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Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. played on PBS this evening at 8 p.m. [EST]. And I have to say I enjoyed it immensely.
Celebrities discovering their ancestry this evening were long time musicians and friends...
...Branford Marsalis and...
...Harry Connick Jr.
I was a bit disappointed that none of the research done to locate these ancestries was shown. Documents appear, as if by magic, in a neat scrap album, and Gates lays the story of each family out for the guest. Great stories by the way. And I was interested.
I can only find one real flaw with the show, and it's simply one that I have had with Mr. Gates when watching other programs he has commented on. It is in regard to the Civil War.
"It all comes down to slavery" he has said.
I think Mr. Gates should do a bit more research on the actual reasons behind the Civil War. Slavery was but a small part of it, an integral part to be sure, but a small part.
I was terribly pleased to see the little wager made about the DNA with the five gentlemen from the barbershop! How often do we hear someone say, white and black, that they have Native American blood in them. That myth ran through my own family's history as well! [Our DNA showed less than 0.1% Asian.]
In closing, let me state that I did enjoy the show. Very much. And I will be watching the next episode. It's a pleasing way to pass a Sunday evening at home.
I give the show...
....Four Stars.
