“No human being can be more human than another.” This is the lesson the poet Maya Angelou draws from learning about the history of her own family and that of some other prominent black people.
Angelou and others appear in the path-breaking public television series, African American Lives 2, aired last month. It follows an earlier series broadcast in 2006 that featured a different set of notable black Americans.
Inspired by the research of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and hosted by him, these programs provide fascinating insights into the twists and turns of family history.
Gates and his associates have brought sophisticated research methods to their project. He has sought out scientists who employ the latest approaches. These methods include DNA analyses that unearth facts that often startle present-day descendants.
In African American Lives 2, Gates talks with eight African Americans who are well known. They were selected for their name recognition in order to increase the number of viewers. What Gates tells them about their family history frequently amazes them.
Don Cheadle, for instance, is a movie actor who knew little about his ancestors. He was astounded to discover that his great-grandfather was held as a slave, not by white owners, but rather by Chickasaw Indians. When Skip Gates (as he is widely known) announced this unlikely fact to Cheadle, the latter was left in utter amazement.
Similarly, Harvard preacher Peter Gomes was at first taken aback to hear that among his ancestors was an Askenazi Jew who fled Portugal in the early 15th century. But he was not too startled to reply: “Every family worth belonging to has a Jew in it somewhere.”
Gates himself has made astonishing discoveries about his own ancestors. In the first series he is shown learning about his European ancestry. At the same time, research had established a genetic connection with the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria.
Contrary to what anyone would have guessed, in the second series he finds himself linked by genetic inheritance to a 4th century Irish king, Niall of the Nine Hostages.. One of the programs shows Skip Gates visiting Ireland and meeting people whom he now hails as his cousins.
Comedian Chris Rock learns that among his ancestors was a man who was twice elected to the South Carolina legislature. That same forebear, Julius Caesar Tingman, had served among the “colored troops” of the Union army during the Civil War and later came to own considerable land.
Rock was astounded to think of that ancestor as being so successful at a time when so many blacks, even after being freed, were still suffering the aftereffects of slavery.
What emerges from all of this research is the complexity of the genetic inheritance that black Americans have received. The term “African American” reveals only a partial reality; some of those who are so designated have major inherited characteristics that have come through routes outside of Africa.
This generalization applies to white people too. We all are much more complicated than, left to ourselves, we believe. This complexity helps reveal profound futility of prejudice based upon color and race. Those who discriminate against others may turn out, on analysis, to share the same characteristics as the targets of their prejudice.
Genetic surprises are familiar to the thousands of people in later life who enjoy researching the background of their own families. My sister Maureen serves as our family historian, and has provided her siblings with many fascinating documents tracing ancestors in Ireland and elsewhere.
I treasure the data she has distributed to us, mainly material gleaned from library and computer research. Thanks to her, I have a much better grasp of the lives of our ancestors who lived in the 19th century.
Like some other amateur researchers, my sister has also learned how to enlist the latest scientific help in her investigations. She has used the web site of the National Geographic to trace the earliest history of our remote ancestors.
Recently she sent to that site a scraping from her face for a DNA analysis. In return, she received a detailed explanation of the effect of DNA on human development. She also received a map showing the itinerary of our maternal forbears of some 150,000 years ago.
In leaving Africa they followed a route that took them north through what would become Egypt, Greece, and Jordan. Eventually they reached northern Europe, from which they made their way to Ireland.
Asked why she pursues this kind of investigation, Maureen says “I am a research bloodhound. I am fascinated by history.” Having majored in English and minored in history during her college years also helps.
I’m glad she is fascinated by history, because my whole family benefits from her labors. The work of Skip Gates and his collaborators also continues to intrigue me as I discover what science can do to make family roots increasingly accessible.
Richard Griffin