Sunny Hostin was ‘deeply disappointed’ to learn her ancestors were slave owners from Spain in the latest episode of the PBS genealogy series Finding Your Roots
The View host, 55, said on Thursday that ‘it was deeply disappointing’ to learn that her maternal ancestors had likely owned slaves.
Hostin’s third great-grandfather was the son of a Spanish merchant and owned at least one human being. She also discovered that she was only seven percent indigenous Puerto Rican, among many other surprising revelations about her family history.
The journalist, whose mother is Puerto Rican and father is Black, acknowledged that she had a difficult conversation with her mother after the show.
‘It was deeply disappointing, because my mother really identified as Puerto Rican. She was part of the civil rights movement, and she was deeply ingrained in Black culture,’ Hostin told her co-hosts during Thursday’s episode of The View.
Sunny Hostin, 55, was ‘deeply disappointed’ to learn her ancestors were slave owners from Spain in the latest episode of the PBS genealogy series Finding Your Roots
The journalist, whose mother is Puerto Rican and father is Black, acknowledged that she had a difficult conversation with her mother after the show
Hostin also discovered that she was only seven percent indigenous Puerto Rican, among many other surprising revelations about her family history. Pictured: Hostin and her father
Pictured: Sunny Hostin’s parents Rosa Beza and William Cummings
Henry Louis Gates Jr. unraveled the complicated history of Hostin’s family, revealing some secrets that left the anchor in shock as she joined PBS’ Finding Your Roots.
‘Wow, I’m a little bit in shock. I just always thought of myself as half Puerto Rican. I didn’t think my family was originally from Spain and slaveholders,’ she said.
Hostin’s third great-grandfather, Fermín, was the son of a merchant who was likely involved in the slave trade, and Fermín himself owned at least one human being.
Gates Jr said during the show: ‘What’s more, moving back on this line, we found that it originates in Galicia, Spain — evidence of Sunny’s deeper ancestry and her family ties to Spain’s colonial past.’
In the surprising revelation, Hostin also learned that she shares similar roots with her husband, Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Hostin, who is half Spanish and half Haitian.
‘I think it’s actually pretty interesting that my husband and I have shared roots, so I do appreciate that, and I think it’s great for our children to know this information,’ she said.
‘I guess it’s a fact of life that this is how some people made their living, on the backs of others,’ the host added.
‘I had no idea the Spanish roots to this extent. I’m still sort of shocked at the depth of the ties.’
The 55-year-old further detailed her journey and conversations with her mother, Rosa Beza, on The View aired on Thursday.
Beza identified herself as Black race but Hispanic for ethnicity. ‘But her race is white – she’s European,’ Hostin explained on the show.
‘I know, it’s weird, because when you look at her, my mother’s blonde and she has light eyes, and my whole family looks like that. I think inside, I sort of knew that this was my history and that’s probably why I didn’t want to do it.’
‘And I spoke to my mom about it, she was deeply disappointed — she actually cried about it,’ Hostin said.
‘And then she said, ‘Maybe that’s why I have been so connected to Black culture, because it’s an atonement in my spirit.”’
After appearing on ‘Finding Your Roots,’ Hostin received emails and texts attacking her for having Spanish roots ancestors who owned slaves
In the surprising revelation, Hostin also learned that she shares similar roots with her husband, Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Hostin, who is half Spanish and half Haitian
After appearing on ‘Finding Your Roots,’ Hostin received emails and texts attacking her for having Spanish roots ancestors who owned slaves.
Hostin told her View cohosts: ‘I still believe in reparations by the way, so y’all can stop texting me and emailing me and saying that I’m a white girl and that I don’t deserve reparations.’
‘I still believe this country has a lot to do in terms of racial justice. But what I will say, Sara, to your question is that I feel that I’m enriched by knowing that history,’ Hostin said.
‘And I’m enriched by knowing that my family has come so far from being enslavers to my mother marrying my father in 1968. I feel enriched by it.’