“I’m descended from survivors”: Joe Manganiello Goes Into Shock After Realizing His Slave Past After Considering Himself Full-Blooded Italian All His Life
Having ancestral knowledge not only provides self-identity but also allows a person to have power over their roots. Initiated in 2012 and hosted by educator Henry Louis Gates Jr, Finding Your Roots the American docuseries, helped several people learn about their descendants. In each episode, celebrities were brought to view their ancestry and learn about their connections with potential famous historical personalities. Joe Manganiello took part in one of the episodes after considering himself a full-blooded Italian all his life.
The show is known for plunging into the bloodline of celebrities to learn about their ancestry. Several blood and DNA tests are conducted to determine the accurate results. The show took Joe Manganiello on a weird journey where his life changed forever. His belief was crushed and he was handed a whole new ancestral history of slavery.
Joe Manganiello in PBS’s docuseries Finding Your Roots
PBS hosted the docuseries Finding Your Roots along with educator Henry Louis Gates Jr. in 2012. The show was known for diving deep into the ancestral history of famous personalities to learn about their true descendants and bloodline. The True Blood actor Joe Manganiello also took part in the docuseries to learn more about his ancestry.
Manganiello considered himself a true-born Italian for his entire life. Given his surname, the actor considered his roots to belong somewhere in Europe. However, the revelation of the results in the show changed his understanding of his bloodline forever. In the show, Louis Gates shared with Manganiello about his 7% Sub-Saharan African descendency.
The actor’s father’s DNA revealed about his great-grandparents being interracial, rather than Emilio Manganiello, whom he thought to be his grandfather. According to test results and research, Joe Manganiello’s great-grandparents were William Henry Cutler, a black man, and Nellie Alton, a white woman.
The revelations at times got too shocking to handle, therefore the show allowed the celebrities to leave at any time under the “ethics protocol”. Manganiello being unable to handle the magnitude of the revelation chose to leave.
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Joe Manganiello’s shocking ancestry
In the episode featuring the Magic Mike XXL star, Manganiello was informed about his descendency from slaves, which shook his belief and forced him to leave the show. The actor was informed about his bloodline through DNA tests and research. None of his DNA matched the family name of Manganiello, making him question his Italian ancestry.
Since Manganiello left the show in between, Rolling Stones reached out to the actor to have a conversation with him about his ancestry and his present belief. The outlet shared with the actor about his great-grandparents’ wedding in 1887. Cutler and Alton, married and lived as an interracial couple a century prior to when it was made legal. The outlet even revealed Plato Turner, the actor’s fifth great-grandfather, was brought to the US as a child slave to eventually serve as a soldier.
Manganiello seemed to have had enough time to embrace his true ancestry, “There are things that make sense now,” he shared with the outlet. He added “I’m descended from survivors.” to further point out his pride in his family history.
“To come from West Africa in chains, on a ship, and to come to the United States and earn your freedom.” is something Manganiello considered brave. He further admitted, “All of a sudden, I can see myself clearly for the first time.”
The considerable shift in Manganiello’s idea of his identity changed his life forever. The fact about his bloodline shifting from Italian to black ancestry was eventually accepted well by the actor.
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Source: Insider
