ROOTS

by Alex Haley



If you've ever wondered if it was worth your time to tackle Roots: The Saga of an American Family, I'm here to tell you the answer is a resounding, "Yes!!" If this isn't the best book I've read this year, it is definitely the most affecting. Only one other book has made me think this deeply about being white and, yes, I'll say it, privileged, and personally ashamed of those despicable parts of our history when we treated other human being worse than animals. (The other book was Dances with Wolves. That one made me want to wash the white right off of me. I cried for days after finishing it.)

When Kunta Kinte was captured, as he was fighting to get away, even on the ship, I kept irrationally waiting for him to escape. Isn't that what is supposed to happen to the good guys? My gut tied in knots as his nightmare continued. I can't even imagine this type of thing being real. It is simply beyond my capabilities to understand treating other human beings so vilely. It sickens me to think this is such a large part of American history.

I could go completely off on my soap box but I'll refrain from so doing, because this story of Haley's ancestors surviving, overcoming, then thriving, hearing how Haley literally went back to his African roots to learn his family's story, made me heart-achingly proud at the same time. Proud of the diversity that makes this country great, proud of how far we have come, and proud of the country we still have the potential to be. All of us, together.

E pluribus unum -- Out of many, one.