Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke wrote Sunday night on Medium that he's just discovered that he and wife Amy Sanders are descended from slave owners, as he vowed to have a national conversation on racial injustice.
Details: O'Rourke said it's increased his urgency to address disparities if he's elected in 2020. "I benefit from a system that my ancestors built to favor themselves at the expense of others," he said. Unlike Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who's descended from slave owners but opposes reparations for U.S. slave descendants, O'Rourke backs the plan.
Something that we've been talking about in town hall meetings -- the legacy of slavery in the United States -- now has a much more personal connection. I was recently given documents showing that both Amy and I are descended from people who owned slaves. https://t.co/rGKKLqcoKf
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) July 15, 2019
