Ancestry.com under fire for their tone deaf advert that shows RUNAWAY SLAVE with her white lover

Ancestry.com has been widely mocked over its tone deaf advert which appears to romanticize slavery to sell its DNA services. 

The ad – called Inseparable – follows a black slave woman named Abigail Williams who meets with her white lover who tells her he wants to ‘escape to the North’ with her ‘across the border.’ 

It was posted on Ancestry Canada’s YouTube page on April 2. Ancestry.com could not be reached for a comment.

‘Abigail, we can escape to the North’ the man says to the slave woman as he hold up a ring to her. 

The woman tries to speak before her savior cuts her off and asserts: ‘There is a place we can be together, across the border. Will you leave with me?’ ‘Without you, the story stops here,’ the ad reads after showing the woman looking longingly at him.

It shows that the woman’s name is ‘Abigail Williams’ before showing a marriage certificate that Ancestry.com said she got with a ‘James Miller.’

A TV Spot description for the ad states: ‘Long ago, a man asked a woman named Abigail Williams to flee with him to the North where they could love each other freely and without judgment about their skin colors. Their story continued, but Ancestry leaves it up to you to keep this couple’s story going by uncovering the lost chapters of your own history.’

But many viewers were furious with the advert, with many feeling it inaccurately portrayed and glamorized a traumatic experience that many Black people faced.

‘Abigail, we can escape to the North’ the man says to the slave woman as they make their way under a building that is supposed to be set in ‘the South’

The woman tries to speak before her savior cuts her off and asserts: ‘There is a place we can be together, across the border. Will you leave with me?’

‘Without you, the story stops here,’ the ad reads after showing the woman looking ever so longingly at her lover

Advert shows that the woman’s name is ‘Abigail Williams’ before showing a marriage certificate that Ancestry.com said she got with a ‘James Miller’

‘What in the colonization?!!!’ asked shocked actor Damon Wayans Junior. 

Comedian Desus Nice took to his Twitter to show just how offensive the joke could be if it was Rosa Parks related. 

Another user asked: ‘Um…have y’all seen the @Ancestry commercial where a white man is telling a Black woman they can run away and there’s a place they can be together across the border? Who approved this?’ 

‘Yeah. That’s not how it happened,’ another user declared. ‘Black women were raped by white men. No engagement rings, no proposing, nothing. The white folks over at ancestry are full of s**t.’

Comedian Desus Nice took to his Twitter to show just how offensive the joke could be if it was Rosa Parks related. Other users also voiced their annoyance and shock with the video

Writer Clint Smith said: ‘Nobody: 

‘Ancestry dot com: how can we overly romanticize & create an irresponsible, a historical depiction of the relationship between white men & black women during the period of chattel slavery that completely disregards its power dynamics & the trauma of sexual exploitation? 

And several other users on YouTube voiced their disappointment with the advertisement.

One person said: ‘Y’all literally have no black voices being heard before you put this out huh? Go ahead and admit it. We already know it’s true. Not a one!’ 

‘Rubbish white savior nonsense. I won´t be spending my money with you,’ another user stated.