Summary Of Alex Haley's Roots

Roots is a television series that was aired in 1977, it based off of a book made by Alex Haley. The story originated from Alex Haley’s family tree, which led him back to his African American ancestors. It all starts with a young African American boy named Kunta Kinte, who was born and raised in Gambia, Western Africa. In Kunta Kinte’s teenage years he was captured by slave hunters as he was looking for materials to make a drum. Kunta Kinte is the starting point for the long journey through all of Alex Haley’s ancestors and their life experiences. I have always known that slavery was one of the darkest times in United States history, but after I watched Roots I realized how hard the African Americans had it as slaves. The horrible conditions they had to survive in, constantly being called the “n” word, and being separated from their families.
The conditions that the slaves had to survive in were …show more content…
They would pay the amount, then they would need to find a job which is a task in itself because they would have to find somebody that could look past the fact that they were former slaves. The free African Americans were still not allowed to learn how to read or write, or be called by their actual African name, they still had to be acknowledged with their pushed on Christian name even though they were “free”. The time in general was a very racist era in which white people pushed intensely.

All in all, Roots has taught me more than I could ask about the slavery. From Roots I got an actual idea of just how horrible African Americans were treated, I cannot even imagine how bad it would be to have been an African American in that time. I truly hope that we do not repeat any sort of racial war in my lifetime like slavery, America should remember as a whole to not do anything to create another slave