{"id":19038,"date":"2022-07-16T15:17:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-16T15:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america"},"modified":"2022-07-16T16:07:30","modified_gmt":"2022-07-16T16:07:30","slug":"my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america","title":{"rendered":"My family history shows I\u2019ve been lied to about slavery in America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>In March 2008, I was 13 when my dad and I watched the TV miniseries \u201cRoots<\/a>,\u201d which follows the fictional story of a man born in 18th century Gambia who is sold as a slave in America, and the many generations who come after him.<\/p>\n

It inspired me to ask questions about my own family\u2019s past. Suddenly I started searching online, interviewing older relatives, and exploring libraries and archives. Surprisingly, more than half<\/a> of Americans can\u2019t name all four of their own grandparents, and over 20%<\/a> of black Americans have never looked into their family tree. But, as a result of my research, not only can I name all of mine, I can trace my family tree straight back to the 1790s.<\/p>\n

I also discovered something crucial that contrasts sharply with what many African Americans are taught about our history. As students, black people are repeatedly told that we all descend from slavery, and that we all were (and only were) slaves. Most people assume that every black American who lived in the US before 1870 was a slave.In 1860, three years before the Emancipation Proclamation, The United States Federal Census Schedule <\/a>reported 488,070 free black Americans. True, many might say quasi-free, since these African Americans could not vote. But free they still were \u2014 almost half a million of them \u2014 roughly 12.5% of the entire African-American population at that time.<\/p>\n

Huldah Peck, my great-great-great-great-grandmother \u2014 on my father\u2019s side \u2014 was born free in Greenwich, Conn., in 1836. Her parents, George Peck, a stonemason and Nancy Felmetta, were also free; as were Nancy\u2019s parents, York and Tamar, the latter born in 1773, three years before the US Revolution. It\u2019s striking to think that my father\u2019s ancestors were free for nearly a century before the Civil War.<\/p>\n

While most of my mother\u2019s family were enslaved on South Carolina plantations at this time, learning about this other side \u2014 this free side \u2014 made me realize that slavery does not fully define my past.Huldah\u2019s children also illustrate the importance of self-reliance and entrepreneurship in my family. Her son Edward B. Merritt, born in 1871, worked in real estate at a time when the majority of blacks in much of the nation labored as farmers or domestics. <\/a>His son, John Sherman Merritt, was a homeowner in Greenwich, Conn., who worked four jobs to support his young family. John\u2019s daughter, Adele Matilda Merritt, enjoyed a privileged Greenwich childhood complete with charm school, a penchant for photography, and later- international travel. And Adele\u2019s daughter \u2014 my grandmother, Joyce Marie Watkins \u2014 was a small business owner who settled in Yonkers, NY.<\/p>\n

Black children grow up believing that their only history is a history of slavery. Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times\u2019s 1619 Project, argued that America\u2019s entire history is founded on slavery.<\/a> The truth is more complicated, interesting, and nuanced than that.<\/p>\n

Researching my family\u2019s past has given me a sense of belonging to this nation. I am part of the large story of striving and success that has built the American dream. All this has empowered me to walk with my head held high, and I hope it inspires others to look beyond the stock narratives of the present and find their own lessons from the past.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. In March 2008, I was 13 when my dad and I watched the TV miniseries \u201cRoots,\u201d which follows the fictional story of a man born in 18th century Gambia who is sold as a slave in America, and the many generations who come after him. It inspired me to ask questions about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":19037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,7,8],"tags":[2355,2361,2723,485,260],"class_list":["post-19038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-america","tag-family","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nMy family history shows I\u2019ve been lied to about slavery in America - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In March 2008, I was 13 when my dad and I watched the TV miniseries \u201c<a href="https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/show\/SCPKi87TCpC2j ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My family history shows I\u2019ve been lied to about slavery in America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In March 2008, I was 13 when my dad and I watched the TV miniseries \u201c<a href="https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/show\/SCPKi87TCpC2j ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-16T15:17:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-16T16:07:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_13-62d2e22578c30.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1458\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"972\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"My family history shows I\u2019ve been lied to about slavery in America\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-16T15:17:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-16T16:07:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america\"},\"wordCount\":567,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_13-62d2e22578c30.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"America\",\"Family\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/my-family-history-shows-ive-been-lied-to-about-slavery-in-america\",\"name\":\"My family history shows I\u2019ve been lied to about slavery in America - 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