'The View' co-host Sunny Hostin discovers her ancestors were possible slave owners on 'Finding Your Roots'
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: 'The View' co-host Sunny Hostin made a shocking discovery about her ancestry as she appeared on the show 'Finding Your Roots' with Henry Louis Gates Jr on PBS.
The 55-year-old lawyer and television star was revealed to be only 7 percent indigenous Puerto Rican, and her ancestors may have been slave owners with a Spanish connect, reported People.
What did Henry Louis Gates Jr share about Sunny Hostin's ancestry?
"Our researchers discovered that her third great-grandfather, Fermín, was the son of a merchant who was likely involved in the slave trade, and Fermín himself owned at least one human being," stated Gates Jr.
"What's more, moving back on this line, we found that it originates in Galicia, Spain — evidence of Sunny's deeper ancestry and her family ties to Spain's colonial past."
The information was very unexpected for Hostin, who exclaimed, "I'm a little bit in shock. I just always thought of myself as Puerto Rican, you know, half Puerto Rican. I didn't think my family was originally from Spain and slaveholders."
Also Read: Outrage as Sunny Hostin compares January 6 riot to Holocaust and slavery: 'She needs to be fired'
However, she was thankful to make the discovery and said that she would be sharing the information with her children.
The family tree did have ample contrast, as Hostin learned in another segment of the episode that her third-great grandfather from her dad's side was born into slavery in 1835.
This week’s #FindingYourRoots guest, #SunnyHostin shares how her politically-active parents inspired her to want to make an impact on the world from a young age.
— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) February 6, 2024
Tune in tonight for the all-new episode of #FindingYourRoots featuring Sunny Hostin at 8/7c only on @pbs! pic.twitter.com/pEynl51p18
Sunny Hostin shares Spanish-connect with husband
On the topic of her 'tangible connection to Spain', Hostin mentioned that her husband, Emmanuel 'Manny' Hostin happened to be part Spanish and part Haitian.
“I think it’s actually pretty interesting that my husband and I have shared roots, so I do appreciate that, and I think it’s great for our children to know this information. I guess it’s a fact of life that this is how some people made their living, on the backs of others," she said.
Hostin was always interested in learning and talking about her past. In 2020, she authored a memoir titled, 'I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds'.
She also opened up to People about her Afro-Latino roots, stating in an interview in 2002, "I admire that there are folks, especially in media, as well as film, that are representing their Blackness and embracing it. That's something that has just happened (in) my view in the past few years. And what's nice is I'm tired of being alone in that."
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