(WCBS 880) -- Ancestry.com is getting slammed on social media for an ad showing a mixed-race couple discussing fleeing North from the Deep South during the Civil War era so they could be together.
Reaction to the ad was not favorable, with many accusing the DNA testing company of whitewashing slavery.
The ad is part of a campaign showing stories from the past to get viewers interested in learning about their ancestors. It ends with the words, "Without you, the story stops here."
Some say it makes light of the seriousness of slavery. Others say it's revisionist history of a time when black women were raped by slave owners and often mixed race relationships were violent, not romantic love stories.
One of about 1,000 awful things about this commercial is it ignores the fact that for black Americans - myself included - and for others in the diaspora, DNA and documentary ancestry information is as painful and traumatic as it is illuminating. These are not love stories. https://t.co/tuTpHwmnGk
— Kimberly Atkins (@KimberlyEAtkins) April 18, 2019
Ancestry.com has decided to pull the ad from TV and YouTube.
"Ancestry is committed to telling important stories from history. This ad was intended to represent one of those stories," the company said in a statement. "We very much appreciate the feedback we have received and apologize for any offense that the ad may have caused."
