THE maternal ancestors of Barack Obama, the Democrat who hopes to become America’s first black president, once owned slaves, genealogists have revealed.

As the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, the background of Obama, who went to a school in Indonesia, was already considered exotic.

According to the genealogists, George Washington Overall, Obama’s great-great-great-great grandfather, owned two slaves, a 15-year-old girl and 25-year-old man, who were listed in the 1850 Kentucky census. Another maternal ancestor owned two older slaves.

In his autobiography, Dreams from My Father, Obama referred to family rumours that his relatives had links to both sides during the civil war, but he did not know he had slaveholding ancestors. Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Illinois senator, said it showed his relatives were “representative of America”.

“It is a true measure of progress that the descendant of a slave owner would come to marry a student from Kenya and produce a son who would grow up to be a candidate for president of the United States,” Burton said.

Obama’s relationship with the black community got off to a rocky start when he launched his campaign for president amid grumbling that he was not “black enough”.

Debra Dickerson, a writer, commented recently that, “‘Blacks’, in our political and social reality, mean those descended from West African slaves,” and said Obama had acquired the “benefits of black progress” without having borne any of the burden.

But, as Obama has pointed out, “If you look African-American in this society, you’re treated as an African-American.” Support for him has risen sharply among the black community.

A poll last week showed Obama leading Hillary Clinton by 14 points among African-Americans.

A similar poll placed her ahead of Obama by 60% to 20% at the start of her campaign.

Clinton had thought she had a lock on the black vote thanks to husband Bill’s reputation as the “first black president”, until Obama entered the race.

Obama was the first to be invited to Selma, Alabama, today to take part in its annual civil rights march commemorating a 1965 protest which was violently attacked by police.

Clinton rushed to get her own invitation when she heard her rival would be present but Obama will have the best position, at the Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal church, where the original march began. Clinton is having to make do with the First Baptist Church down the road.

The Reverend Al Sharpton, the populist black leader, will also be marching in Selma. It emerged last week that his ancestors were once owned by relatives of the late Senator Strom Thurmond, a former segregationist and opponent of the civil rights movement.

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