Our stories are our stories: Your column this week ["Concealing Your Roots," Katy St. Clair, Kill Your Television, 7/2/15] was fascinating. So, Ben Affleck got PBS to cover up the fact that his ancestor owned slaves, and you have disclosed to the world in your column that an ancestor of yours owned slaves in Virginia. Yes, it is hard to own a fact like that about one's ancestor.
Some 10 to 15 years ago I learned that my German ancestor, Dominie Johannes Theodorus Polhemius (born John T. Polheym in Bavaria in 1598), purchased "1 Negro" for "440 florins" in New Amsterdam (later, New York) in 1664. My mother always said people have fun with genealogy until they find a horse thief in their family. But what I found was worse than a horse thief. And I told my mother about it because Polhemius was on my mom's side.
After that, I discussed this with two distant relatives who have African-American ancestry. And then I sent an email to Henry Louis Gates and asked if he and his organization could help me try to find out whether that African slave could be identified and whether he might have descendants. My goal is to find any such descendants and talk to them about this.
Last week, my partner's niece, who is African American, stayed with us. I told her the story about my Polhemius ancestor. It is an embarrassing story and it's embarrassing to tell it to anyone, white or black or anything else. But it is my story. I was born white and I was born a decendant of Polhemius. I cannot escape that fate, although if I could, I would.
I once heard Tommy Chong say (and I'm paraphrasing here) that he always wanted to be black. But he couldn't be. So he did the next best thing: He married a black woman. That story still makes me laugh. What I want is to not be a descendant of someone who owned a slave. But I can't do that either. So I do the next best thing: I tell people the truth about my genealogy. And I'm glad you do too. Best wishes, Jim Musselman
Music writers get old?: "Having made a living as a journalist for more than 50 years now ..." Yeah, sure — if you count past lives ["Influential Music Critic Robert Christgau Forced to Move Column or Write for Free," Matt Saincome, All Shook Down, 7/2/15]. WillfromSF
In fact, yes, they do: WillfromSF seems surprised that there are people around who have been writing about rock and pop for 50 years. I started late — in 1970 — and am still going strong. I was 26 in 1970 and have been at it for 45 years. Christgau has definitely been writing for longer than me. Bruce Elder
And that's the way it is: For most people, the reviewer/journalist gig would not provide a living income; that's just the way things are, and now more than ever in a culture that increasingly devalues thoughtful writing/content. The rabble rules. Re: Christgau specifically, I've always thought he was overrated. I can never forgive him for his smug, snotty dismissal of the '80s group Heatwave — a superior "disco" group with a brilliant lead singer, Johnny Wilder. Greil Marcus, Lester Bangs, and Paul Williams are better options than "self-styled Dean of American Rock Critics" (ugh) Christgau. When you have to define yourself in this way, chances are it's not true. Gary Mark Morris
Campaign slogan 2020 : DiFi, the best Republican San Francisco ever sent to Congress ["SF's Dianne Feinstein: 'Worst Senator on Marijuana Reform,'" Chris Roberts, Chem Tales, 7/2/15]. stitch
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