How would you feel if you learned that your great-great grandfather was Adolf Hitler? If you are like most of us, you would be embarrassed, ashamed and horrified to discover that you were descended from Hitler. What devastating knowledge!

 

This was no different from the feelings of Nathaniel Hawthorne when he found that his Great—Great Grandfather was John Hathorne, the infamous judge at the Salem Witch trials. What also horrified Hawthorne was his ancestor William, John’s Father, was a perscutor of the Quakers. William had one Quaker, Anne Coleman publically whipped.

 

 It is said that Hawthorne was so ashamed by the sins of his ancestor that he added the “W” to his last name to separate him from his ancestor. He even repudiated his ancestors by referencing them in The Custom House, The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables.

 

According to legend, one of the victims of the trial, Giles Corey , placed a curse on John Hathorne and his descendants which included Hawthorne.

 

Nor was Hawthorne the only one with a sullied reputation and a family curse. Greek mythology tells many stories of people in similar situations including Orestes, and Agamemnon. Nor are these stories restricted to the past either historically or through mythology. It is said that the Kennedy family with the assassination of John and Robert was much like a Greek tragedy. 

 

After all, it has been said that “The sins of the father are visited upon their children even until the third or fourth generation.”

 

If you are a trump supporter, you should know that maybe your children and certainly your grandchildren will be just as devastated that you supported such a disgusting excuse for a human being. When your grandchildren recognize historical pictures of you and other trump supporters at a trump rally, will they hang their heads in shame?

 

Like the Nazi supporters of Hitler whose descendants are ashamed—at least most of them are—will your children be ashamed of you? 

 

We don’t whip people these days like William Hathorne did to Anne Coleman—at least not yet, but in your name we do rip children from their mother’s arms and throw them in the lockup. In your name we see you want to try for treason those who disagree and speak out against this pathetic excuse for a human being. In your name we see you betray our country to foreign countries. In your name, we see you committing serial adultery. Yes, your children will see that you are just as guilty as Trump and like Hawthorne they too will be embarrassed and ashamed of you and your behavior.

 

Just as Hawthorne tried to expiate his legacy, so your children and grandchildren will be forced to expiate your legacy. They will have to live with your crimes and sins.