We just finished watching "Finding your Roots" on PBS with Henry Louis Gates

[rurallib]

This was the last show in the series. The theme tonight was the tremendous blurring of racial lines in America.
Gates himself, Deval Patrick and Jessica Alba were the subjects tonight. Throughout the night there were many flashbacks to other subjects most of which had heritage well beyond what they thought.

I can't remember all the details. Gates found a whole new family he never knew of which included nearly all shades of human skin tone. Patrick found he was close to half European ancestry and I believe Alba found an unknown native American strain in her ancestry.

Big takeaway: We are all pretty much mutts in the US.

The timing could not have been more ironic as once again America is exploding over the sins of those who want to divide and classify us by the color of our skin and the supposed characteristics that goes with those colors.

Thank you, Mr. Gates.

[Recursion]

1. Henry Louis

of "beer summit" fame

[rurallib]

2. yep - the guy who was arrested trying to get into his own house.

OOPS! I didn't see that I had transposed the names - my head had it right, but my fingers failed to follow instructions.
I shall correct and punish my fingers appropriately.
Thanks

[Recursion]

3. Right, but your title says "Louis Henry".

[rurallib]

4. yes thanks - explanation above

[appalachiablue]

5. Excellent program, so well researched & produced. Wonderful fabric of backgrounds

& surprises turn up in many guests lineage. Prof. H.L. 'Skip' Gates is a terrific historian who's done at lot with PBS- 'The African Americans: Many Rivers' series from last year is excellent. He was arrested at his Cambridge, MA home where he teaches at Harvard. Awful event.