PBS: African American Lives

[Sistermadly]

Beginning Wednesday, February 2:

"For generations, we have been unable to learn about our African heritage or our family trees. What if we could trace our roots?"

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/

A related story: http://www.courant.com/features/life...headlines-life

When he employed DNA testing to find the roots of prominent African Americans for a new genealogy show on PBS for Black History Month, Henry Louis Gates Jr. couldn't resist looking into his own family's past.

What he found surprised him: The W.E.B. Du Bois professor of humanities and chair of the African and African American Studies Department at Harvard University was half white.

"Oh, man. It was the long dark night of the soul," Gates says about the discovery, joking: "what about my reparation check? I have to give away half of my reparation check? All that affirmative-action money - I have to give it back. It's terrible. It's very embarrassing to me."

If you could trace your roots, would you? If you found out something as surprising as what Gates found out, would it change your self-perception? Your identity?

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally posted by Sistermadly

If you could trace your roots, would you? If you found out something as surprising as what Gates found out, would it change your self-perception? Your identity?

I would love to know more about my african heritage (what tribe, which part of africa, their daily lives, etc.). But for my family, there are no "vanilla surprises" we've always known from jump. And we've always considered ourselves black/african american.

Funny thing is.....a few years my ago (this was in the 80s), my aunt actually took on the task of doing a "formalized" genealogical history of our family - basically putting oral history down to paper. During this research, she found the "white side of our family (for lack of better term). When she contacted them, they declined to have anything to do with it or acknowledge it - even though our grandparents were siblings and she had proof of this (pics, documents, etc.). I told my aunt she shouold try again, but this time, try to talk with someone younger (in their 30s). I think a younger person would probably be more open as opposed to someone in their twilight years

But oh well....its their loss. They get to miss hanging out with the cool side of the family.

.

[Optimist Prime]

This thread reminds me of the Family Guy episode where Peter finds out he has a black anscector. That was funny. I'd be interested in meeting someone who was from the same family but had a different ethnic identity.

[Taualumna]

If I could trace my roots, I definitely would. Since I was in high school, random people would ask me if both my parents are Chinese or if I'm Filipina (usually by people of Phillippine descent, oddly enough). As far as I've been told, I don't have any non-Chinese blood. So if I found out that I am not 100% Han Chinese, then I would not be surprised. My parents, however, would.

[mulattogyrl]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974
I would love to know more about my african heritage (what tribe, which part of africa, their daily lives, etc.). But for my family, there are no "vanilla surprises" we've always known from jump. And we've always considered ourselves black/african american.

Funny thing is.....a few years my ago (this was in the 80s), my aunt actually took on the task of doing a "formalized" genealogical history of our family - basically putting oral history down to paper. During this research, she found the "white side of our family (for lack of better term). When she contacted them, they declined to have anything to do with it or acknowledge it - even though our grandparents were siblings and she had proof of this (pics, documents, etc.). I told my aunt she shouold try again, but this time, try to talk with someone younger (in their 30s). I think a younger person would probably be more open as opposed to someone in their twilight years

But oh well....its their loss. They get to miss hanging out with the cool side of the family.

.

That's interesting. I have a white half-brother who refuses to have anything to do with us because we're black. I wouldn't know him if I ran right into him in the street. What's even funnier is we used to play together when we were young. It just goes to show you learn prejudice.

[Eclipse]

I can't wait to see this show. It premeires tonight in Atlanta. I've always had an interest in researching my roots, maybe this will jump start me to actually doing it!