Ancestry.com Pulls Ad That Whitewashes Slavery With Interracial Romance

The commercial features a white man running alongside a Black woman named Abigail. The man tells Abigail that he knows of a place across the border where they can escape and be together while presenting her with a ring. As she ponders his proposal, he asks: “Will you leave with me?”

The video then cuts to a black screen featuring the text, “Without you, the story stops here.”

In a statement to HuffPost, Ancestry.com said it’s in the process of pulling the ad from television.

“Ancestry is committed to telling important stories from history. This ad was intended to represent one of those stories. We very much appreciate the feedback we have received and apologize for any offense that the ad may have caused.”

The ad was offensive to many. Critics pointed out that it exploits the plight of African Americans and makes light of the brutal history of slavery in the U.S.

A 2016 study on African American genomic diversity found genetic evidence to support the historical record that “white slave owners routinely fathered children with women held as slaves,” The New York Times reported.

Thomas Jefferson famously fathered six children with Sally Hemings, who is often referred to as his “mistress” even though he owned her.

People expressed their outrage over the ad on Twitter:

White man: you can’t sit here!

Rosa parks: why not?

White man: because you already have a place……in my heart.

*ancestry dot com logo with a soft fade out*

— Desus Nice (@desusnice) April 18, 2019

Hey, @Ancestry, neat commercial. Now do one about the time I used your site and found the names of the people my great-great-great-grandfather enslaved. https://t.co/zbHiReD050

— Jenny Trout (@Jenny_Trout) April 18, 2019

nobody:

ancestry dot com: how can we overly romanticize & create an irresponsible, ahistorical depiction of the relationship between white men & black women during the period of chattel slavery that completely disregards its power dynamics & the trauma of sexual exploitation? https://t.co/s5BqnoSg9x

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) April 18, 2019

https://twitter.com/MattBarnsley/status/1118957397744214017

https://twitter.com/ProfMMurray/status/1118982068300582912

https://twitter.com/nhannahjones/status/1118978357968850945

I cannot believe that they are airing this commercial. Most "White" DNA African Americans have was from rape, sexual coercion in the pre civil war years…most decidedly non consensual. What a horrible commercial. Somebody did not think this one through.

— Steve Adams (@Nursedudesteve) April 18, 2019

One of the most troubling things about this is that Ancestry (and/or their agency) probably think this ad is "celebrating diversity."

— Amy stands with Ukraine (@A_Silvers) April 18, 2019

it is so wild both that this depiction of such a "relationship" was ever approved for public consumption *and* that they treat the North as some sort of promisedland where they will be able to live happily ever after

there were clearly no history books at this marketing meeting

— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) April 18, 2019

One of about 1,000 awful things about this commercial is it ignores the fact that for black Americans – myself included – and for others in the diaspora, DNA and documentary ancestry information is as painful and traumatic as it is illuminating. These are not love stories. https://t.co/tuTpHwmnGk

— Kimberly Atkins Stohr (@KimberlyEAtkins) April 18, 2019

https://twitter.com/BreWeider/status/1118928486805020672

This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post.