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| Going back to my Roots | Going back to my Roots |
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| It's 30 years since the TV drama Roots first screened. The show had a profound impact on black people in the US and UK, recalls Kwame Kwei-Armah, right, who spoke to others about their memories of the programme. | It's 30 years since the TV drama Roots first screened. The show had a profound impact on black people in the US and UK, recalls Kwame Kwei-Armah, right, who spoke to others about their memories of the programme. |
| Thirty years ago I was an 11-year-old growing up in West London. One evening I sat down with my family to watch a new television programme called Roots. | Thirty years ago I was an 11-year-old growing up in West London. One evening I sat down with my family to watch a new television programme called Roots. |
| It was a moment that changed my life. By the end of the series I had told my mother that I would one day trace my heritage back to Africa and reclaim an ancestral name. Before I watched the programme I was called Ian Roberts but now my name is Kwame Kwei-Armah. | |
| Roots was a novel based on the writer Alex Haley's family history. It started in Africa with a young man called Kunte Kinte being captured by slavers. It followed him as he was transported to America and sold into slavery. It then focused on his descendants all the way down to Alex Haley. | Roots was a novel based on the writer Alex Haley's family history. It started in Africa with a young man called Kunte Kinte being captured by slavers. It followed him as he was transported to America and sold into slavery. It then focused on his descendants all the way down to Alex Haley. |
| I thought it would help people to understand the real tragedy involved... that the real story of black people in America came out of oppression and deep, deep violence Alvin Hall Many doubted that Roots would do well on television. David Wolper, the producer, had problems selling it to a network. | I thought it would help people to understand the real tragedy involved... that the real story of black people in America came out of oppression and deep, deep violence Alvin Hall Many doubted that Roots would do well on television. David Wolper, the producer, had problems selling it to a network. |
| "Roots did not sound like a good idea - at the beginning, here's a story where the blacks are the heroes and the whites are the villains, in a country that's 90% white and 10% black." | "Roots did not sound like a good idea - at the beginning, here's a story where the blacks are the heroes and the whites are the villains, in a country that's 90% white and 10% black." |
| To soften the "blow", a new, sympathetic white character was added to the story - conscience-stricken boat captain Thomas Davies. | To soften the "blow", a new, sympathetic white character was added to the story - conscience-stricken boat captain Thomas Davies. |
| But when it was broadcast in January 1977 Roots was a phenomenon. It was watched by over 100 million people. It became the most watched programme ever. It is still in the top three only surpassed by the last episode of Mash and the "who shot JR?" episode of Dallas. | But when it was broadcast in January 1977 Roots was a phenomenon. It was watched by over 100 million people. It became the most watched programme ever. It is still in the top three only surpassed by the last episode of Mash and the "who shot JR?" episode of Dallas. |
| Though some question the authenticity of Alex Haley's account, the story he told of enslavement, transportation and brutality happened to millions of Africans. | Though some question the authenticity of Alex Haley's account, the story he told of enslavement, transportation and brutality happened to millions of Africans. |
| Harrowing experience | Harrowing experience |
| For writer and television presenter Alvin Hall, then a student in North Carolina, watching the story on TV for the first time was a memorable experience, not least because it felt like white audiences were for the first time sharing in the experience of watching black faces on TV. But Hall also found the experience of watching harrowing. | For writer and television presenter Alvin Hall, then a student in North Carolina, watching the story on TV for the first time was a memorable experience, not least because it felt like white audiences were for the first time sharing in the experience of watching black faces on TV. But Hall also found the experience of watching harrowing. |
| Roots' creator, Alex Haley, who died in 1992"I think all of us knew these things intellectually but to see it was hard to watch, in some scenes I had to turn my face away from the television." | Roots' creator, Alex Haley, who died in 1992"I think all of us knew these things intellectually but to see it was hard to watch, in some scenes I had to turn my face away from the television." |
| In America, Roots may have dramatised slavery for the first time. But everyone already knew that slavery was a part of America's history. For many West Indians living in Britain, though, Roots was revelatory. | In America, Roots may have dramatised slavery for the first time. But everyone already knew that slavery was a part of America's history. For many West Indians living in Britain, though, Roots was revelatory. |
| Dr Robert Beckford is now a theologian and academic but in 1977 he was a teenager growing up in the Midlands. | Dr Robert Beckford is now a theologian and academic but in 1977 he was a teenager growing up in the Midlands. |
| "I was completely shocked the first time I watched Roots. It was compulsive viewing in my house it became more important than going to church," he says. | "I was completely shocked the first time I watched Roots. It was compulsive viewing in my house it became more important than going to church," he says. |
| Roots was a huge success in the UK too, with 19 million people watching. The subject matter may have been difficult but it was a brilliant, epic story that drew you into the characters' lives. | Roots was a huge success in the UK too, with 19 million people watching. The subject matter may have been difficult but it was a brilliant, epic story that drew you into the characters' lives. |
| Source of pride | Source of pride |
| Many people learnt all they knew about slavery from watching Roots but it only showed the American involvement. Many Britons had no idea that the British transported far more slaves across the Atlantic than the Americans ever did. | Many people learnt all they knew about slavery from watching Roots but it only showed the American involvement. Many Britons had no idea that the British transported far more slaves across the Atlantic than the Americans ever did. |
| My mum talked to people on the phone for... two hours. She called every black person she knew and talked about it Lenny Henry Yet, for young black Britons growing up in the UK, Roots was a source of tremendous pride. Lenny Henry remembers how the show's effect spilled over from living room to playground. | My mum talked to people on the phone for... two hours. She called every black person she knew and talked about it Lenny Henry Yet, for young black Britons growing up in the UK, Roots was a source of tremendous pride. Lenny Henry remembers how the show's effect spilled over from living room to playground. |
| "I remember going to school on the Monday and people somehow didn't mess with you that day because all the black kids had this look in their eyes that said you better back off," recalls Henry. | "I remember going to school on the Monday and people somehow didn't mess with you that day because all the black kids had this look in their eyes that said you better back off," recalls Henry. |
| That was perhaps the exception, not the rule. In most schools, the show proved to be a source for teasing - the name Kunta Kinte sounding not like a proud warrior, but a rude joke. | That was perhaps the exception, not the rule. In most schools, the show proved to be a source for teasing - the name Kunta Kinte sounding not like a proud warrior, but a rude joke. |
| What made Roots so difficult for many people with Caribbean heritage was that it confronted them with the fact that their families originally came from Africa. Growing up in West London, Africa was something you saw in Tarzan movies where savages were beaten up by our white hero. We felt no kinship with Africa. | What made Roots so difficult for many people with Caribbean heritage was that it confronted them with the fact that their families originally came from Africa. Growing up in West London, Africa was something you saw in Tarzan movies where savages were beaten up by our white hero. We felt no kinship with Africa. |
| Going in work you looked at people completely different, you'd begin to have a mistrust of white people and that took a long time to go Doreen Lawrence But Roots clearly changed the way British West Indians thought about themselves. Doreen Lawrence, of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, had been brought up knowing nothing about slavery or Africa. | Going in work you looked at people completely different, you'd begin to have a mistrust of white people and that took a long time to go Doreen Lawrence But Roots clearly changed the way British West Indians thought about themselves. Doreen Lawrence, of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, had been brought up knowing nothing about slavery or Africa. |
| "Until Roots came out I would never have seen myself as a descendant of a slave, that was never part of my background that I learnt growing up in the Caribbean." | "Until Roots came out I would never have seen myself as a descendant of a slave, that was never part of my background that I learnt growing up in the Caribbean." |
| For my generation Roots was a seminal moment that in many cases changed our lives. Robert Beckford believes the young today need their own Roots, "The current generation that are caught up in education failure, gun crime, gang violence, and lacking identity. They need a Roots experience." | For my generation Roots was a seminal moment that in many cases changed our lives. Robert Beckford believes the young today need their own Roots, "The current generation that are caught up in education failure, gun crime, gang violence, and lacking identity. They need a Roots experience." |
| Born black in 'post-slavery' UK | |
| Looking back, for me, the most important thing about Roots was not just that it pointed me in the direction of my heritage but that it showed me the power of a story to change perceptions and lives. And that is probably why I am a writer today. | Looking back, for me, the most important thing about Roots was not just that it pointed me in the direction of my heritage but that it showed me the power of a story to change perceptions and lives. And that is probably why I am a writer today. |
| Kwame Kwei-Armah presents Roots on Radio 4 on Saturday 24 March at 1030 BST. Add your comments on this story, using the form below. | Kwame Kwei-Armah presents Roots on Radio 4 on Saturday 24 March at 1030 BST. Add your comments on this story, using the form below. |