Searching for Lost Children

I received an email from a cousin I’ve never met — one didn’t know existed ’til I heard from her. After brief intros, she wanted to know one thing. She asked, “do you know what plantation your ancestor was sold to?”

That’s been a recurring theme since I began my journey to discover my family tree. Working with Ancestry.com has made it easier but the software can’t work miracles. Whenever I dive into my ancestry, I’m reminded how thoroughly my life was impacted by that “peculiar institution”–slavery.

Only a few generations ago, my family and hers were forcibly ripped apart. Children separated from parents, sold off–no mention of where they were going or with whom they’d live. The only thing the family knew for sure was that they were gone.

After the Civil War, many searched. Some searched for the rest of their lives. Most never found each other.

In his autobiography, former slave Frederic Douglass writes that the single greatest fear harbored by every slave was being separated from their children or having their children taken from them, destined for the auction block.

Today, more than 150 years after slavery was abolished, many of the great-great grandchildren of those children are still searching. But this generation has access to technologies few could have imagined even a generation ago.

I’m a member of that generation. DNA testing and Ancestry.com have provided a path to discovery, enabling me to connect to blood relatives whose identities I didn’t know. Of course, the connections are only made possible after others also sign up with Ancestry.com and submit a DNA test (privacy issues and the profiteering of victims of the slave trade is fodder for another article — not for today).

The impact of slavery and other forms of oppression and exploitation certainly lasts a lifetime, but we don’t know the toll it takes on multiple generations, as is evidenced in my story.

What the Trump administration has done to the children and families seeking refuge in “the land of the free” should have criminal consequences. But as was the case with my family, what Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions and others have done is legal. Sure, some will say (and rightfully so) that Trump’s policy violates the international human rights law that protects immigrants, refugees and especially children. But, that won’t change a thing.

Thousands of children have already been separated from their families. Who knows how many will be reunited. It’s not inconceivable that some parents and children will never see each other again.

These draconian policies are not enacted in a vacuum. They reflect the sentiments of our society–they demonstrate just how much we’ll allow. And they establish the beginnings of societal norms. That was true 150 years ago when it was perfectly legal for my great-great grandmother to be sold as easily and as legally as you’d sell your used piano today.

But Donald Trump’s base is no less committed to vote for him in 2020 than they were in 2016 and our election system is as broken.

We’ll keep you posted as we finalize the program. We hope to see you there,

Sharon Kyle
Publisher, LA Progressive

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