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Finding Your Media: The Show In the News

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AuntiePam

AuntiePam

It's more disturbing that -- according to the article -- Gates agreed to do it.  I saw the Affleck segment but don't remember anything about it. 

 

Hard to understand Affleck's concern.  No one blames anyone for stuff their ancestors did.

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peaceknit

peaceknit

(edited)

Ben Affleck's position disturbs me too, and knocked him down a peg in my estimation. It seems like if you're wealthy, it's easy to rewrite history for yourself. He's certainly not the only one, but we saw the secret emails, so....And Skip Gates? Tsk tsk!! He should have stood his ground on principle.

 

I do have one branch in my tree that I can positively identify as slave owners, and they were in Kentucky. There may be more, as I can take several lines of my genealogy back to the beginning of the US, but I don't know of any. It is what it is. I wonder if they rolled over in their graves when I gave them a biracial grandson - heh!

Edited by peaceknit
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PRgal

PRgal

I have issues with Ben Affleck's demands as well.  Everyone's family has its not-so-nice parts.  Or at least un-PC by today's standards.  I have a great-grandfather who had multiple wives at the same time - completely legal in Macau (and other Chinese areas) back in the 1930s.  The family also had mui tsai as servants - indentured servant girls sent to work in wealthy homes as children.  The girls' families will be given a sum of money, but the girls don't get a salary.  They're supposed to be married off after a certain amount of time, but that doesn't always happen.  I believe this occurred until the end of WWII when it was outlawed??

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kassa

kassa

Gates seems to have been against it, and rightly so.  But he obviously feared the top brass enough to ask, and the end product didn't contain it.  However, I can't remember the episode well.  There's a difference between not including that ancestor at all and instead focusing on other people with other stories, vs talking about that specific ancestor and leaving that pesky slave owning "detail" out. . Sounds like they did the former -- went with other people.  Which was an accommodation, but not the same level of censorship as leaving it out of a story on that actual person.  

 

If they featured that ancestor and left it out, that's really, really bad.

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jjj

jjj

There was a good discussion of this issue on NPR this morning -- with a commentator saying that because the theme of that particular segment was "Freedom," and focused on Affleck's mother's dedication to civil rights, the omission of a slave-owning ancestor was particularly glaring. 

 

This incident also shows how scripted the show is -- celebrities being shown their roots on film are being shown information they had been told in advance. 

 

For someone like Gates, who is hosting this on the basis of his scholarly credentials, this is very problematic.  I look forward to seeing the report that PBS will issue after its internal investigation. 

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pookat

pookat

(edited)

I was ready to (partially) hand wave Affleck's request, because I think it's natural for a person of conscience to be horrified by their ancestor's actions even if they are not responsible for them. It's a whole family shame thing. It may not be rational, but many of us feel that way.

However, after reading his "apology" here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3051415/Is-embarrassing-Ben-Affleck-THREE-slave-owning-ancestors-one-bought-negro-boy-called-Tobe-80-pounds-family-s-New-England-farm-tannery.htmlI am much more irritated by his actions as well as basically laying the blame for the decision on Professor Gates. It is clear from the email excerpts that Gates felt backed into a corner, with Affleck being a "megastar" who wielded and in this case misused the power he has in Hollywood.

The professional integrity of Gates and his program is what will ultimately suffer as a result, while Affleck will continue to make Hollywood blockbusters.

Not fair at all. It doesn't excuse the fact that Gates/FYR acquiesed to these demands, but I can't help but think of how this is yet another example of how wealth, fame, power, and yes, white privilege, insulates the elite. I feel for Gates.

Edited by pookat
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QueBueno

QueBueno

Yeah, that was not cool of Ben Affleck. I've found many slaveowners in my ancestors. It wasn't right, but those were different times.

On another note, just last week I found a connection to William Bradford. I'm not a descendant, just a distant relative. I haven't even completed that line in my tree yet - seemed like a lot of work for someone I'm not descended from. But still cool to know.

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kassa

kassa

They all married each other, so if you found one connection, there may be others closer in your line that you just don't know about yet.

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editorgrrl

editorgrrl

Citing Ben Affleck’s ‘Improper Influence,’ PBS Suspends ‘Finding Your Roots’ (NYT link)

PBS said on Wednesday that it was postponing a future season of “Finding Your Roots” after an investigation revealed that the actor Ben Affleck pressured producers into leaving out details about an ancestor of his who owned slaves.

 

PBS will not run the show’s third season until staffing changes are made, including hiring a fact checker, it said.

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magdalene

magdalene

I liked the show too. But programs like this have to have their facts right and honesty and integrity are very important.  They let a Hollywood power player whose image is more important to him than the truth pressure them into suppressing the truth. I lost respect for Mr.Affleck, not because of his slave owner ancestor, but because he tried to hide his ancestor. I also lost respect for the program for caving in to the actor.

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

I liked the show too. But programs like this have to have their facts right and honesty and integrity are very important.  They let a Hollywood power player whose image is more important to him than the truth pressure them into suppressing the truth. I lost respect for Mr.Affleck, not because of his slave owner ancestor, but because he tried to hide his ancestor. I also lost respect for the program for caving in to the actor.

 

Yea it's a damn shame :(.

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Actionmage

Actionmage

The professional integrity of Gates and his program is what will ultimately suffer as a result,

 

And that is just what happened.

 

, including hiring a fact checker, it said.

 

Somehow, I disbelieve that Dr. Gates didn't have someone already doing that.  The Affleck business was about suppressing facts, not having facts be wrong. 

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stormy

stormy

What a shame that Prof Gates could be swayed by someone he considers to be a superstar.

There have been bigger Hollywood stars on the show (and Derek Jeter, too) who didn't throw a hissy fit.

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kassa

kassa

I don't think Gates was the one who was swayed.  I read the letter he wrote months ago, so it's somewhat vague, but I didn't get the impression that he was the one calling the shots -- more like he was saying "Houston, we have a problem.  I don't want to offend Affleck because you guys went to a lot of trouble to get us such a big star, but I'm not crazy about what he asked us to do."

 

He bumped it up the line and somebody up that line said "ah, leave it out. Make Ben happy."  Gates may have fallen on his sword afterward as the face of the show, but I don't think it was his call or he would have just done it without seeking input/advice.

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AntiBeeSpray

AntiBeeSpray

I don't think Gates was the one who was swayed.  I read the letter he wrote months ago, so it's somewhat vague, but I didn't get the impression that he was the one calling the shots -- more like he was saying "Houston, we have a problem.  I don't want to offend Affleck because you guys went to a lot of trouble to get us such a big star, but I'm not crazy about what he asked us to do."

 

He bumped it up the line and somebody up that line said "ah, leave it out. Make Ben happy."  Gates may have fallen on his sword afterward as the face of the show, but I don't think it was his call or he would have just done it without seeking input/advice.

 

Exactly. He doesn't seem to be the kind of person to be swayed by that kind of thing. It seems as if it was out of his hands.

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Ina123

Ina123

The think what got me about the whole Affleck mess was that the episode centered on his mother being this great civil rights activist...yada...yada...yada. And then to omit the slave-owning ancestors which was an interesting twist. I think including it and emphasizing how far they have come from slave-owning ancestors to civil rights activist would be a great family history.

 

Of course, the other side of that coin is that there is now a dispute over whether she really did partake in  the voting drive down in Mississippi during Freedom Summer or that she really even knew the activists who were killed.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

3 hours ago, LizDC said:

Returning in January!

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2018/07/31/season-five-of-finding-your-roots-with-henry-louis-gates-jr-premieres-winter-2019-on-pbs-beginning-january-8-427313/20180731pbs01/

 

2 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

Looking at the guest list, I can see some very interesting guest combinations!

Quote

Season Five premieres on Tuesdays, beginning Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. ET with an episode featuring Andy Samberg and George R.R. Martin, and the season continues into Spring 2019. Season Five includes the following episodes:

· "The Stories Encoded In Our DNA" with Andy Samberg and George R.R. Martin

· "Mystery Men" with Michael K. Williams and Felicity Huffman

· "Truth Tellers" with Christiane Amanpour, Ann Curry and Lisa Ling

· "Dreaming of a New Land (Between Worlds)" with Sheryl Sandberg, Kal Penn and Marisa Tomei

· "Freedom Tales" with S. Epatha Merkerson and Michael Strahan

· "Into The Wild" with Laura Linney, Michael Moore and Chloe Sevigny

· "Roots in Politics" with Tulsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan

· "The Eye of the Beholder" with Marina Abramovic, Alejandro Innaritu and Kehinde Wiley

· "No Laughing Matter" with Tig Notaro, Seth Meyers and Sarah Silverman

· "All in the Family" with Joe Madison, Dr. Gates' personal DNA story and "The Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings" STEM Camp

S. Epatha Merkerson and Michael Strahan are always welcome on my screens.

Not sure about the political wonks, but it could be interesting to see their eyes opened a bit.

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