine how he felt finding this out. All love to you Ainsley.
Why? At least he knows the truth about where he comes from, more should do it, the truth needs to be told
Amazing how Ainsley is portrayed as the victim here. Unfortunate man being confronted with his ancestry and having to come to terms with it. I wonder if the same grace would have been afforded to someone like Gordon Ramsay?
“Portrayed as the victim” 🤦🏾♀️
If I never owned slaves, I refuse to be held accountable.
you're not and no one has ever held you accountable for something you didn't do. what you are accountable for is not continuing to support the systems they built based on their beliefs, because those systems still exist.
But you don't mind enjoying the fruits and previledges of your ancestors slave trading
@@tonyjeffers2606 as if you don’t as well? What device are you typing this comment on?
@@sgtmian no thay dont
If you go back far enough, everyone has a slaveholder or slave in their ancestry.
And if he so strongly believes in reparations from slave owners in the past, will he now pay those reparations, taking on the sins of his fathers? Doubt it.
Well, he might, if he is that rich enough and compassionate enough.
@@Kopie0830 No he won't. Kamala Harris is the granddaughter of slaveholders, but that is not an issue because she is "African American"....not really as her father is Jamaican and her mother is from India, but that doesn't matter either.
I was wondering the exact same thing
The reason why people talk of reparations is because slavers got 20 billion in today's money, during the end of slavery. Meaning they could invest and create generational wealth. Whereas those enslaved didn't receive anything for all those years of free labour. So you're comment is very oversimplified.
@@SuperMuneera $20b is nothing compared to the free money handed out via the welfare state. But, go ahead and lead by example and then maybe people will start taking you race grifting America haters seriously. Let us know how much money you decide to pay in reparations for the slaves that Mohamad owned.
This needs to be a history lesson for every classroom.
There's nothing stopping parents from showing it to kids. We put too much responsibility on a school teacher. Mom turn off the sitcom, dad turn off the game.....teach.
I've recently found through my family tree one of my ancestors moved from the North of England to South Carolina in the 1600's and he owned slaves, his sons then owned slaves and they had children with their slaves so I have slave owners and slaves in my family tree and it's devastating to find out. Generations of my ancestors owned slaves. My ancestors went on to farm cotton, tobacco and own mills. I'll never forget those children's names they'll forever be engraved into my mind. 💔 One of my ancestor's was called David Golightly Harris and his journal was published as a book which covers the time of when the civil war ended and he was forced to set his slaves free. The house of one ancestor still stands and is a national historic building.
I never thought I'd find that my lineage was part of such awfulness 💔
I understand your reaction, but I think you ought to try to be a little more subjective. Obviously everyone has ancestors, and criminality, immorality and degeneracy of all different kinds have persisted throughout all human history. And the further you go back the more the inhumanity you find (though perhaps only inhumanity to our eyes) and the more common ancestors there are of course.
What I'm saying basically is that I think for everyone currently alive it's probably more likely than not that one or more of their ancestors did things that nowadays we find repugnant. Whether it be using/benefiting from child labour or exploiting/benefiting from the exploitation of the poor or the mentally handicapped or indeed owing slaves. History is rife with inhumanity, we all stand on the shoulders of giants and monsters alike, from our own pov at least.
It's just that you've been lucky/unlucky enough to have not only identified those ancestors but also that they were only around 10 generations back. Not too many people go that far with genealogy.
Yeah its a shame you polluted your genes with slavegenes
It happens. Get over it !
People are very much the product of their times. Too many people are judging the past through modern lenses.
YES.Let's refuse to cover Shakespeare in English class,for example,because he was a product of his times.
Too many people are ignorant of the past. ^^^
People who say this ignore the fact that there were people during those times that criticized slavery
While conveniently ignoring the slavery that occurs all over the world today.
People are a product of where they came from (their native nation of origin) as much as the time they were from.
Always amuses me when people look at history with modern eyes and judge the past with modern values. Ultimately, they seem to forget the changes we have made to become the society we are now as a result. History is meant to be learned from, not judged or reviled.
hindsight is 20/20
Exactly right!
The future will judge us the same way. Take for example the meat industry Its normal today to be able to buy dirt cheap meat. In a couple hundred years from now it will not. Examples like this will happen till the end of times.
Amen.
Except we are in a horrible situation where children are literally being schooled to do exactly that.
This illustrates why one should not take pride in their heritage, and should not be ashamed of it either. It was beyond your control. Be the best YOU can be and be proud of that.
Ainsley needs to read a bit more, such as writings on this subject by Thomas Sowell or even Booker T. Washington.
So, like all history and all things human, family history isn't a simple linear narrative; it is complicated, messy and sometimes confusing.
Maybe remember, that is the past, and your family has come a long way since then and have overcome that past. Our families past history is not what define us.
This programme never ceases to amaze.
She seems awfully pleased with having this information to share.
I feel people who are interested in their family's history need to be realistic especially with the transatlantic slave trade. There were many people of many different ethnic backgrounds who benefited from the transatlantic slave trade and who participated in that trade so historians and academics need to be honest about the TAST & stop pretending like it's some unique thing for people to have had family members who participated in it. The transatlantic slave trade was a moment in time but slavery itself as a general human practice still exist today in the modern world. So, we shouldn't get too wrapped up in the past if the same general practice that we are 'appalled' by still exists right now.
Yup slaves and slavers existed in EVERY race.
@@compulsiverambler1352 yup during that time native African ethnic groups fought each other then sold the losers of the battle. But during that timeline slavery was also unfortunately existed in parts of Asia and Africa. Native African slave traders didn't just sell to the USA and Europe, they also sold to parts of the middle east, and Asia. Male slaves sold there are usually castrated. Yes during that time Causican slaves were also subjected to that. Whether they be war, debt slaves, criminals or just very unlucky
And pressgang victims and "military conscripts" are of course slaves too and were and are kidnapped and forced into the worst kind of labour, war, at random, but in this context people tend to mean people enslaved for most or all of their lives, not just while of fighting age and then released. I definitely consider pressgangs and military conscription a form of egregious slavery but in this context of most-or-all-of-life slavery, in that context the race-based stuff is the worst and is historically an aberration.
👏👏👏
Just goes to show it’s not your past or your ancestors that make you it’s who you are now... Ainsley Harriott is one of the nicest people on the planet and it’s been a pleasure to grow up watching him on tv
When the moral high ground turns into sinking sand.
Ainsley: "my ancestor was a slave owner?"
Archive lady: "yeaaah boi"
Why any person who decended from slave should be surprised that there are slave owners in their family tree I will never know.
Previously, earlier parts of Ainsley Harriet's ancestry programme was released showing his ancestors as slaves and how disgusted he was. People then joined in the condemnation and agreed with his anger. But I commented that I had seen the original programme and that towards the end it also showed his family were slave owners, after which he was stunned and said 'slavery is far more complicated than we think'
CZcams commentators wouldn't believe this and said I was making it up. Well here finally is that missing part of his programme, so I expect I am now due for some appologise, though I doubt it will happen.
I see my own fair, balanced & factual comment was almost immediately deleted as well. A shouty few are indoctrinating some, and silencing the rest of us.
Wow, this is so honest, and open. Thank you for sharing. I have not been a perfect person, as I would not expect others in my family to be either, although, we all want superhuman relatives, I believe! Love to you!
When I look at Ainsley Harriott all I see is a Joyful Man with a Beautiful Heart, a Gentle Soul and an amazing Talent who I'd admire a lot but in all seriousness I've never seen Ainsley so emotional like this literally had me in Tears 😢 💔
If they only knew most slaves were sold by Arabs and Blacks in Africa... nothing is as you think it is... people need to stop judging from the past and just take people as they are NOW. And even in the past life was so different you can't judge by today's standards at all.
I get so tired of the repeated falsehood that European traders went into the interior of Africa to raid villages for slaves. I guess most people don't know that tribesmen were bringing in captured slaves to the trading ports and selling them to the traders.
@@gaspainsify It’s not a falsehood these things took place. You people are forgetting SEGREGATION and JIM CROW laws. They were less than 70 years ago. Racism by whites against blacks was real, it happened and those people should be held accountable. No one is saying that you are responsible for their actions, we know you didn’t do it.
@@moneyro8573 Where did I say anything about that? That's right I didn't. I stated the fact that Africans were selling captured rival tribesmen to European traders.
@@gaspainsify You said it was a “repeated falsehood” that European traders sold slaves. It isn’t.
@@moneyro8573 You've got the reading comprehension of the average inner city youth. Here's my exact first line "I get so tired of the repeated falsehood that European traders went into the interior of Africa to raid villages for slaves." Then you went off on some idiotic tangent about segregation and Jim Crow that had nothing to do with the points discussed.
I bet you think the African slave trade ended in the 19th century too.
He's just pissed about all the tweets he will have to delete.
Yup! I think it's hilarious!
Yeah, this was funny as fcuk.
😂😂
*Did he pay reparations to the families of the people who his ancestors enslaved* *?*
That's why all monuments have to kept as a testimony of the human history.
good luck with that
This is why we don't put modern morals on history. They lived in a different reality based on their understanding of the world. We digest and learn from history...not cast blame.
But I guess that wouldn't help political agendas.
No, that casts those who came before us as somehow less intelligent or less morally developed, which they were not. Slavery was and never has been morally justifiable, even if it was widely accepted.
@@vlpes7319 go tell that to an ancient mesopotamian. Think for a second about the difference between the technological and philosophical development of the entire human race, now and in the past. In the words of Serj Tankian 'The future will view all history as a crime'
@@dihydrogenmonoxide7600 If we're talking about slavery, it was never right, and it would be ignorant to suggest that there ever existed a consensus that it was. There was as much opposition to it as there was support. It has always been morally wrong.
@@vlpes7319 In a century or even a few decades we'll all look back in horror on factory farming and consuming animal products period, be that eggs, dairy, in clothing, in testing, a vast majority of people partake in this. You may be vegan, I can't even say I am, but it's something I absolutely have no moral argument for partaking in when pressed, but still do, because it's ''just normal'' and ''just cultural'' for a lot of people.
There's plenty vegans who also feel that way just like there was against slavery, and are vocal about it, but it's not the prevailing thought yet.
@@dihydrogenmonoxide7600 I’m sure there were Mesopotamian people who were abolitionist
It just goes to show that history is more complex that the ‘goodies and baddies’ story we are made to believe.
I love how if you’re a rich celeb you just get this for free but if you’re the common man you have to pay up to £800 🤣
Actually they likely get paid for coming onto the show.
@@debd7631 I’m sure it’s part of the budget of the show to pay for this
I remember seeing this and being far more shocked to hear Ainsley Harriot swear 😂
Dont look if you are not well equipped to find the worst.
Wow, wise words, excellent advice.
who ate all the fortune cookies?
@@LL-lj1kq Never ask a question you don't know the. answer to
Some times you look into the past, you might find answers that aren’t positive. But this history makes you a clear thinking person of understanding. The acts of past generation’s are not you as a person.
This is so hard when you’re going through this kind of discovery. You just wonder how and why and what were their lives like. I’m actually crying for him right now. 🥺
Genuinely hilarious.
Went looking for oppression and found it.
I’d like to see Lewis Hamilton on this ….. could be interesting.
Content of character not color of skin. This is why the cancer of CRT must be rooted out of our schools.
The content of some people’s character is a bad attitude and no respect for anything.
@@stepbro4978 which is why, I suspect, certain parts of society want us to go back to judging by colour. They lack character.
you're not and no one has ever held you accountable
for something you didnt do. what you are
accountable for is not continuing to support the
systems they built based on their beliefs, because
those systems still exist.
@@toffee2547 those same people brought twerking and gangsta crap to all the kids.
@@joes9129 Like affirmative action.
A very humbling experience. For such a shock as it was he took it quite well. We won't be judged by our ancestors deeds, only by our own.
It's not an important part of this video but I want to comment on the remarkable beauty of the handwriting on those old documents. If our ancestors could write so beautifully then so can we. Even in middle school I tried to write in an old-fashioned style. One of the nices compliments I've ever received was being told many years later that my handwriting is "almost Victorian".
Regular fountain pen cant achieve such results, you would need a dip pen mate.
Dip pen or maybe a specific kind of calligraphy nib.
@@andrewbrendan1579 Pilot Custom 912 FA ?
I like how for the sake of being in front of a camera, Ainsley has to feel appalled and guilty of his ancestors that he himself has no idea nor any involvement with.
Not enough is realised about slavery, even the name comes from the Arabs capturing Slavs for their armies, forcibly converted first.
Funny that he thinks of his entire ancestry, only the European bloodline participated in slavery. Don't follow the other lines, Ainsley. I don't think you're emotionally ready to know too much about world history.
Yeh just take the bits you like and ignore the other bits 👍 ,
“Why…hello Jill !!!” 😂😂😂😂
“Why hello slaveeee!” - Ainsley’s great great grandfather
I couldn't care less what some person that I never knew did 100 years ago regardless of whether we have a common ancestry or not. I neither feel pride for accomplishments nor guilt for failures.
yes you do.they made you exist.
I found out my great grandad was a notorious cat burglar over a hundred years ago, it’s has nothing to do with me or the way I live my life.
@@victorhopper6774 nah parents made u exist
@@KD400_ at my age that would be my parents
@@victorhopper6774 that’s hardly enough to care for any logical person. You don’t owe your family anything and you don’t have to stand by everything they do for the simple fact that you exist thanks to them. No one asked to be born, you just were, might as well be your own individual and not a product of those around you.
Slave owners forcing themselves on enslaved people was a common practice. That it produced one's ancestors does not make the institution any less vile.
Except that Ebenezer's birth was well after the end of slavery. More likely an affair gone on too long.
No one asserted it made it less vile,
Because affairs didn't exist?
More like slave girls trying to seduce the landlords to get extra food.
@@Cortesevasive and can you blame them? food is delicious after all
And the this why history should never be forgotten.
History is so interesting but at the same time can change your perspective on things a lot.
None of us are descended from angels
I'm descended from God but we are all sinners.
@@ashyclaret 🤪🤪🤪
There's that "equity" everybody wants....lol
This is quite amazing!
I am shocked he is speechless.. He must know we have the names of slave owners!