Sunny Hostin ‘Disappointed’ About Slaveholding Ancestry

Left-wing “The View” host Sunny Hostin expressed her “deep disappointment” upon learning that her Spanish ancestors were slaveholders. This came during a segment of the PBS series “Finding Your Roots.”

Not only did she learn of her maternal ancestors’ link to slavery, Hostin discovered she is only 7% indigenous Puerto Rican.

The 55-year-old liberal mouthpiece has a Puerto Rican mother and a Black father. She said she had an intense conversation with her mother after the revelation.

During Thursday’s episode of “The View,” Hostin said her mother “really identified as Puerto Rican. She was part of the civil rights movement, and she was deeply ingrained in Black culture.”

The host declared that “I hate this for her.”

Hostin described herself as “a little bit in shock. I just always thought of myself as half Puerto Rican I didn’t think my family was originally from Spain and slaveholders.”

Research revealed the host’s third great-grandfather, Fermin, was the son of a Spanish merchant who is believed to have been involved in the slave trade.

He also is thought to have owned at least one human being.

Hostin noted that her husband Manny’s family also has Spanish ancestry. “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.”

She said that it was a “fact of life” that some people of that time period made their livings “on the backs of others.”

Hostin expressed surprise at the extent of her Spanish ancestry revealed through her DNA. “I had no idea the Spanish roots to this extent. I’m still sorta shocked at the depth of the ties.”

The host told the audience that she held “the colonization of other people” against Spain. “I’m surprised that they were enslavers actually. That’s disappointing.”

Later in the program, Hostin was presented with her third great-grandfather’s Georgia voter registration card. It was dated 1867. She tearfully said the discovery was “cool” that her ancestor was registered to vote in the Deep South in 1867.