I don't expect that this will generate a huge discussion, but I just wanted to talk about this. I've caught a few episodes of this show on PBS, African American Lives. Wow, is it interesting!
Has anyone else seen it? It explores the genealogy of famous black Americans, including Oprah, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, etc.
A few things I found particularly interesting (that might generate some discussion):
I was surprised by the instances of free blacks living in America prior to the Civil War. That happened in several cases and some were fascinating stories. Many had been freed upon the death of their owner. One family (can't remember in whose genealogy it was) was freed when the slaveowner died, and he willed them 1000 acres, I think. This was in Virginia, where free blacks were not allowed to live. The family petitioned the Virginian government and were permitted to live on their land till the slaveowner's widow died. Once she died, however, they were supposed to leave. When she did die, they petitioned the government again and were denied permission to remain on their land.
End of story? No, actually. Tax records from subsequent years showed this family still on their land, still paying taxes, etc. How? The white families in the area protected them, so that they could remain on the land that was willed to them.
I thought that was cool.
What was sad was the precarious societal position these freed blacks were in. Without proper papers on them at all times (and even sometimes with them), they could be taken back into slavery.
Of course, it was very sad and sobering to see the faces of these celebrities (these people) when they saw their ancestors listed as property, "owned" by another person. It was just awful.
One lady, Linda Johnson Rice, had an ancestor who was sold away from his mother when he was 8.
With Oprah, they were able to trace her family back to Africa, to the specific tribe, even. That was awesome!
So I guess any thoughts on ancestry would be welcome here or whatever. If you don't know about your ancestry, what is the significance of that? What if you're uncertain about your ancestry? How does that make you feel? What does knowing where you came from do for a person? What would not knowing that do to a person, to a people group?
The show is just neat. Tracing lineage for African Americans is notoriously difficult for obvious reasons, but it was cool to see how far back they could go in many cases (and sad when they couldn't get past the property records of a slaveowner).
Sobering. But fascinating, too.
Lali