The View’s Sunny Hostin learns she descends from Spanish slaveholders on Finding Your Roots
Sunny Hostin, the co-host of the ABC talk show The View and a vocal advocate for reparations for slavery, was stunned to discover that she had ancestral ties to the Spanish slave trade on the PBS documentary series Finding Your Roots.
Sunny Hostin, who identifies as Puerto Rican and Black, learned that her mother’s family were originally from Spain and owned at least one enslaved person in colonial times. She also found out that she had a large amount of Spanish ancestry in her DNA, as well as some indigenous Puerto Rican heritage.
Hostin expressed shock and disappointment at the revelation, saying: “I just always thought of myself as Puerto Rican… I didn’t think my family was originally from Spain and slaveholders.” She also reflected on the reality of some people profiting “on the backs of others” through slavery.
Hostin’s discovery sparked backlash and accusations of hypocrisy from some netizens, who questioned her stance on reparations in light of her ancestral revelation. Some suggested that she was undeserving of reparations due to her European ancestry, while others pointed out the irony of her being married to a man who also has Spanish roots.
