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    Graby SauceHudson Hongo
    4/21/15 11:14pm

    He’s right. This isn’t a news program. No one was deceived or forced to make bad decisions based on what was and what was not presented in the program. I think it was a dumb decision on his part, but whatever. No one’s life has been affected for the good or the bad for leaving it out.

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      NettofanGraby Sauce
      4/22/15 3:26am

      It is a factual programme however, and a lot of people have caused a lot of damage by reporting history to suit their own ends, rather than how it actually happened (twentieth century dictators being the worst offenders). Obviously Affleck is a flibbertigibbet actor, but it still isn't right to contribute to a "nothing to see here" attitude when it comes to slavery.

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      MizJenkinsGraby Sauce
      4/22/15 9:01am

      Nah, fuck him on GP and every White person who has in any way tried to sweep this country’s ugly racist past under the rug to make themselves look and feel better rather than having the courage and honesty to engage with in any meaningful way. That’s the reason we can’t move forward and it damn well does affect millions of lives for the worse.

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    notaquarterbackHudson Hongo
    4/21/15 10:49pm

    I’m okay with this statement. Good job by his publicist. Lots of others when faced with this would’ve said nothing or extremely less than this semi-candid statement.

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      dothedewnotaquarterback
      4/21/15 10:57pm

      Except that it’s patently bullshit.

      I am happy that aspect of our country’s history is being talked about.”

      If he was happy for it to be talked about, he could have...i don’t know...talked about it when he was on tv with the perfect opportunity to do so.

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      Tracenotaquarterback
      4/21/15 11:18pm

      I wish he’d stopped at the portion where he said he was embarrassed....that’s all he has to say and it’s understandable even though he shouldn’t have done it...then he kept going and went from ‘being honest’ to ‘trying to make himself look better’....which backfires completely by trying to paint his actions in a rosier light. He was embarrassed, he did something, he’s sorry, none of this ‘oh I’m glad my story contributes’. That’s such a ‘I’m sorry I got caught’ statement.

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    blackintrovertHudson Hongo
    4/21/15 11:22pm

    People love to say that slavery is in the past and it has no effect on our society today, but they’re 100% wrong. His ancestors are the reason why racism exists and they’re the reason why white privilege exists. It’s not okay to hide that out of shame. Use that shame for good.

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      jennoweenblackintrovert
      4/22/15 12:59am

      Right? What our ancestors did DOES have an affect on who and what we are today. People who gained notoriety, wealth and property off the backs of slaves passed those things down through their children and the children still benefit from it now.

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      serendous sblackintrovert
      4/22/15 8:49am

      Slavery in the U.S. wasn’t the cause of racism and white privilege but it definitely has had an influence on many aspects of our lives. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous to say the least as is trying to sweep a slave-owning ancestor under the rug. It’s part of his past just like it’s part of the past of many people. Learn from it, own it, and move forward. It’s not even anything to really be ashamed of.

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    CleverUsernameHudson Hongo
    4/22/15 7:24am

    Can we just give the guy a pass on this?

    It’s not really difficult to understand why a famous person might not want to share a stain on the family tree with the world.

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      CleverUsernameCleverUsername
      4/22/15 1:49pm

      HAHAHAHA, no, dumbass. It has nothing to do with him being a white guy.

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      CleverUsernameCleverUsername
      4/22/15 2:00pm

      Yeah, it wasn’t a deposition; it was a TV show.

      That’s what’s fucking wrong with this country and you. Everything is more complex than your simpleton perspective. It’s not like Affleck was preaching about how you have to have a perfectly clean genealogy to be a good person and was hiding hypocrisy; he just found something that he was ashamed of and took the opportunity not to share it.

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    matt.maraHudson Hongo
    4/21/15 11:43pm

    As someone whose family owned Destrehan Plantation (in Louisiana), let me say this: I wouldn’t try to hide that aspect of my family history any more than I’d try to hide my great-great-(great?)-uncle who killed his own family and their horse in Baton Rouge decades ago.

    For what it’s worth, Destrehan Plantation was taken away by the government after my ancestors refused to pay taxes on it. Which is hilarious to me.

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      JugendImpressionistmatt.mara
      4/22/15 12:44am

      What's up with your ((greats)) uncle?

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      matt.maraJugendImpressionist
      4/22/15 1:27am

      Alcohol.

      At least, that’s the story that’s been passed down.

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    99Telep☺dpr☹blemsHudson Hongo
    4/21/15 11:34pm

    Matt Damon would have never done this.

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      OKTOBERFIST99Telep☺dpr☹blems
      4/21/15 11:42pm

      lol, yes! Ben was the designated douche in that Bromance

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      Stegotuchi'sMadGangsta99Telep☺dpr☹blems
      4/22/15 8:56am
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    heywhatHudson Hongo
    4/21/15 11:05pm

    I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed. The very thought left a bad taste in my mouth.

    Then he shouldn’t have went on a show about finding his roots.

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      Lannister HandjobHudson Hongo
      4/21/15 10:53pm

      This is a better apology without sorry than most apologies that include it.

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        adoiiHudson Hongo
        4/22/15 12:19am

        Again, who is advising this putz? Did this statement go through Sunshine Sachs or whatever agency is managing him? If so, terrible job, though this reads like his own work.

        Apologize, defuse the situation, you can even encase the apology in “We deserve neither credit nor blame for our ancestors” which would have been a perfectly acceptable attempt at deflection and an altogether reasonable train of thought, if he hadn’t then taken that grating and pedantic turn — “I am glad that my story, however indirectly, will contribute to that discussion” ? He’s not nearly a skilled enough writer to pull off what was surely a slick rhetorical trick in his own mind.

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          Herve VillechaizeHudson Hongo
          4/21/15 10:52pm

          Meh.I wish we’d all stop with the constant pearl-clutching outrage, which then prompt all of the mea culpas and apologies or carefully worded non-apologies. I’ve never heard of this show and don’t really give a fuck about Ben Affleck’s ancestors. If HE were a slave owner I could understand all of the recriminations, but he’s never even met this dude.

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