Dr. Henry Louis Gates may be America’s favorite public intellectual. In addition to his scholarly work as a Harvard University professor, Dr. Gates imparts warmth and ease with his curiosity as the host of the PBS series “Finding Your Roots.” Sabin Streeter is the show-runner, senior producer and director of “Finding Your Roots.” He joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes to discuss the show’s seventh season.
Interview Highlights:
How ‘Finding Your Roots’ got its start:
“He [Dr. Gates] has had a life-long interest in genealogy. He originally put together this series for PBS where we were going to look at African-American history through the lens of genealogy. Oprah and Quincy Jones helped him get it off the ground. It was two seasons, but a limited series. The story Dr. Gates tells is that there was someone at Coca-Cola, who was African-American, and Coca-Cola was one of the sponsors of the show..and he got an email from a woman saying ‘You’re a racist, why do you only focus on Black people? Why don’t you do people of all races?’ And this struck a chord with Dr. Gates. He went to Coca-Cola and said ‘Would there be funding for a series of all races?’ And Coca-Cola said ‘sure, we sell as much coke to white people as Black people.’ *laughs*” said Streeter.
He continued. “To some extent, the series has kind of bled one into another.”
The show takes an intimate look into the lives of 20 celebrities and their genealogies. Unknown family history is revealed as well as some interesting connections among celebrities.
What the research process is like:
“We ask our guests to write down everything they know about their families. We ask them to give us a DNA sample and then we have that tested by multiple companies. We also ask them if there’s anything in their family who’s a family genealogist and in many cases there is. It’s crucial to start with the family because family knows things that just aren’t in the public records,” said Streeter.
He continued, “The DNA we use two ways: one we use to fact check the family story. So, in other words, we compare their DNA matches to public available databases if you match up with people who have put their DNA in these databases. Sometimes there’s subtle differences, but sometimes we discover that you are not who you think you are. It’s a multiple-step process where the DNA is telling us something and the paper trail is telling us something else. Always the DNA we privilege.”
How the show exemplifies what it means to be American today:
“That’s sort of the core of what we’re doing. We’re looking at the fundamental diversity of America. The fact that America was diverse from its beginnings economically, racially, socially..different religions, different practices of all kinds. Diversity has been our strength from the start and it continues to be our strength. It’s amazing how much our guests want to celebrate their diversity and the diversity of America.”
Streeter will be in a virtual conversation with WABE’s “Morning Edition” host Lisa Rayam on Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.
