Racial activist Angela Davis was surprised to learn her ancestors came to America on the Mayflower.
Henry Louis Gates Jr., host of PBS’ “Finding Your Roots,” shared part of the conversation with Davis on Twitter.
“Do you know what you’re looking at? That is a list of the passengers on the Mayflower,” Gates said to Davis.
She replied, “No, I can’t believe this. No, my ancestors did not come here on the Mayflower.”
After continuing to express her shock, Davis said, “Oof. That’s a little bit too much to deal with right now.”
Gates then asked, “Would you ever in your wildest dreams think that you may have been descended from the people who laid the foundation of this country?”
She responded, “Never, never, never, never, never.”
Watch the video below:
The exchange led to several reactions on Twitter.
Author Wesley Yang wrote, “Most damaging ancestry revelation since they found that Ben Affleck was descended from slave owners. (They first colluded in trying to hide it but it got out.)”
Writer Michael Brendan Dougherty call it a “beautiful reaction.”
One user declared, “Irony is DELICIOUS.”
See more tweets below:
https://twitter.com/HolmesPI/status/1628605613881131010
The National Museum of African American History and Culture describes Davis as “an American political activist, professor, and author who was an active member in the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party.”
The museum points out Davis is “most famous for her involvement with the Soledad brothers, who were accused of killing a prison guard.”
It explains, “Davis was accused of taking part in the event and was charged with murder.”
She was later placed on the FBI’s most wanted list.
Davis then “spent eighteen months in jail, which led to the ‘Free Angela Davis’ campaign and the Angela Davis Legal Defense Committee. In response, John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote ‘Angela’ and the Rolling Stones wrote ‘Sweet Black Angel,'” per the museum.
Additionally, she has continued to address “oppression faced by the black community, women, and the LGBTQ+ community.”