article_snippet.sent: I wouldn't, and neither did Ben Affleck, who lobbied producers of a PBS show, "Finding Your Roots," to remove any reference to his great-great-great grandfather Benjamin Cole, a Georgia slave owner in the mid-1800's, in an episode that looked at Ben Affleck's family history.
article_snippet.sent: (Ben Affleck revealed Cole's name Wednesday night.)
article_snippet.sent: Here's the thing that might surprise many, given the tendency of the media to exploit any potentially scandalous material: The show's producer, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., apparently acquiesced to Ben Affleck's request, because when the episode aired in October 2014, there was no mention of the star's slave-owning ancestor.
article_snippet.sent: Ben Affleck explained, "I didn't want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves.
article_snippet.sent: So it's unlikely that it was simply happenstance that it left out any reference to Ben Affleck's familial slave ownership connection.
article_snippet.sent: In fact, as Ben Affleck noted, much of the material is provided directly by the celebrity being profiled.
article_snippet.sent: In the case of Ben Affleck we focused on what we felt were the most interesting aspects of Ben Affleck ancestry -- including a Revolutionary War ancestor, a third great-grandfather who was an occult enthusiast, and Ben Affleck mother who marched for civil rights during the Freedom Summer of 1964.
article_snippet.sent: My view would be different if Ben Affleck had a history of uttering racist remarks or engaging in racist conduct.
article_snippet.sent: Perhaps that's what Ben Affleck meant in Ben Affleck Facebook post when Ben Affleck wrote that the information made Ben Affleck feel "vulnerable.
article_snippet.sent: Ben Affleck has noted that Ben Affleck regrets asking PBS to not include information about Ben Affleck "distant relative."  
article_snippet.sent: Ben Affleck had every right to ask for the information about a long-deceased distant relative to be left out of the show.
highlights_snippet.sent: Ben Affleck admits Ben Affleck asked PBS show "Finding Your Roots" to avoid mentioning Ben Affleck slave-owning ancestor .
  