African-American businessman William Holland’s ancestors were subjected to slavery in Virginia — but they were handed over into slavery by Africans. Now a descendant of those tribespeople has issued a formal apology to Holland for his ancestors’ role in the 18th-century slave trade.
Over the course of several years, Holland has employed DNA tests to narrow down the area where his African ancestors lived. For Holland and millions of others whose forebears came to America unwillingly as slaves, such genetic testing provides the only way to trace ancestry back more than a few generations.
After some fits and starts, Holland’s genetic findings pointed to a connection with Cameroon’s Oku clan — and that opened the way to deeper historical revelations.
Read the full, original story here: Slave descendant’s genetic quest leads to African apology