After Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were labeled “disaster tourists” for visiting the smoldering ruins of homes destroyed within the Eaton fire, the couple is reflecting on the private, skilled and reputational challenges they’ve faced over the past five years , facing a brand new trial They left royal life and moved to California.

Unfortunately for the Montecito-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex, American Hustle a brand new cover story in Vanity Fair, appears to substantiate previous reports that Meghan was a “terrible,” “difficult,” and even “bullying” boss toward her employees. For the 8,000-word article, the magazine spoke to dozens of individuals, a few of whom could only be interviewed anonymously because they were required to sign nondisclosure agreements.

While Harry could be “charming” when he gives the look that he has “no inner life” apart from Polo, Vanity Fair reported that Meghan seems to strive to be “a good person” and to be committed to “the to improve the world (if at all). brand-building activities.” And yet the former television actor has become a polarizing figure in America. She also tends to engage in what author Anna Peele calls retaliatory behavior toward “people who find themselves so beneath her status.”

Someone who had difficulty working on Meghan and Harry's troubled Netflix and Spotify media projects told Vanity Fair that their relationships with their co-workers tended to follow a familiar pattern. She would “initially be warm and effusive, creating an atmosphere of professional camaraderie.”

When something didn't work out, often because of Meghan and Harry's own demands — such as having a teaser for their Spotify podcast released months before episodes were recorded — “she became cold and reserved towards the person she was rooting for.” held accountable,” the source told Vanity Fair.

The source said it was “really, really, really terrible. Very painful. Because she's constantly playing checkers – I'm not even saying chess – but she's just very aware of where everyone is on her board. And if you’re not there, you’ll be thrown to the wolves at any time.”

Meghan's interactions with subordinates could be “undermining,” the source also told Vanity Fair. “It eats away at your self-esteem. Sort of like a 'Mean Girls' teenager, actually.”

Before working with Meghan, the person found it difficult to believe the stories of Meghan bullying palace aides or yelling at them after she married Harry in 2018. The first reports came from Times UK in 2021, a year after Meghan and Harry left Britain. She denounces the cruel and racist treatment by the tabloid media and the royal family. But after working with Meghan, this person discovered that such behavior occurred “on any given Tuesday.”

Vanity Fair reported that one person took a leave of absence after working with Meghan on three episodes of her Spotify podcast “Archetypes,” while “several others” said they took prolonged breaks, quit their jobs, or former television actor underwent long-term therapy.

“I think if Meghan acknowledged her own shortcomings or personal contributions to situations rather than remaining trapped in a victim narrative, perhaps her perception would be better,” one person told Vanity Fair, before the person half-jokingly said, “But who Am I opposite? Criticize Meghan Markle? She’s doing great.”

The Vanity Fair report comes at an important time in Harry and Meghan's efforts to succeed as media moguls, entrepreneurs and global do-gooders.

Meghan's plan to ascertain herself as a way of life guru together with her recent Netflix series “With Love, Meghan” last week was placed on hold following the outbreak of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires on January 8. Meghan announced the postponement to March 4th “as we focus on the needs of those affected by the wildfires in my home state of California.”

Her critics said she and Netflix clearly had no alternative but to postpone a show during which the duchess celebrates her lavish Southern California lifestyle together with her celebrity friends after so many others lost every part in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan initially made big headlines for stopping by Pasadena last Friday to serve meals, leave donations and hug survivors of the Eaton fire. But they soon faced harsh criticism online from actress Justine Bateman and others outraged at being photographed, and got a private tour of burned-out neighborhoods by the mayor of Pasadena.

Bateman called them “disaster tourists” and “Ambulance Chaser.” TMZ founder Harvey Levin and his producers also criticized the couple to see earlier this week. “I think it's crazy that people exist. Most people can’t access these areas, especially in Altadena, and don’t even know if their homes are still there,” Levin said. “Meghan and Harry showing up from Montecito and getting a tour? For what purpose?”

Executive producer Charles Latibeaudiere agreed that it was an “abuse of resources,” while senior news producer Charlie Neff said their visit “doesn't go down well with people in the community…” It feels fake and unnecessary to go there.”

It stays to be seen whether the criticism of the “disaster tourist” will proceed. But the Vanity Fair story raises questions on their marriage, as Harry is portrayed as a naive, lonely one who has made no friends and is eager to reconnect along with his family. A source suggested he wasn't necessarily aware of the damage his tell-all memoir “Spare” would have on his relationships along with his family. He can be described as having such a wierd, privileged upbringing that he doesn't “know what life really is” or understand the concept of ​​having to make a living.

The story could also reignite Meghan's bullying controversy. Her representatives initially dismissed the 2021 TImes UK report as a part of a “calculated smear campaign” launched by a royal establishment and the British press that had change into hostile towards her. The bullying allegations appeared to subside after Buckingham Palace said in 2022 that it will not release the outcomes of an internal investigation into Meghan's alleged bullying.

But The Hollywood Reporter revived the difficulty in September with a scathing report during which a source said Meghan “belittles people,” doesn't take advice and is a “dictator in high heels” who’s indignant and barks orders. Both she and Harry are “poor decision makers,” a source also said, which might explain why after two years and a reported $20 million contract, the pair only managed to supply a 12-episode podcast. The Daily Beast followed up with one other report that quoted employees describing her as “a demon” who had “mental moments.”

For its report, Vanity Fair spoke to individuals who had good experiences with Meghan, including producer Jane Marie, who tried to assist them develop podcasts for his or her Archewell productions. “She’s just a lovely, genuine person,” Marie said of Meghan.

Peele, the Vanity Fair author, tried to offer a sensitive explanation for why Meghan may need trouble managing employees or be annoyed that others judge her or look down on her. That goes back to when she claimed she was an outsider in highschool, Peele noted.

“Is it any surprise that a sense of victimhood and justice could persist in a person who was treated so horribly by the press and her husband's family?” Peele wrote.

Meghan may additionally view certain people as enemies or intruders, and not only “the vile” media or “her deplorable father and half-sister” who’ve sold stories about her to the tabloids, Peele said. Meghan's enemies is also professionals who work for her, from palace staff to those that “actually knew how to do a podcast,” Peele suggested. She may begin to view her as more powerful than she is, “despite her immense fame, wealth and privilege,” Peele wrote.

“And whatever happened to them, well… they shouldn't have gotten in the way of Meghan and her good work,” Peele concluded.

Originally published: January 17, 2025 at 4:10 pm PST

Trump's first AG election

“Interactions with Minors”

Joel Greenberg

I’m a historian of the Golden Age Who has drawn parallels between our current moment and? Late Nineteenth centurytwo periods known for big economic inequality and widespread technological change.

But much of the reporting on the murder of Brian Thompsonthe CEO of UnitedHealthcare, and Luigi Mangionethe person accused of killing him gave me pause.

According to many journalists and experts, each Thompson and Mangione appear to have migrated to the New York City borough of Manhattan for the reason that late Nineteenth century.

In her interpretation, the 2 Gilded Ages now not run parallel. They collided, mixing their occupants and luggage right into a chaotic mess.

When I and most other historians speak about parallels between the Golden Age and today, the comparisons are structural. They reflect general conditions that affect thousands and thousands of individuals. It's when experts Use specific examples from the past Problems arise in explaining the actions of people today.

We've never been here before

New York Times columnist Bret Stephens forged Thompson as a personality from a Horatio Alger novel: a working class hero who pulled himself up by his boot straps. Sociologist Zeynip Tufekci, who also writes within the New York Times, comes close to make Luigi Mangione a reincarnation from Alexander Berkmanthe anarchist who tried to murder Industrialist Henry Clay Frick. Over on the New Yorker, Dhruv Khullar suggests This was, in its arbitrariness and callousness, the prototype of the US health care system that angered Mangione in his manifestooriginated somewhere within the Golden Age.

Today's historians and journalists obviously imagine that the past has much to show their fellow residents. And their motives are sound: They need to beat back against the concept that the past is irrelevant, that every part necessary happened within the last quarter-hour — a view reflected in President-elect Donald Trump's favorite phrase to explain any current crisis to explain plagues the United States: “We've never seen anything like this before.”

Therefore, comparisons between two time periods can function a brake on hasty claims that every part has modified and that the present moment is unprecedented. But in my view, concrete comparisons are sometimes a categorical mistake. They replace the beliefs and judgments of individuals of the past with modern ones.

Immediately after the murder Tufekci wrote this “The currents we see are expressions of something more fundamental. We've been here before. And it wasn’t pretty.”

Wait, decelerate: “We” have never been here before. The biggest, most evident—and virtually all the time ignored—difference between the Golden Age and our time is that we didn't live in it. None of us lived within the late Nineteenth century. The individuals who lived back then didn't think like us and didn't act like us. Finding structural similarities doesn’t make writers Nostradamus, in a position to recognize the signs and predict the longer term.

It is all too easy to make use of the past as a tool to learn lessons from modern beliefs or ideologies. Without knowing much about Thompson or Mangione – let alone anarchists or Horatio Alger heroes – Mangione becomes the Nineteenth-century equivalent of a working-class avenger, while Thompson is a modern-day “Ragged tail“He got to his position through bravery and exertions.

Most popular and political appeals to history aren’t only superficial, also they are quite ahistorical. Nowhere is that this more evident than in court.

Jonathan Gienapp's latest and sensible book: “Against constitutional originalism“” exposes what he describes because the sloppiness, ahistoricism, and anachronism of conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court, who often justify their decisions by invoking the intentions of the nation's founding fathers. According to Gienapp, their important sin is easy: they’re ventriloquists who put their modern ideas into the founders' mouths and claim that they’ve regained the unique meaning.

Emerge from the mire

This ahistorical considering runs across your complete political spectrum. It comes from asking the flawed questions and considering that structural similarities result in roughly equivalent results.

The two periods have more in common as rising inequality and massive technological changes. There have been attacks on racism and resurgent racism; mass immigration and backlash against it; frequent fluctuations in party control; economic booms and busts; an absence of daring leadership; failures in governance; and outbreaks of violence.

Both eras also experienced Shortening lifespans, environmental degradation that has affected health, and the efforts of the rich to insulate themselves from the illnesses of the less fortunate.

But often missed is the proven fact that the Golden Age faced these problems; it was also, paradoxically, a time of reform. From the tip of the Nineteenth century, life expectancy increased, child mortality fell, epidemics declined, and public health achieved remarkable results.

Now this trend has been reversed. Death and illness are at the guts of the murder of Brian Thompson, who was on his technique to a gathering with investors looking for to take advantage of an organization whose calculated decisions condemned some people to suffer for the advantage of others.

Useful questions might include: How did the Golden Age escape its crises? And why have solutions that looked as if it would have progressively improved the health and well-being of most individuals over generations stopped working? How did UnitedHealthcare, the individuals who profit from it, and people willing to speculate in it come about?

There's a story there.

HAYWARD – A 47-year-old man was charged with murder Tuesday for apparently strangling his wife of their home on Sept. 23, based on authorities and court records.

Alvaro Sierra is accused of killing 47-year-old Tania Afanador at her home within the 27000 block of Eucalyptus Court.

The couple was going through a divorce but still lived together and had gotten into an argument before the murder, based on court documents. Authorities didn’t say what the dispute was about.

Police were called to the apartment by one other member of the family, who told 911 that something had happened in the home.

Afanador was found unconscious and pronounced dead contained in the home. Final autopsy results are pending, but based on court records, the preliminary finding showed she had injuries consistent with strangulation.

According to police, Sierra, who lists his occupation as a warehouse manager in prison records, was also found at home with self-inflicted cuts.

He was taken to a hospital for treatment. After the preliminary autopsy results were known, he was arrested on suspicion of murder on September 28 and booked into the Santa Rita Jail.

He was held without bail and was scheduled to be arraigned in court on Wednesday.

It was initially unknown how long the couple had been married. Police said the couple had no children together.

In a news release announcing the costs, Hayward Police Chief Bryan Matthews said, “Domestic violence is a tragic and often unreported crime. We strongly encourage anyone who finds themselves in an abusive situation to seek help. We are here to provide protection and provide people with the resources and support they need.”

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information related to the murder is asked to call Detective Niedenthal at 510-293-7176.

The death is the twelfth homicide Hayward police are investigating this 12 months.

Originally published: October 1, 2024 at 2:46 p.m

FREMONT – A person suspected of brandishing a duplicate firearm and shouting death threats at a highway driver whose automotive was decorated with an Israeli flag has been charged with a hate crime and other offenses, in accordance with authorities and court records.

In addition to the charge of violating civil rights, a hate crime, the suspect, Jesus Hernandez Hernandez, 44, of Castro Valley, can be charged with aggravated menacing and brandishing a duplicate weapon, records state.

RELATED: Newark man convicted of hate crime on Oakland freeway

Hernandez is free on his own bail and is predicted to enter a guilty plea on October 31.

According to authorities, the victim told police that on September 12 at around 4 p.m. he was driving on I-680 with an Israeli flag outside his window when one other driver in a Ford sedan attempted to ram his vehicle and commenced yelling at him concerning the flag.

The victim followed the suspect off the highway and onto the streets of Fremont while calling 911, documents say.

The suspect allegedly pointed the gun on the victim again and ordered him to stop following him or he would kill him, documents say.

Fremont police stopped the suspect's vehicle in the realm of ​​Mission Boulevard and Denise Street and arrested Hernandez. A pellet gun was present in the vehicle.

During a lineup, the victim clearly identified him because the suspect. Hernandez refused to talk to police.

Originally published: September 25, 2024 at 8:40 am

New York Magazine has placed Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi on leave after she announced that she “to be in a personal relationship” with someone relevant to the 2024 presidential campaign.

This person, According to several reportswas Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the controversial The former Democrat and later independent presidential candidate has ended his election campaign almost a month ago and supported former President Donald Trump.

“Had the magazine been aware of this relationship, she would not have continued to cover the presidential campaign,” an organization spokesperson said in a press release, noting that their relationship developed while Nuzzi was covering the campaign.

On November 22, 2023, the magazine published an article by Nuzzi entitled “The Incredible Politics of RFK Jr.’s Spoiler Campaign.” A spokesman for the previous candidate described the article as a “slanderous article,” in response to Status reporter Oliver Darcy, who was the primary to report on the alleged relationship.

While an internal review of the article found “no inaccuracies or evidence of bias,” establishing a private relationship with a “former contact” relevant to the campaign during reporting constituted “a violation of the magazine's standards regarding conflicts of interest and disclosures,” the spokesperson said.

Nuzzi, 31, is one in all the publication's most distinguished writers. The New York native began her journalism profession as a youngster in 2011, writing for triCitynews, a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed in eastern Monmouth County, New Jersey. She has also written for the Daily Beast, Politico, and The Washington Post.

In July 2013, while still a student, she wrote an article for the Daily News describes her experiences as a volunteer for Anthony Weiner's sexting-plagued New York City mayoral campaign.

The story, which made the front page of the newspaper, was sharply criticized by Weiner's then-communications director, Barbara Morgan. insulted the previous intern in a tirade filled with swear words.

Nuzzi announced her engagement to Politico's chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza in 2022, but a Politico article concerning the alleged affair suggests the couple aren’t any longer engaged.

Kennedy, 70, was married to “Leave it, Larry!” actress Cheryl Hines since 2014.

Nuzzi is currently on leave while the magazine conducts “a more thorough third-party review,” the spokesperson said. “We regret this breach of trust from our readers.”

Originally published: September 20, 2024 at 12:11

National News

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The man suspected of carrying out an apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump camped outside a golf course with food and a rifle for nearly 12 hours, ambushing the previous president until a Secret Service agent foiled the would-be attempt and opened fire, based on court documents filed Monday.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, is charged with possession of a firearm despite a previous conviction and possession of a weapon with an obliterated serial number. The Justice Department didn’t allege that he fired any shots. Additional and more serious charges are possible because the investigation continues and prosecutors seek an indictment by a grand jury.

Handcuffed and wearing a blue jumpsuit, Routh appeared briefly in federal court in West Palm Beach, setting off a criminal case in the ultimate weeks of a presidential campaign already marked by violence and turmoil. Although nobody was injured, it was the second attempt on Trump's life in as many months, raising latest questions on his safety and prompting Republican allies and even some Democrats to query how a possible gunman could have gotten so close.

Routh was arrested Sunday afternoon after authorities recovered a firearm from bushes on the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing. He was spotted by a Secret Service agent assigned to Trump's security detail who opened fire, after which Routh sped away before being caught by police in a neighboring county, authorities said.

Body camera footage posted on Facebook by the Martin County Sheriff's Office on Monday showed Routh being arrested. The video shows him walking backwards along the side of the road together with his hands above his head before being led away in handcuffs.

The amount of planning behind that is underscored by the indisputable fact that Routh was reportedly on the tree line of the golf course between 1:59 a.m. and 1:31 p.m. on Sunday, based on an FBI affidavit that references cellphone data. A digital camera, a loaded SKS rifle with a telescopic sight and a plastic bag of groceries were present in the realm where Routh was standing, based on the affidavit.

Authorities didn’t immediately release any latest details about Routh or give a selected motive. However, he left traces on the Internet that reveal his changing political beliefs and his deep outrage at global events.

“You are free to assassinate Trump,” Routh wrote of Iran in a book apparently self-published in 2023 titled “Ukraine's Unwinnable War.” In it, he called the previous president a “fool” and a “buffoon” for each the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021, and the “enormous mistake” of withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.

Routh wrote that he once voted for Trump and bears a number of the blame for the “child we elected as our next president who turned out to be brainless.”

He also tried to recruit fighters for Ukraine's self-defense against Russia and ran an internet site to gather donations and volunteers to fight for Kyiv.

One of the 2 charges against him is that he was in illegal possession of his gun despite multiple felony convictions, including two charges of receiving stolen goods in North Carolina in 2002. The other charge is that the serial number was defaced and made unreadable to the naked eye, a violation of federal law.

Routh was taken into custody after prosecutors argued he was a flight risk. He spoke softly as he answered a federal judge's perfunctory questions. He said he works and makes about $3,000 a month but has no savings.

Routh said he owns no real estate or assets, except for two trucks valued at about $1,000, each situated in Hawaii. He also said he has a 25-year-old son whom he sometimes supports.

The arrest drew renewed attention to the challenges of protecting Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, not only at campaign rallies but additionally away from the campaign trail, often at his own clubs and properties.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one in all Trump's rivals within the Republican primary, said his state would conduct its own investigation into how Routh got here so close.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw noted at a gathering that security protocols across the golf course had been relaxed because Trump was now not in office.

“He is not the sitting president. If he were, we would have had the entire golf course surrounded. But because he is not, his security is limited to the areas the Secret Service believes are possible,” he told reporters.

On July 13, a bullet grazed Trump's ear after a 20-year-old gunman gained access to an unsecured roof during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Eight days later, Democratic President Joe Biden withdrew from the race and made Vice President Kamala Harris the party's nominee.

Suspicions that U.S. consumers' personal information may very well be accessed from India prompted regulators in August to abruptly block two major private sector enrollment web sites from accessing the Affordable Care Act marketplace.

New details in regards to the suspensions are included in legal documents filed late Friday and are the results of the pair's effort to regain access to the Obamacare marketplace before the ACA program's open enrollment period begins Nov. 1.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wrote in a Letter dated 2 September The firms were told they were suspended after the agency identified “a serious security breach” that will have led to marketplace data, including consumers' personal information, being accessed from abroad.

The letter, which is attached to the court documents, also states that regulators will investigate the 2 firms because they’ve “reasonable suspicion” that they’re players in a separate issue: Enrolling people in Obamacare insurance or changing their policies without consumers’ permission.

Whether these legal issues will likely be resolved before the upcoming enrollment deadline is an open query. At this time, the concerns raised against the businesses remain allegations, and neither the legal challenges nor the audit are impending a choice or conclusion.

Still, the larger problem of fraudulent ACA filing by rogue insurance agents searching for commissions will proceed to be a headache for regulators, with greater than 200,000 consumer complaints filed in the primary six months of 2024. And it has change into a political problem for the Biden administration. GOP lawmakers accused the plans partly as a consequence of the expansion of Obamacare premium subsidies supported by Biden.

President Joe Biden called the record enrollment numbers under the ACA one in all the best achievements of his administration. Regulators at the moment are trying to forestall fraudulent enrollment programs without slowing legitimate enrollment. In recent weeks, they’ve stripped not less than 200 agents of access to the federal ACA marketplace, and in July began to requirethat in lots of cases brokers take part in three-way conferences with their clients and the healthcare.gov Help Center before changes could be finalized.

The CMS letter now adds one other layer. It is the primary time this yr that the agency has taken an organization to task for questionable enrollment. It suspects that “the Speridian Companies” can have directed its “employees and other agents to change the insurance coverage of Marketplace enrollees and to enroll insured and uninsured consumers without the enrollees' consent.”

California-based Speridian Global Holdings owns the businesses in query, including the Benefitalign enrollment platform and TrueCoverage, which operates because the Inshura enrollment site. The company has an information center in India.

According to court documents, the now-blocked Benefitalign site processed not less than 1.2 million applications for ACA coverage in the course of the last open enrollment period, making it one in all the most important private enrollment sites allowed to integrate with the federal healthcare.gov marketplace.

Previously, CMS had only publicly stated that it had blocked the web sites for “abnormal activity.”

The suspended firms deny any wrongdoing related to the enrollment programs. Spokeswoman Catherine Riedel declined to comment beyond the court documents.

At the top of August, they filed a lawsuit against CMS within the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia over the suspensions and requested an injunction. added to this grievance on September 6, calling CMS’s suspension motion “unlawful.”

On August 8, CMS blocked each web sites from accessing information from healthcare.gov.

According to the September 2 letter, the explanation for this was concern that certain consumer data was being “processed and/or stored” in India and the “suspicion” that the info was being “accessed from outside the United States.”

That's an issue, the letter says, since the marketplace's data must remain within the U.S. to “eliminate the possibility of foreign powers gaining access to it.” In addition, web sites approved by the CMS to integrate with the federal marketplace are usually not allowed to transfer data outside the U.S. or provide access from outside the country, under the terms of the contracts those firms sign to realize CMS approval to operate.

CMS didn’t explain what consumer information might need been included, but ACA applications can include information resembling an individual's name, date of birth, address and detailed household income information.

In previous years, Sperdian firms had been suspended after which reinstated from the marketplace for other reasons, including issues with incorrect Social Security numbers provided on some TrueCoverage ACA applications in 2018 and an attempt by Benefitalign in 2023 to access the federal marketplace's “software test environment” from India, the CMS letter said.

In their request for a preliminary injunction against CMS, the businesses argue that the agency's decision to suspend them now is unfair and capricious and violates its own regulations and the Due Process Clause of the Constitution.

The filing describes the Sept. 2 CMS letter explaining the explanations for the suspensions as an “ex post facto justification” that comprises a litany of “'concerns,' 'suspicions,' and 'allegations.'” The filing also states: “These insinuations of violations are made without evidence of actual violations.”

The court documents say the suspensions will prevent the businesses from participating within the upcoming open enrollment period, harming themselves in addition to “the thousands of brokers” and “millions of consumers who rely on brokers” who use these sites to enroll in ACA insurance.

The suspension will remain in effect, CMS's letter says, partly because the corporate's concerns weren’t addressed by the data provided by the businesses, but additionally at some point of the review.

CMS has “reasonable suspicion based on credible evidence it has reviewed” that the businesses were involved in enrolling consumers or changing their coverage without explicit permission, the letter says, noting that such allegations are in a Civil motion filed by private sector attorneys within the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

The firms had previously stated that the allegations within the civil lawsuit were unfounded.

Brokers who’ve used the blocked sites prior to now produce other options for enrolling customers, including several other sites currently approved for integration with the federal Obamacare marketplace. Consumers may also go on to the federal or state ACA web sites and enroll themselves or get help from the decision centers related to those marketplaces.

___

©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Originally published: September 11, 2024 at 1:53 p.m.

When Barack Obama was elected president, The people of Moneygall in Ireland celebratedBirthplace of Obama's maternal great-great-great-grandfather, the village thought the victory – and a later Visit of the forty fourth President – with pints of Guinness and a kitschy trade in “O'Bama” memorabilia.

In contrast to Reply in Ballymoney Reactions to claims that a possible US president could have Irish ancestry were more cautious.

In 2018, the black father of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Jamaican-born professor Donald Harris, wrote that the family Descendant of a white slave owner Hamilton Brown. Brown was born in Ireland in 1776 before moving to the then British colony of Jamaica.

If Donald Harris' account of his family history is correct, it is probably going that, as with American abolitionists and former slaves Frederick DouglassThe black mother in query – and Harris' ancestor – was a lady on one among Brown's plantations. In such cases, moms and youngsters were often separated shortly after birth.

The consequences of Harris' Irish connections were mainly greeted with shame or silence in Ireland.

Some commentators within the US have interpreted the alleged Irish connection as a sign that the Democrat's family “owned slaves” – the insinuation appears to be that Harris's ancestry means she is a Beneficiaries of the systemSuch claims, after all, negate the undeniable fact that most descendants of plantation owners and enslaved women Product of rapeThe concept that the black descendants of a white plantation owner benefited from slavery is, after all, nonsense, even when it exists consensually.

Although the complete story of Harris' Jamaican and Irish roots may never be known, the ancestral claims nevertheless allow Scholars of Black American and Irish history Take a moment to reflect on Ireland’s complex historical identity.

Colonized and colonizers

Ireland, which was called England’s “first colony”, had an unusual position within the Empire. While many Irish people fought on the front lines against British colonialism at home, played an energetic role within the British imperial project, a colonization project that involved the oppression and enslavement of non-white peoples all over the world.

The work of scientists, including Barbadian historians Sir Hilary Beckleshas highlighted the Irish experience within the Caribbean, from the British invasions there starting within the early seventeenth century, has shown how fundamental the Irish presence in various slave societies was in the event of racial hierarchies.

Desperate for labor and profit, British sugar plantation owners created four- to seven-year indentures for white servants, bringing hundreds of poor Irish to the Caribbean. At the identical time, the plantation owners also imported enslaved Africans.

The latter were favoured as they became lifelong staff. As societies within the Caribbean developed and compelled labour ended, the Irish generally benefited from the developing racial hierarchies. Of course, most remained poor as they dispersed across the Caribbean island looking for work, they usually lacked significant political power in comparison with the British ruling elite. But they’d their freedom.

Contested terrain of Irish identity

The history of the Irish people is understandably dominated by narratives of British colonization and cultural oppression, and the Irish freedom struggleBut a more nuanced conversation reveals how Ireland has been drawn into a few of the darkest corners of recent history.

And here we discover Hamilton BrownHarris' alleged slave-owning ancestor poses an extra challenge to understanding Irish identity.

Brown was born in County Antrim, which is now a part of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. His own ancestors were participants in a colonial project called the Plantation of Ulster within the early seventeenth century, which displaced the native Irish and replaced them with settlers, mostly from Scotland.

The British imperial authorities had all the time considered the northern a part of Ireland to be probably the most problematic, and in order that they saw the substitute of native Catholics with Protestants from Britain as a method to make the country more governable.

Most likely, the Anglican Brown family didn’t discover as Irish in any respect. When hundreds of those settlers moved west toward America within the 18th century, they later referred to themselves as Scots-Irish.

In Jamaica, Brown made his fortune as a lawyer and slave trader in St. Ann's Parish, which he later renamed Brown's City.

Brown was a powerful advocate of flogging and the forced separation of enslaved families. He was also a powerful critic of the abolitionist movement, even accusing leading British abolitionist William Wilberforce of getting “a cloven hoof.”

When Britain officially banned slavery in 1834, 1,200 slaves worked on Brown's plantations, which mainly cultivated sugar cane, and he received compensation of over £12,000 – the equivalent of greater than $12 million today.

Hidden figures

With the expansion of the British Empire, Ireland found itself within the paradoxical role of being each colonist and colonizer. The latter arose from the undeniable fact that the country provided the workforce for the British Army, the civil service and other parts of the imperial infrastructure. Endless poverty and temporary famines in Ireland, people sought opportunities elsewhere, where they found themselves at the underside of the economic scale and despised due to their status as immigrants. Yet they’d the suitable to maneuver freely, marry freely and receive an education – unlike slaves.

Such a bifurcated history complicates the representation of Irish history and identity, and the best way we discuss Obama and Harris's ancestors. Moreover, the hidden figures in these contested stories are sometimes the enslaved women, who were often victims of non-consensual sex, but whose children and descendants form a type of black Irish diaspora whose extent and significance scholars are only now starting to disclose.

Recent initiatives in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States have begun to proactively construct community across diverse elements of the Irish diaspora. Engagement and reflection on the complicated ways through which people construct a connection to Ireland is a central a part of the method.

How the current and the past are in harmony

While the reality about Harris' ancestry will probably be difficult to determine, her possible Irish roots are more in step with those of former First Lady Michelle Obama than with those of President Obama. As Rachel Swarns writes in her book “American Tapestry”, Michelle Obama is comparable connected to Ireland through a slave owner.

There has long been a symbiotic relationship between Ireland and American presidents.

If Harris is elected in the autumn, and assuming her genealogical connection to County Antrim is correct, she could be the twenty fourth US President of Irish descent.

But their connections are different in nature from those of previous presidents and subsequently don’t arouse in Ireland the enjoyment that the invention of Obama’s roots or the electrifying Visit of one other Irish-American presidentJohn F. Kennedy, over 60 years ago.

Nor can we expect the identical affection that President Joe Biden has shown toward his own Irish heritage.

But regardless of the circumstances, acknowledging Harris's possible Irish and Scottish roots – alongside her Jamaican, African and Indian ancestry – allows us to reflect on the complexity of history and its impact on the current.

When Barack Obama was elected president, The people of Moneygall in Ireland celebratedBirthplace of Obama's maternal great-great-great-grandfather, the village thought the victory – and a later Visit of the forty fourth President – with pints of Guinness and a kitschy trade in “O'Bama” memorabilia.

In contrast to Reply in Ballymoney Reactions to claims that a possible US president could have Irish ancestry were more cautious.

In 2018, the black father of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Jamaican-born professor Donald Harris, wrote that the family Descendant of a white slave owner Hamilton Brown. Brown was born in Ireland in 1776 before moving to the then British colony of Jamaica.

If Donald Harris' account of his family history is correct, it is probably going that, as with American abolitionists and former slaves Frederick DouglassThe black mother in query – and Harris' ancestor – was a girl on certainly one of Brown's plantations. In such cases, moms and youngsters were often separated shortly after birth.

The consequences of Harris' Irish connections were mainly greeted with shame or silence in Ireland.

Some commentators within the US have interpreted the alleged Irish connection as a sign that the Democrat's family “owned slaves” – the insinuation appears to be that Harris's ancestry means she is a Beneficiaries of the systemSuch claims, in fact, negate the undeniable fact that most descendants of plantation owners and enslaved women Product of rapeThe concept that the black descendants of a white plantation owner benefited from slavery is, in fact, nonsense, even when it exists consensually.

Although the total story of Harris' Jamaican and Irish roots may never be known, the ancestral claims nevertheless allow Scholars of Black American and Irish history Take a moment to reflect on Ireland’s complex historical identity.

Colonized and colonizers

Ireland, which was called England’s “first colony”, had an unusual position within the Empire. While many Irish people fought on the front lines against British colonialism at home, played an energetic role within the British imperial project, a colonization project that involved the oppression and enslavement of non-white peoples world wide.

The work of scientists, including Barbadian historians Sir Hilary Beckleshas highlighted the Irish experience within the Caribbean, from the British invasions there starting within the early seventeenth century, has shown how fundamental the Irish presence in various slave societies was in the event of racial hierarchies.

Desperate for labor and profit, British sugar plantation owners created four- to seven-year indentures for white servants, bringing hundreds of poor Irish to the Caribbean. At the identical time, the plantation owners also imported enslaved Africans.

The latter were favoured as they became lifelong staff. As societies within the Caribbean developed and compelled labour ended, the Irish generally benefited from the developing racial hierarchies. Of course, most remained poor as they dispersed across the Caribbean island searching for work, they usually lacked significant political power in comparison with the British ruling elite. But that they had their freedom.

Contested terrain of Irish identity

The history of the Irish people is understandably dominated by narratives of British colonization and cultural oppression, and the Irish freedom struggleBut a more nuanced conversation reveals how Ireland has been drawn into a few of the darkest corners of contemporary history.

And here we discover Hamilton BrownHarris' alleged slave-owning ancestor poses an additional challenge to understanding Irish identity.

Brown was born in County Antrim, which is now a part of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. His own ancestors were participants in a colonial project called the Plantation of Ulster within the early seventeenth century, which displaced the native Irish and replaced them with settlers, mostly from Scotland.

The British imperial authorities had all the time considered the northern a part of Ireland to be essentially the most problematic, and in order that they saw the alternative of native Catholics with Protestants from Britain as a strategy to make the country more governable.

Most likely, the Anglican Brown family didn’t discover as Irish in any respect. When hundreds of those settlers moved west toward America within the 18th century, they later referred to themselves as Scots-Irish.

In Jamaica, Brown made his fortune as a lawyer and slave trader in St. Ann's Parish, which he later renamed Brown's City.

Brown was a robust advocate of flogging and the forced separation of enslaved families. He was also a robust critic of the abolitionist movement, even accusing leading British abolitionist William Wilberforce of getting “a cloven hoof.”

When Britain officially banned slavery in 1834, 1,200 slaves worked on Brown's plantations, which mainly cultivated sugar cane, and he received compensation of over £12,000 – the equivalent of greater than $12 million today.

Hidden figures

With the expansion of the British Empire, Ireland found itself within the paradoxical role of being each colonist and colonizer. The latter arose from the undeniable fact that the country provided the workforce for the British Army, the civil service and other parts of the imperial infrastructure. Endless poverty and temporary famines in Ireland, people sought opportunities elsewhere, where they found themselves at the underside of the economic scale and despised due to their status as immigrants. Yet that they had the precise to maneuver freely, marry freely and receive an education – unlike slaves.

Such a bifurcated history complicates the representation of Irish history and identity, and the way in which we speak about Obama and Harris's ancestors. Moreover, the hidden figures in these contested stories are sometimes the enslaved women, who were often victims of non-consensual sex, but whose children and descendants form a form of black Irish diaspora whose extent and significance scholars are only now starting to disclose.

Recent initiatives in Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States have begun to proactively construct community across diverse elements of the Irish diaspora. Engagement and reflection on the complicated ways wherein people construct a connection to Ireland is a central a part of the method.

How the current and the past are in harmony

While the reality about Harris' ancestry will probably be difficult to determine, her possible Irish roots are more according to those of former First Lady Michelle Obama than with those of President Obama. As Rachel Swarns writes in her book “American Tapestry”, Michelle Obama is comparable connected to Ireland through a slave owner.

There has long been a symbiotic relationship between Ireland and American presidents.

If Harris is elected in the autumn, and assuming her genealogical connection to County Antrim is correct, she can be the twenty fourth US President of Irish descent.

But their connections are different in nature from those of previous presidents and due to this fact don’t arouse in Ireland the enjoyment that the invention of Obama’s roots or the electrifying Visit of one other Irish-American presidentJohn F. Kennedy, over 60 years ago.

Nor can we expect the identical affection that President Joe Biden has shown toward his own Irish heritage.

But regardless of the circumstances, acknowledging Harris's possible Irish and Scottish roots – alongside her Jamaican, African and Indian ancestry – allows us to reflect on the complexity of history and its impact on the current.