Roots was compelling and innovative television for its time. There was never anything like it up until 1977 nor anything like it since.
I was too young to understand most of it the first time I watched it, but I remember a couple of fights breaking out in my elementary school during the week it was on TV. Back then there were few channels, so whatever came on the night before, everyone watched it.
As I grew older, I developed an appreciation for it, even after Alex Haley was accused of plagiarizing parts of the book. He paid $650,000 to Harold Courlander, author of The African, to settle a plagiarism lawsuit. Stanley Crouch wrote a scathing column about Haley. Also see Thomas Sowell’s article.
Every time I watch the movie, I’m saddened, not just because of its depiction of slavery or heavy melodrama. I think about “lost” relatives I’ll never know about. And I always cry during one of the last scenes, a series of flashbacks of all the couples getting married, from Haley’s parents in 1920 to the marriage of Kunta “Toby” Kinte and his wife Bell (played by the late great Madge Sinclair) in the late 1700s.
Wishing I knew about my ancestors is probably why I’m fascinated with the history of the British Monarchy, where ancestry can be traced back to at least the 11th century.
I was reminded of Roots yesterday when I saw an article about Islamic ancestry, written by a genealogist named Nathan W. Murphy. It’s no mystery that many of the West Africans captured and sold into slavery (by their Islamic brothers?) were probably Muslims.
Unless families, especially black families, keep very good records, it’s difficult to trace ancestry beyond three or four generations. Time and money required for doing research are limited for most. And there’s that pesky day job, bills and other obligations.
In my case, reliable knowledge of my ancestry goes back no further than my great-grandparents on both sides. Companies like African Ancestry, Inc., use DNA testing to trace genetic ancestry to a particular African country. It’s as close as many of us will get to finding our Kunta Kinte.
I have a question for readers and commenters. How deep is your family tree?
