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Four centuries after white Europeans stepped off the Mayflower and onto America鈥檚 shores, some descendants of the colonists are wrestling with the complicated legacy of their ancestors amid a global racial reckoning.

There is immense pride among those who can trace their families back to the passengers who boarded the ship in Plymouth, England, in 1620 to flee religious persecution and realize a better life. Yet for some, the devastating impact that the Pilgrims鈥� landing in New England had on Native Americans weighs heavily in this moment of unrest over systemic racism.

In interviews with The Associated Press, Americans and Britons who can trace their ancestry either to the Pilgrims or the indigenous people who helped them survive talked openly about the need in 2020 to fairly tell the history.

鈥淐onsidering my ancestors helped incite the racial hierarchies that caused the need for these movements now, I do feel ashamed that that had to be part of history,鈥� said Olivia Musoke, whose ancestors on her mother鈥檚 side arrived in America on the Mayflower.

Ms. Musoke, whose father is Black, said the pride she feels in coming from people who helped settle this country 鈥済ets diminished by the role they played in kind of manipulating and terrorizing people of color, which trickled down to the structures we have today.鈥�

For some, it鈥檚 a difficult issue to reconcile.

鈥淭he pilgrims came out of religious persecution in England. And I鈥檓 very proud of the fact that they set off to create their own independent culture,鈥� said Seth Howland Handy, another descendant of a Mayflower passenger. 鈥淏ut they came to a place where there was existing culture. And, you know, the history is not friendly and that is troublesome."

Mr. Handy said it鈥檚 more important now than ever now to 鈥渞ecognize everyone鈥檚 role in our history and the great diversity of this country.鈥� The United States was embroiled in civil unrest this summer, with protesters demanding justice for George Floyd and other Black Americans killed or injured by police.

Ginny Mucciacco, a descendant of Mayflower passenger Degory Priest, said the Pilgrims鈥� work ethic was admirable.

鈥淭o have this tie to our early history is really, I won鈥檛 say it鈥檚 a privilege, an honor. But it鈥檚 just something to be proud of because so many of them worked so hard, for so many years to help establish this country. And it鈥檚 just very important to me,鈥� said Ms. Mucciacco, of Dedham, Massachusetts.

The soul-searching extends across the Atlantic to England, where Mayflower descendants say they, too, are trying to reconcile pride and prejudice.

Vicky Cosstick, a Briton whose ancestors John Alden and Priscilla Mullins were passengers, said she鈥檚 troubled by the suffering the indigenous people endured 鈥� but she doesn鈥檛 feel guilt.

鈥淚鈥檓 of course horrified and appalled to know what happened as a result of British colonialism in America and what happened to their Native American tribes and the Wampanoags,鈥� Ms. Cosstick said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not as if they went to America in order to steal land from an indigenous population,鈥� she said. 鈥淢uch of it was clearly wrong, but there are many stories that need to be told. And I think the anniversary gives a chance for all of those stories to be told.鈥�

As the racial reckoning has brought new scrutiny to how African American history is taught in American schools, Native Americans have long pushed for the unvarnished stories of their ancestors to be heard.

When the Pilgrims arrived at what we now know as Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Wampanoag tribe helped the exhausted settlers survive their first winter. But Native Americans also endured racism, oppression, and new diseases brought by the European settlers.

鈥淲e were exposed to disease. We were exposed to slavery. I mean, what happened here was people who came not just for religion 鈥� that might have been their purpose of leaving their homeland 鈥� but they came here and wanted to wipe out the existence of a whole culture,鈥� said Hazel Currence, of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe of Cape Cod.

Organizers of the events planned for this year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower鈥檚 arrival pledged to amplify the voices of the Wampanoag, which have been marginalized in past years. Fifty years ago, state officials disinvited a leader of the Wampanoag Nation to the commemoration after learning his speech would bemoan the tribe鈥檚 suffering.

This year, many anniversary events were canceled or postponed聽 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

鈥淲e should have never been treated the way that we were, our ancestors,鈥� Ms. Currence said. 鈥淚 think that if they were here now, if they were looking down on us, I think they鈥檇 be very proud at the movement that鈥檚 going forward now.鈥�

Even though the virus has put a damper on the commemoration, some members of the Wampanoag tribe say they鈥檙e hopeful that the attention on the problem of systemic racism this year will help their voices and stories be heard in a way they haven鈥檛 been before.

鈥淚t鈥檚 opening up everyone else鈥檚 eyes to how unbalanced the world is and unequal,鈥� said Troy Currence, Hazel Currence鈥檚 son and a medicine man from the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe.

鈥淭he world is spinning out of control. So I think more people are going to be aware and more sensitive and open to receiving a message like that,鈥� he said.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Durkin Richer in Boston and Steve Barker in Seaford, England, contributed to this report.