Yesterday I watched two documentaries about Roots, the television mini-series that aired in January 1977. The documentaries are Crossing Over: How Roots Captivated an Entire Nation (2007) and Roots: One Year Later (1978). In Crossing Over, I found it surprising when the white producer, David Wolper, said that Alex Haley, the Black author of Roots (1976), did not want any Black writers to contribute to the television adaptation, because Haley felt that Black writers would begin to tell their stories instead of his. I found Haley's statement to be a bit shocking. Was that a form of reverse discrimination? Or was Haley justified? If Black writers had contributed to the television adaptation, would Roots have been different? Would it lose its universal appeal? Let's discuss.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Roots: 33 Years Later
Yesterday I watched two documentaries about Roots, the television mini-series that aired in January 1977. The documentaries are Crossing Over: How Roots Captivated an Entire Nation (2007) and Roots: One Year Later (1978). In Crossing Over, I found it surprising when the white producer, David Wolper, said that Alex Haley, the Black author of Roots (1976), did not want any Black writers to contribute to the television adaptation, because Haley felt that Black writers would begin to tell their stories instead of his. I found Haley's statement to be a bit shocking. Was that a form of reverse discrimination? Or was Haley justified? If Black writers had contributed to the television adaptation, would Roots have been different? Would it lose its universal appeal? Let's discuss.
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