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Need "Other Relationship" for enslaved persons and for other non-standard relationships

Jenn D, Esq.

May 18, 2023 23:10

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Geni would have a "first" in the industry with this addition, and would help facilitate genealogy for the descendants of enslaved persons.

Right now, there is no way to "attach" enslaved persons to their slaveholders. This results in an inequitable situation for those researching and documenting enslaved ancestors. At this time, we are forced to add the enslaved person's slaveholder in the person's display and AKA names, and build out links in both profiles' "about" sections that are not part of a search. It should be as easy to link the enslaved and their slaveholders as it is to link parents and children.

The only functional way to attach right now is using a "foster parent" relation, which would be infantilizing and offensive.

Where a slaveholder is an actual parent, then that's fine for using a parental connection. However, then we have a second problem: the enslaved mother is forced to be listed as "partner" or "ex-partner," which suggests an equal power dynamic. As we know, it was not.

Additionally, there are instances where children came about not because their bio parents were partners of any kind. This "Other Relationship" would cover that. Real-life example: one of my ancestors impregnated another one of my ancestors when she was a child, and the act was recognized as statutory rape even in that very early time. However, I've had to list him as her "ex-partner" here on Geni.

On the search page, where there are search fields for a person using the names of their parents, children, or partners, there should be an  "any relationship" field added to help facilitate genealogy for people who are descended from those enslaved or born via non-partner encounters. 

Aside from making it more efficient and searchable, an important reason for making the "other relationship" option is so it can be locked after being documented. 

In doing this, Geni would be doing an amazing service to make genealogy more accessible to everyone, NOT just to those with free white ancestors born via traditional relationships.

Thank you for your consideration.

6 comments

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  Geni Customer Support May 26, 2023 00:29 Official comment

  Thank you for this suggestion.  We have some hesitancy about creating anything that looks like a parent/child relationship between slaves and slave-owners, for the same reasons you stated with regards to using the "foster" designation.  Your Search use-case is interesting and we will discuss it with the product design team (along with your suggestion of being able to designate not-even-ex-partners as "other")

   

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  Mathew Englander May 26, 2023 02:59

  It's always seemed weird to me that if two unmarried individuals happen to be someone's mother and father, then Geni requires those two to be labelled either "partner" or "ex-partner" of each other.

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  Job Waterreus May 29, 2023 19:58

  Would it be possible to add a role when adding profiles to an event on the timeline.

  With a role like slave owner It may be possible to define an event when a slave owner starts or ends to own a slave. and it that way connect slaves to the owner. It may need a new view for the timeline to see these connections with the role because some roles (like slave owner) could connect a large amount of other profiles to an event.

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  Dimitri Vulis September 28, 2024 22:51

  This may be a separate request, but how about adding a "named after" relationship role as well?

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  Leanne M (Volunteer Curator - Australia) - on walkabout🇦🇺 October 16, 2024 01:58

  I use timeline events all the time to connect people who don’t have a “family” relationship.
  * newspaper accounts linking them
  * Australian convicts - who they were assigned to

  I would not be comfortable having “slaves owners” attached to a profile like a family would be.

  Yes a connection - but this could be in the about me or in the timeline or in the new label fields.
  ****
  For named after you could use the new label fields and the about me.

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  Dimitri Vulis February 14, 2025 05:11

  Perhaps "event" could be generalized to document an asymmetric connection between two or more people that is not related to having children? Probably with a freeform text field to describe the relationship/roles, for example:

   "X and Y were enslaved by A and B"

  "X was the Ph.D. advisor of Y and Z"

  "X and Y were A's serfs"

  "X and Y were named after Z"

  and perhaps add the event fields to the Search function somehow.