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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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United States leaders – lawmakers, presidents, governors and justices – have slaveholding ancestors, a Reuters examination found. Few are willing to talk about their ties to America’s “original sin” and the below will highlight some key findings from the report.

But how is slavery tied to environment, social and governance (ESG) issues? The United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, E. Tendayi Achiume, said it best in a U.N. report.

“There can be no meaningful mitigation or resolution of the global ecological crisis without specific action to address systemic racism, in particular the historic and contemporary racial legacies of colonialism and slavery.”

In researching the genealogies of America’s political elite, a Reuters examination found that a fifth of the nation’s congressmen, living presidents, Supreme Court justices and governors are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people.

A combination illustration image shows U.S. lawmakers. At least 100 members of the last sitting Congress are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people. Reuters/Staff

Among 536 members of the last sitting Congress, Reuters determined at least 100 descended from slaveholders. Of that group, more than a quarter of the Senate – 28 members – can trace their families to at least one slaveholder.

Those lawmakers from the 117th session of Congress are Democrats and Republicans alike. They include some of the most influential politicians in America: Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton and James Lankford, and Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan.

In addition, President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president – except Donald Trump – are direct descendants of slaveholders: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and – through his white mother’s side – Barack Obama. Trump’s ancestors came to America after slavery was abolished.

In notifying political elites of their family ties to slaveholding, Reuters investigators identified which of their ancestors enslaved people, how many people that ancestor enslaved, and how many generations removed that ancestor is from them.

Reuters also sought comment from each public official to understand how learning about their family connection to slavery might affect them personally, and whether that knowledge might inform their views on policy matters.

“Before you reached out, I didn’t know this part of my genealogy. I’ve always been adamant that we fully reckon with our country’s history, from the extraordinary horrors of slavery to forced boarding schools for Native children to Jim Crow segregation,” said U.S Democratic Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich in a statement to Reuters.

“And I’ve been proud to fight for reforms in the Senate that address ongoing systemic racism and injustices. But knowing that my own ancestor enslaved 12 people makes this work even more personal. We have so much more work to do, and I will never walk away from doing it.”

Bills introduced in the House and Senate would create a commission to address “the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865” – and the racial and economic discrimination against Black Americans that followed.

Such a commission, the bills say, would consider a national apology and proposals for reparations.

Some of the leading voices on the matter, both for and against, have a personal connection to the issue: They have one or more ancestors who were slaveholders.

The issue is divisive. A Reuters/Ipsos survey found that slightly more than half of respondents identifying as Democrats – 58% – support reparations. Just 18% of Republicans do. The divide is even greater between Black and white America. The poll found that 74% of Black Americans favor reparations compared to just 26% of white Americans.

In conjunction with this Reuters series, Legacy Family Tree Webinars is making available at no charge a variety of online genealogy webinars from its extensive library to help novices and experts alike.

Members of Black Lives Matter and residents protest outside City Hall, after state AG takeover of police department in Paterson, New Jersey. March 28, 2023. Reuters/Eduardo Munoz

Carolynn Johnson, CEO of U.S.-based diversity, equity and inclusion ranking firm DiversityInc, shares her thoughts on the pushback against using ‘ESG’ and data transparency in DEI:

“It’s interesting to me that we will allow others to edit us on what to call it.

“Nobody is talking about ‘revenue’ and changing that. Nobody is talking about ‘profitability’ and then saying we have to call it something else. No one is talking about ‘sales’ and saying change that. But when it comes to treating people fairly and ESG, we’re allowing ourselves to be edited on telling the truth and I have a problem with that.

“This is why the gateway to any organization working with us or receiving recognition with us as a Top 50 company for diversity is through data transparency.

“Are companies being forthright about their data? This year, there were 151 major U.S. employers with 750 full-time equivalent employees or more (that’s one of the criteria to be eligible). 

“These rankings represent evidence-based, superior human capital outcomes that are achieved only by data transparency and an unwavering commitment to workplace fairness for everyone.

“I truly do believe that most of them do believe in this work. They do believe that everyone is equally valued and are deserving of equal opportunity, and they may get it wrong, but nobody is perfect.

“It’s about the desire to keep trying and to communicate that effort that I think deserves recognition to show that they’re all doing much better than any other organizations.”

India’s monsoon season rains were set to cover the whole country by the weekend, according to meteorological department officials, allowing farmers in northern states to begin planting summer-sown crops a week earlier than normal.

The monsoon, the lifeblood of India’s $3 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain needed to water its farms and recharge reservoirs and aquifers. It also brings relief from the worst of the summer.

To The Ocean being performed at The Greenhouse, a zero waste pop up theatre in Canary Wharf, London, Britain June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Anna Gordon

Today’s spotlight shines a light on a theater in London showcasing that sustainability can be easier and more fun than people might think. Elsewhere, Google’s parent company is delivering internet service to remote areas by using lasers.

Surrounded by the glass and steel towers of London’s financial district, a low-rise construction made of reused materials has sprung up to make the point that we have collective power to tackle climate change.

The Greenhouse Theatre, billed as Britain’s first zero waste theater, is staging plays in London over the summer months when long, light evenings reduce the need for electricity.

It has been built by a team led by artistic director Oli Savage, 26. He says his target audiences, aged around 16 to 35, tend to be very worried about the environment, but pessimistic they can do anything about it.

A terminal device to deliver internet with mirrors and lasers created by Taara, a project in Alphabet, California, U.S. June 22, 2023. REUTERS/Nathan Frandino

Google parent Alphabet has already tried and failed to bring internet access to rural and remote areas by using high-altitude balloons in the stratosphere. But now, the company is delivering internet service to remote areas by using beams of light.

Taara executives and Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecommunications and internet providers, told Reuters they are now moving toward larger-scale deployment of the new laser internet technology in India. Financial details were not disclosed.

Taara is helping to link up internet services in 13 countries so far including Australia, Kenya and Fiji, said Krishnaswamy, adding that it has struck deals with Econet Group and its subsidiary Liquid Telecom in Africa, internet provider Bluetown in India and Digicel in the Pacific Islands.

“As the world transitions to clean and renewable energy, oil and gas companies have shifted their attention towards petrochemicals. This deliberate shift carries significant consequences for predominantly low-income, Black and Brown communities that live in densely industrialized areas and already bear the brunt of petrochemical pollution.”

Heather McTeer Toney, executive director for the Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign

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