It's well known that Sunny Hostin, co-host of ABC’s The View was a staunchly racist and anti-Semitic person who has repeatedly demanded reparations from the United States and the United Kingdom. But on Thursday, Hostin received the results of a recent genealogy and family history investigation which found that both sides of her family tree OWNED SLAVES. And despite being slapped with the worst label race baiters like her could throw around, she was as adamant as ever that she “deserve[d]” reparations.
Hostin discovered this rotten chuck of trunk in her family tree because she had appeared on a recent episode of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Before admitting the dark truth, she said she “was reluctant to do it because I just sensed that there could be something in my family history that would be disappointing” or “negative.”
She explained that the story passed down within her family was that they “were printers and journalists;” when in reality the “family business” was “enslavers.” Her family was so dedicated to keeping their slaves, that they fled from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean from country to country as more and more abolished slavery:
But what I found out was that my mother's family while they are Puerto Rican, they actually originate from Spain, and the reason that they moved to Puerto Rico is because the slave trade had been sort of canceled in Spain and then Curaçao and then they moved all their slaves to Puerto Rico. So, the family business, I have been told, that they were printers and journalists but they were, in fact, enslavers.
Possibly realizing what this could mean for the woman who made racial identity politics so crucial to her public persona and analysis, the audience was so quiet, that you could hear a pin drop. “A hush fell over the audience,” co-host Joy Behar quipped.Continuing with the topic, Hostin disclosed that the revelation was “deeply disappointing” to her mother (pictured below), who “identified herself as black race, but Hispanic for ethnicity” and “was deeply ingrained in black culture.”
“But her race is white. She's European. I know,” she lamented. “It's weird because when you look at her, my mother is blond and she has light eyes and my whole family looks like that.” She said her mother cried when she learned the truth and bizarrely suggested that perhaps the reason she “been so connected to black culture” was “because it's an atonement in my spirit.”
Hostin did find a silver lining: even though, “there were slaves on both sides of our family; mother’s and father’s. But we are seven present indigenous Puerto Rican!”
Amid their conversation, co-host Sara Haines, who often plays the role of speedbump to Hostin’s racial politics, pressed Hostin on how this discovery could change her outlook: “Sunny, how does this change you, though? You mentioned your mom was upset and this was shocking and maybe deep down, you kind of resisted it. How has this changed you knowing what you're hearing?”
Hostin reiterated that being the progeny of slave owners was “disappointing” and “a bummer,” but then lashed out at those who wanted to deny her access to reparation money.
“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 I don't deserve reparations!” she angrily shouted. “That's a lot, so I still believe in reparations. I still believe this country has a lot to do in terms of racial justice.”
Faux conservative Alyssa Farah Griffin was so spineless that she came to Hostin’s defense, saying “She can't control” who her ancestors were. “You're not responsible for what they did,” Behar agreed.
But Hostin’s personal politics and position on reparations didn’t care about such things. She once claimed that all white people “continue to reap the benefits” of slavery regardless of whether they actually owned slaves or not. Surely, as a person whose family directly benefited from slavery, Hostin was continuing to reap those benefits too.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
February 8, 2024
11:02:19 a.m. EasternWHOOPI GOLDBERG: So, we're starting a little differently this morning. Sunny, you were just on an episode of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.
[Applause]
SUNNY HOSTIN: I was. And he gave me some surprising revelations about my family history. You know, I was really reluctant. I don't know how you felt when you did it, Whoopi. But I was reluctant to do it because I just sensed that there could be something in my family history that would be disappointing.
BEHAR: Negative.
HOSTIN: Negative, yes. I thought I was going to have that kind of moment. And Skip had asked me to do it for a long time, and I finally decided to do it because I thought it would be helpful for my children and my children's children to know what their real history was. You know?
But what I found out was that my mother's family while they are Puerto Rican, they actually originate from Spain, and the reason that they moved to Puerto Rico is because the slave trade had been sort of canceled in Spain and then Curaçao and then they moved all their slaves to Puerto Rico. So, the family business, I have been told, that they were printers and journalists but they were, in fact, enslavers. [Nervous laughter] And my mother --
JOY BEHAR: A hush fell over the audience.
HOSTIN: -- was deeply disappointing and it's 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, and identified herself as black race, but Hispanic for ethnicity.
GOLDBERG: Okay.
HOSTIN: But her race is white. She's European. I know. It's weird because when you look at her, my mother is blond and she has light eyes and my whole family looks like that. So, I think inside I sort of knew 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. And then she said maybe that's why I have been so connected to black culture because it's an atonement in my spirit. And I received that. I also found out – and there were slaves on both sides of our family; mother’s and father’s. But we are seven present indigenous Puerto Rican!
(…)
11:07:29 a.m. Eastern
SARA HAINES: Sunny, how does this change you, though? You mentioned your mom was upset and this was shocking and maybe deep down, you kind of resisted it. How has this changed you knowing what you're hearing?
HOSTIN: I think at first I was deeply disappointed.
BEHAR: The slave thing is a bummer.
HOSTIN: It's a bummer.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: She can't control it.
BEHAR: I know but still --
HOSTIN: 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 I don't deserve reparations! I still believe that --
BEHAR: Someone did that to you.
GOLDBERG: I don't know who sent her a thing telling her she's a white girl—
HOSTIN: It’s too much, people!
GOLDBERG: --but clean off your television screen!
HOSTIN: That's a lot, so I still believe in 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. Right? I'm enriched and I'm enriched by knowing that my family has come so far from being enslavers to my mother marrying my father in 1968.
BEHAR: That's right.
HOSTIN: I feel enriched.
[Applause]
BEHAR: You're not responsible for what they did.
(…)
