A Look at Roots - A Saga of an American Family

I first read Roots when I was in taking my college major. I was already familiar with American history and the genesis of the journey of the Blacks in the Americas. This book however, never failed to stir strong emotions inside me despite the fact that I do not even have the slightest associations with Blacks, on top of the fact that I live all my life in the Philippines. For me, this is one of the best indications that this book has something special in it that can touch anyone regardless of race, color, geography, nationality, and perception of the world. I was academically aware of the struggles of black Americans in the early years of slaver but there was no genuine feeling of sympathy for them. This book simply changed everything. It reversed by outlook towards the struggles of the blacks before and at the present. In other words, this book is worth every penny you can save to buy and read it.The book is about the true story of a black family spanning six generations. Th
e opening part of the story revolves around the life of a young boy somewhere in Africa. His name was Kunta Kinte and he lived in a typical Muslim African village. During the boy's normal wandering in the nearby woods, he was captured by slave traders and was eventually sold to plantation owners in America. There he met Bell, his future wife. Together they produced a daughter in the name of Kizzy. The book in this part shows in gruesome details how families are broken up and separated by a simple misdemeanor or crime. In this case, Kizzy committed a crime and was punished by her owner by raping her and afterwards selling her to another owner. Kizzy was able to get through with her difficult situation and married another slave. The story continues until it reached the generation of Mathilda who gave birth to Tom. Tom turned himself into a fine blacksmith until the civil war released all slaves as free citizens. Tom married Irene and they had several children. One of them is C
ynthia who marries Simon Haley. They are the parents of the author, Alex Haley.Adored and criticized at the same time, Roots: A saga of an American Family will go down in American history as one of the most compelling and detailed narration of the life of black slaves in the past. Interestingly, Alex Haley had to pay $650,000 to Harold Courlander, the author of The African because of plagiarism issues. The interest on the book, however, continued to create a stir amid many accusations such as lack of historical data. For me, the book should never be taken as a totally accurate account since black history in America was never fully documented, especially the history of each family. The story of the book shows that history of individual black family was passed through word of mouth for several generations.The most important of all was that this book was able to tell in detail the obstacles faced by blacks in America, and how it strengthened the lineage of each families in the
process. It was a wonderful story on how to overcome seemingly hopeless situations.

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