Historical Accuracy
John Dewar Gleissner wrote: "Roots depicted over half a dozen separate and inaccurate myths about slavery: Slaves were captured with nets by whites. Kidnapping by whites was the prime source of slaves. ... The truth is that most slaves were captured during wars, those wars being between different African powers." Through a series of conflicts, primarily with the Fulani Jihad States, about half of the Senegambian Mandinka were converted to Islam while as many as a third were sold into slavery to the Americas through capture in conflict.
Read more about this topic: Roots (TV miniseries)
Famous quotes containing the words historical and/or accuracy:
“Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their thoughts, their models, the books they read and the speeches they hear, their table-talk, gossip, controversies, historical sense and scientific training, the values they appreciate, the quality of life they admire. All communities have a culture. It is the climate of their civilization.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“In everything from athletic ability to popularity to looks, brains, and clothes, children rank themselves against others. At this age [7 and 8], children can tell you with amazing accuracy who has the coolest clothes, who tells the biggest lies, who is the best reader, who runs the fastest, and who is the most popular boy in the third grade.”
—Stanley I. Greenspan (20th century)