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In reply to the discussion: When You Defend Phil Robertson, Here's What You're Really Defending [View all]calimary
(81,238 posts)Should DEFINITELY be rerun, ESPECIALLY now. Alex Haley's "Roots." A masterpiece. Eye-opening as all-get-out. And when it aired originally, it set off a huge chain reaction of discussion and a re-examination of the black experience in this country, illuminating what they went through, the punishment and mistreatment they endured, their struggle, their suffering, their anguish. It shed a light on the ordeal of slavery and what a blight it was on our history - a sin so tremendous and grievous that we are STILL paying for it as a nation and a society. For us in the white community, it gave us a vivid picture of what REALLY went on, far beyond the glossy veneer of "Gone with the Wind" and "Amos & Andy" and "The Jack Benny Program" where all blacks were presented as happy wise-cracking servants like the character Rochester. It was so mind-bending and riveting and joltingly educational. We need to see it again, and watch it again as a nation.
Hey, ABC-TV - you ran "Roots" the first time. And the ratings were absolutely boffo, too, btw. Why aren't you scheduling it again?