Summary: The Starcks, like most white progressives on these lands, have a family history of enslaving & genociding. The an � blackness & class-based assimila � onism they've personally exhibited is en � rely consistent with this background. The Palestinian armed resistance organizations have stated explicitly and repeatedly[1] that the israeli genocide in the Levant is fundamentally an expression of u.s. imperialism. Before the united states became zionism's main sponsor, the british empire held that role. The u.k. & the u.s. both developed this power through a centuries-long, ocean-spanning system of mass enslavement on the basis of race. Black chattel slavery & its sordid byproducts made capitalist empire possible; capitalist empire made zionist colonialism possible; zionist colonialism, like any other colonialism, is inescapably genocidal. Many Palestine solidarity activists claim to understand this reality—possibly more so than other leftists, progressives, & radicals. Yet we find ourselves here, dissecting the rampant antiblackness of a kufiyyeh-wearing COVID-cautious organizer & her milieu. If progressive activists like Mask Bloc Louisville cofounder & Louisville for Palestine organizer Maria Starck understand the issues at hand, then...why are they like this? This text places the behavior of Maria & her sister Natalie Starck over the last year into historical, ancestral context. While inconsistent with the aspirations of “radical politics” or “community care,” M&N have been wholly consistent with the norms of enslaving empires & their compliant citizens, and so have generations of their ancestors. The Starck sisters often identify themselves as italian. Their mother Laura Russo Starck & maternal grandfather Carl Russo were long-standing, active members of the San Leone Society, which pointedly identifies its origins in Sicily.[2] Part of the wave of southern & eastern european immigrants who assimilated into the u.s. at the beginning of the 20th century, the Russo “immigrant story” is based on the explicit exclusion of non-white immigrants, the consolidation of colonizer control of land & resources via u.s. westward expansion, & the rise of Jim Crow segregation & ghettoization across the u.s.-occupied territories. Their grandpa Carl's salary didn't just come from slavery & genocide, it reinforced it. He helped design the B-1B Lancer - a warplane manufactured under Ronald Reagan to transport & drop large amounts of bombs anywhere the u.s. military desires. The B-1B has delivered death & suffering across the globe with the help of the united states’ extensive network of military bases, including roughly 750 outside the occupied mainland. It has specifically been deployed as part of the zionist war on Palestinians & their allies: in February 2024 B-1B Lancers were used in a large-scale counterattack against antizionists in Iraq & Syria, killing dozens of people. Carl Russo's bomb money was also invested in the enslavement of horses for entertainment, as he owned racehorses & regularly attended the Kentucky Derby. As for their paternal legacy: M&N's father Bob Starck is a loyal Democrat & active member of the anti-trans Beechmont Neighborhod Association in south louisville. Bob descends from the colonizers whose christian ideology motivated the violent takeover of indigenous lands known today as “Kentucky.” One of these genocide enthusiasts was the sisters' 6x “great” grandfather, Proctor Ballard. Born into virginia's slavery-based aristocracy in 1760, as a young adult Ballard joined what white historians call a “revolutionary” military expedition along the Ohio River, destroying numerous Saawanwaki (Shawnee) villages as punishment for their continued resistance to european invasion.[3] Post-slaughter, Ballard cashed in on the bloodshed by moving to a new outpost the colonizers named Bardstown, opening a plantation distillery with the “help” of enslaved Africans & their descendants, who were legally inherited by his wife Mary after he died.[4] Through Bob's mother Mary Starck, the sisters are direct descendants of Proctor & Mary Ballard. Other members of the Ballard family have various “Kentucky” institutions bearing their name to this day. [5] Another Starck forefather, by way of Bob's dad John Starck, is James W. Young (1767-1849), a son of the virginia slaveholding elite much like Proctor Ballard.[6] The government website of West Point, KY notes that Young “owned the land grant on which the town was established. In fact he owned every lot and even the streets in the town.” Whenever he wasn't busy fulfilling his duties as patroller - surveilling & breaking up gatherings of Black people to prevent collective resistance[7] - James Young used his slavery-supported wealth to finance the construction of the Louisville & Nashville Turnpike, predecessor to today's Dixie Highway, strengthening the u.s. slavery economy. This violent accumulation & expropriation of resources cannot be understood as the exclusive project of a tiny elite. As J. Sakai wrote in the first chapter of Settlers: The Mythology of the White Proletariat , all sections of white settler society — even the artisan, worker, and farmer — were totally dependent upon Afrikan slave labor[...] While the cream of the profits went to the planter and merchant capitalists, the entire settler economy was raised up on a foundation of slave labor, slave products, and the slave trade. White supremacy unifies the Ballards, Youngs, Russos, & Starcks in a project of domination & exploitation, much like zionism unifies israeli oligarchs & generals with their foot soldiers & employees throughout occupied Palestine. There is no “innocence” to be found here. How might a Kentucky Kracker turn against their heritage & align themselves with the oppressed? Here's what not to do: deny a Black trans comrade housing & other survival resources you can share, for no discernible reason beyond personal comfort. Make Palestine solidarity your whole personality, only to Pokémon Go to the polls for a party that leads the destruction of Palestine. Denounce ableist eugenics at City Hall while ignoring its impact in Newburg & the West End. The situation is bleak. The contrasts are Starck. [1] For example, note these statements from October 2023, December 2023, June 2024, August 2024, April 2025, & August 2025. Or listen to this interview with George Habash from 1979. [2] The italian state has historically privileged the north over the south, spurring a nationalist movement from the southern island of Sicily. Despite this uneasy relationship, white Sicilians have been colonizers in italy's attempts at resurrecting Roman empire, including the decades-long italian occupations & attacks on Libya, Somalia, Eritrea, Oromia, Tigray, & beyond. [3] Futrell, Roger H. “Sergeant Proctor Ballard (ca.1755-1820).” Kentucky Ancestors 43, no.2 (Winter 2007): page 73, “Indian Expedition.” American Corner, “ The Battle of Blue Licks.” [4] “Sergeant Proctor Ballard (ca.1755-1820)”: page 75. The section “Proctor Ballard’s death” notes “Proctor was a slaveholder. He had eight slaves at the time of his death: Miley, John, George, Lewis, June, Mathew, Nelson, and Harry.” [5] Proctor Ballard (d. 1820) -> John George Ballard (1786-1835) -> Richard Proctor Ballard (1816-1881) -> Joseph Bland Ballard -> William Mance Ballard (d. 1937) -> Joseph M. Ballard (1903-1939) -> Mary Starck (1929-2009) -> Bob. Just one example: Bland Ballard, the namesake of Ballard County & Ballard High School, was a cousin of Proctor Ballard & also a slaveowner. [6] James W. Young (1767-1849) -> Jesse S. Young (d. 1864) -> Robert Young (1861-1938) -> Lucy Young Starck (d. 1987) -> John J. Starck (1924-2003) -> Bob. A hagiography of the Young family notes on page 66 “5 slaves listed with the [Young] household in 1810.” [7] National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Continuation sheet, item 8, page 2.