My paternal English ancestors arrived in New England in 1638. My maternal Dutch ancestors arrived earlier than that but in the colony of New Netherlands. The 1619 Project was started in order to recognize and explain the history of Africans who arrived here in the 1600s. They arrived earlier than my white English. Sad to say, it was those like on my Dutch side who worked for the Dutch East Indies company and were part and parcel of bringing Africans to America. Sad story, but, indeed, I am happy that so many of the Dutch reformed themselves and became human beings, shedding ideas of enslavement of Africans.

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