damn, Geordi

I saw this news a few days ago: actor LeVar Burton discovered he has a white ancestor who fought in the Civil War as a Confederate.

PJW makes a big deal about Burton's reaction to the news and speculates that it would be career-ending had the racial roles been reversed: a white actor discovering a black ancestor. I'm inclined to give Burton the benefit of the doubt. If you've grown up thinking of the Confederacy as something to despise, then discover one of your ancestors was a Confederate, this may be a bit like discovering you're directly descended from Hitler. Revulsion, in such a situation, is only natural and instinctive. Also not discussed in the above video is how Burton's reaction might have modulated over the days and weeks since that discovery. Maybe he's become more thoughtful, more contemplative, about this new reality. Who knows? My point is that this isn't quite the big deal that PJW makes it out to be.