Shannon Lanier: 6th Great-Grandson of Thomas Jefferson & Sally Hemings
TOLEDO, Ohio — Shannon Lanier is a news anchor at the CW 39 in Houston; he’s also the 6th Great-Grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Many protestors are starting to take action in getting statues of people history honors, removed. But why? Protestors say that America shouldn’t honor slave owners and traitors. Instead, many individuals would like these statues placed in museums. Others say that taking down a statue is erasing history.
Lanier says that he is proud of his heritage of Thomas Jefferson, but he would not like to see statues of his great, great, great, great, great, great, grandfather in public, simply because he enslaved many African-Americans and raped many minority people.
Those not directly related to Jefferson or other historical figures are conflicted. While it’s important to be aware of history, some say statues shouldn’t be the only source of historical information.
Despite America being in a tough place, Lanier says that we all need to be compassionate in order to understand each other and live beside each other. He adds that in order to heal and move forward when it comes to slavery, we must acknowledge what happened and have open dialogue.
Get Shannon’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Slaverys-Descendants-Shared-Legacies-Reconciliation/dp/1978800762/ref=sr_1_1?crid=T55AZRELE993&dchild=1&keywords=shannon+lanier&qid=1595469225&sprefix=Shannon+Lanier+%2Caps%2C172&sr=8-1
