What happened: Reuters investigated the family backgrounds of U.S. political leaders and found that many of them are descended from slave owners.
• Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Elizabeth Warren made the list, but Donald Trump did not.
What it means: Trump is the least racist, most anti-slavery president of the United States, according to the findings of the Reuters investigation.
• "President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president—except Donald Trump—are direct descendants of slaveholders," the analysis found. "Trump's ancestors came to America after slavery was abolished."
• Obama, the first mixed-race president in American history, is a descendant of slave owners on his white mother's side.
Why it matters: Being a slave owner is very racist. Obama and other privileged descendants of slave owners have benefited from the suffering and exploitation of slaves. In the interest of fairness, perhaps they should pay reparations to Trump's family and others who patiently waited for the United States to abolish slavery before immigrating.
Bottom line: Dumb investigations often yield dumb results. Nevertheless, we must respect the science.