I think its prety obvious that much of Roots would have to be embellished and is clearly fiction. People taken from their homelands with their culture and language very quickly hammered out of them arent going to have much source material!
But even at that I also believe the base idea (the root if you like!) is based on the truth and that some of this original info did indeed come down the years with Alex Hayley's family.
I found the book to be an enjoyable read and probably an accurate enough account of the treatment of African Americans by slave masters. As a reliable historical source it clearly cant be trusted but as a piece of fiction based loosely on pathchy family history its excellent.
Hope you got a good mark for your project!
I agree that the story is probably a "reasonable facsimile" of how these things really went. But the plagiarism really bugged me - that's criminal, any way you slice it. If he would have credited Courlander (and others), it would have been the right thing to do.
PS - I got an "A" 
Roots is a very true story that happened to all african families. Is it Alex Haley's story yes, Is it my family's story yes. So stop trying to take away from the point of this story oh wait you couldn't do that if you tried you little BRAT!
I am still unconvinced that Alex Haley perpetrated a fraud. Anyone who has done work on genealogy knows how difficult it is be sure about your conclusions, and I believe Alex Haley thought Kunta Kinte was his ancestor. In fact, I would be willing to bet that a lot of slaves picked up on his story as their own, rightly or wrongly. This fact makes it their history in my mind.
Finally, I haven't seen a comparison of the passages at issue, but if Alex Haley is like most African American's (and I realize some may object to this generalization) he would be an incredible oral learner. Perhaps he read this book in preparation for his own and did inadvertently reproduce passages. People who knew him loved him to a person. This is what I believe happened, and, in fact, it all comes down to that in the end. Faith.
Look...Alex haley was born in 1913...this is only 50 years after the civil war. It is very conceivable that he would have known who his fore fathers were based on the spoken word. I was born in the 1970's, and I know the names of my grandparents (born circa 1890 - 1912, and my great grandparents (1850-1860). That goes back over 100 years, I have never even done any research. I loved the book. I htought it was great, and I belive that Alex Haley is the descendant of a kidnapped & enslaved African named Kunte Kinte. Give the guy a break.
what's obvious to me is that there are still people who don't want to believe the truth. try and find the old episode of the chris rock show with stanely crouch's guest appearance. he sets rock straight about the truth of alex haley's roots (or should I say the falsehoods). better yet, watch the bbc program. maybe it's available on youtube?
> "what's obvious to me is that there are still people who don't want to believe the truth."
Agreed. I'm astounded that people still defend and even praise Haley.
> "watch the bbc program. maybe it's available on youtube?"
I've tried and tried to locate it, but with no success -- if it's available anywhere, could someone e-mail me the information?
The Village Voice article by Philip Nobile ("Uncovering Roots", Feb. 23, 1993, pages 31-3
is somewhat more readily available, at least in the US. The evidence Nobile lays out is frankly damning, and admits no other possibility than that Haley fabricated his entire pre-Civil War ancestry.
sorry, forgot to include the email address -- anyone knowing how to get a copy of the bbc documentary, please email me at "qxq2003 at hotmail dot com" -- thanks.
Haley has teken some posthumous hits for supposed "liberties" taken with the background details/info of Kunya Kinte's story.
Fair enough.
But the most important aspect of "ROOTS" is its unflinching portrayal of the Slave Trade, and life in the Old ("slave days") South.
In this, it is quite accurate.
Back in the 70s, it was a real shock for most white Americans to see this portrayal of American racism/slavery, and the social reality that embedded it in American culture right up to today.
It was a good and healthy thing for white Americans to see and learn about that era of US History.
Plus, seen again, it's still engrossing drama & informing entertainment.
Alex Haley had feet of clay, for sure.
But he did create a lasting work that had an important impact on the country.
"ROOTS" will endure,
and rightfully so.
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