I had thought the original statement was not hyperbolic, but limiting whites to "old-time" whites, e.g. mostly Anglo-Saxons, and not including the likes of Southern and Eastern Europeans (including most of the Jews) who arrived between the 1870s and 1920s and consequently could not have owned slaves, or even the likes of the Irish, who began arriving in numbers in the 1830s, but who lived mostly in northeastern cities and did not own slaves either.
In that limitation, it would indeed not be very hyperbolic, as I've noted of those who've traced their ancestry. Indeed, if they had ancestors who were northern states gentry in the 18th century, they too may well have owned slaves. For instance, one does not think of President Martin Van Buren, born near Albany, New York, in 1782, as a slave-owner, but he was one.
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Date: 2021-02-04 07:18 pm (UTC)In that limitation, it would indeed not be very hyperbolic, as I've noted of those who've traced their ancestry. Indeed, if they had ancestors who were northern states gentry in the 18th century, they too may well have owned slaves. For instance, one does not think of President Martin Van Buren, born near Albany, New York, in 1782, as a slave-owner, but he was one.