With the recent uproar of racial based harassment at the University of Missouri, it makes one think about the actual advancement of African Americans. In America race is often the issue in many problems people face. In the TV mini-series "Roots" we see the struggles Blacks face from slavery up until the civil war. It follows the family line of Kunta Kinte and his generations to follow. As advertised, the author, Alex Haley, is a direct family member of Kunta. As a little boy he heard many stories that have been passed down about his family. He is writing to bring to the light the cruelty and injustice that has been brought upon these humans that have been turned into slaves, as well as highlighting the good in some of the …show more content…
We have always been viewed as minorities and lesser than whites. We hear horror stories of how the women, men and children were beat to a pulp. We hear how the women were raped, and the children were torn from their families and sold to the highest bidder. Skipping ahead many years to segregation, not much had changed. Our people are being lynched, kidnapped, murdered, taunted, and a mockery is being made of them. Is that really what we should call being free? Men and women afraid day in and day out for their lives. Not knowing if one day once you leave your house if you will be alive and well to see your loved ones again is no way one should have to live. That is the real message that I believe should be the focus, not questioning if it actually happened only because one person piggy backed off of another book. Yes he may have plagiarized, and maybe he is not directly related to Kunta Kinte, but he is spreading light and truth about the hardships that many blacks faced. With that claim at the forefront of some disbelief there are graphic visual aspects of the movie that are meant to grasp viewers attention. The objective of the movie is to not only engage black viewers, but it is intended to capture the attention and the hearts of different races to give a glimpse of the hardships faced in America …show more content…
Kunta Kinte, whose slave master wanted him to identify of Toby, was beaten for not complying to that given name. He stuck to his roots and took a beating until he could barely stand. It was not uncommon for the slave masters to whip their slave for the slightest insubmission. Sometimes they would even call upon other slaves to lay down the punishment, which I deem to be quite despicable. In an IMDB review, a person stated that blacks were not the only ones effected by these terrible events. The movie, I will say, does show that aspect of things. Yes there were cruel, evil white people that despised blacks, but there were the ones that were kind that yearned to help. In those times not only did the people who tried toescape get killed, but you could also get killed if you were caught trying to aid in their