This morning on the news, I heard how Ben Affleck tried to get a PBS show to hide the fact that he had slave-owner in his ancestry. Whatever Affleck is thinking, one of the talking heads said that he could see how Affleck would be ashamed of that. Ashamed, why? Ayn Rand said that racism provides a pseudo-self-esteem for men who haven’t earned an authentic one. The point is that we shouldn’t be taking pride from something that we had no control over, that we didn’t earn. But it works both ways. I find my ancestry interesting, but I don’t take any pride or guilt from ANYTHING that my ancestors have done. The only thing that gives me pride or shame is my own actions.
Daniel Turner
DOC #767569
But why? He’s not responsible for what his ancestors did. He could use that fact to his advantage and prove his ideals are different. Trying to hide it doesn’t make him look anything other than manipulative.