White, black, or any other color – none of us can help who we have as ancestors. But if you are white in 2019, it’s time to come forward and confess all the sins that you did not commit, but those long-dead ancestors did.

Behold the unbearable shame and white guilt of one Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke. Having seen the effectiveness of the “you’re kind of a racist” attack on Joe Biden, Beto decided to throw himself on the mercy of the American public and admit to something terrible and totally beyond his control. Prepare yourselves. Beto O’Rourke is descended from… slave owners. And so is his wife Amy.

A paternal great-great-great grandfather of mine, Andrew Cowan Jasper, owned these two women in the 1850s. There are also records showing that a maternal great-great-great grandfather, Frederick Williams, most likely owned slaves in the 1860s (“most likely,” because we are not certain that the Frederick Williams who is my ancestor and the Frederick Williams who owned slaves are the same person, but there’s enough circumstantial data to lead me to conclude that it’s likely).”

Records also showed that Amy had an ancestor who owned slaves and another who was a member of the Confederate Army.”

Something that we’ve been thinking about and talking about in town hall meetings and out on the campaign — the legacy of slavery in the United States — now has a much more personal connection.”

Ownership of other human beings conferred advantages not just to Andrew Jasper and Frederick Williams, but to Jasper’s and Williams’ descendants as well. They were able to build wealth on the backs and off the sweat of others, wealth that they would then be able to pass down to their children and their children’s children. In some way, and in some form, that advantage would pass through to me and my children.”

In the midst of this confession, Beto would like everyone to know that he totally understands how he has benefited from being white and his family’s slave ownership over 150 years ago… which is why he wants to use taxpayer money – not his own fortune! – to make up for it, should he become president.

I benefit from a system that my ancestors built to favor themselves at the expense of others. That only increases the urgency I feel to help change this country so that it works for those who have been locked-out of — or locked-up in — this system.”

As a person, as a candidate for the office of the Presidency, I will do everything I can to deliver on this responsibility.”

In addition to making significant changes to education policy (immediately address $23 billion in underfunding for minority-majority public schools), economic policy (ensuring equal pay, deploying capital to minority- and women-owned businesses, $25 billion in government procurement to these same businesses), healthcare (universal healthcare and home health visits to women of color to reverse trend in maternal and infant mortality) and criminal justice (police accountability, ending the drug war, and expunging arrest records for nonviolent drug crimes), I will continue to support reparations, beginning with an important national conversation on slavery and racial injustice.”

Remember, Beto’s family and his wife’s family are wealthy, but they aren’t using their money to expunge their guilt. He wants to use YOUR money. He could support whatever charities or programs he felt could best improve the lives and educational opportunities of black people today – but no. Beto will not put his money where his mouth is. He just wants to tell you how bad YOU should feel, because HE feels the burden of guilt over people who are long, long dead who happen to be related to him.

He's going to tear a pandering ligament here soon. https://t.co/qz7sxfby2c

— SFK (@stephenkruiser) July 15, 2019

Also joining Beto in a lament of white guilt is the perpetually annoying Kirsten Gillibrand.

Gillibrand said that ‘as a white woman’ she has ‘certainly experienced enormous amounts of white privilege’ as she spoke at presidential forum.”

She spoke repeatedly of a black staffer who’s her traveling companion on the campaign trail. She the aide is treated differently than she is at hotels and restaurants.”

‘There is a deference that is given to whiteness in society today. And, you see it all the time,’ she told DailyMail.com after her remarks.”

She said, ‘I travel with a woman who’s black, I watch how she’s treated when we walk into a hotel room, into a hotel to check in. I watch how she’s treated in a restaurant. I watch how whether the person who’s taking her order listens to her order and gets it right.”

‘I’ve sat with black Americans, and they’re literally not listened to,’ she continued.”

Gillibrand provided additional examples of how those around her have been discriminated against in a variety of circumstances and told DailyMail.com that she had ‘absolutely’ benefited from her whiteness in her career in a number of ways that she believes it’s her responsibility as a senator and presidential candidate to rectify.”

‘Absolutely. I don’t think you can overstate the reality of institutional racism in society today. I really don’t think you can overstate it. It is so prevalent. It is in healthcare, it is in education, it’s in the economy, it’s in the criminal justice system,’ she said after a speech to attendees of the Netroots Nation organizing conference in Philadelphia.”

Excuse me, Senator Gillibrand? If you are a witness to someone being treated badly solely due to the color of their skin, I expect that any decent human being would loudly protest against that treatment, not just “watch” when it happens. If this continually happens in front of you, Senator, what are YOU doing to correct that kind of bigotry in the moment? Or do you just stand there and take notes so you can make speeches later?

Honestly, Mitch McConnell still has the best answer on reparations.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit to having benefited on a secondhand basis from reparations. My grandparents received their reparation payments from the government for being interned during World War II in 1990.

Letter sent to former Japanese-American internees by President George H.W. Bush (photo by Deanna Fisher)
But this is how it worked – only former internees were given reparation payments. All four of my Japanese great-grandparents had passed away by the time payments were authorized, and all of them had been incarcerated. Their descendants – immediate or extended – did not get any money. Zero. Those who were given reparations had to prove that they had been interned by getting the records from the National Archives, then submitting that paperwork plus proof of identity. How on earth would any kind of reparations program for the descendants of slaves work, when the descendants that could have been easily tracked from the Japanese-American internment received no payout?

Candidates like Beto and Gillibrand are pandering in the extreme, making apologies for the sins of their ancestors or for perceived societal bigotry while making zero effort to do anything about it personally. Shouldn’t their “white guilt” make them drop out in favor of Kamala Harris or Cory Booker? I guess they just don’t feel THAT guilty.

Featured image: Beto O’Rourke by crockodile and licensed under the terms of CC BY 2.0.