Wherever you go in the history of America, there have been Black people making contributions, but their contributions have been obscured, lost, buried. Henry Louis Gates americablackbury Change image and share on social
Politicians will not put forth programs aimed at the problems of poor blacks while their turnout remains so low. Henry Louis Gates aimblacklow Change image and share on social
You have a diasporic black world, and the only way to put it back together again is symbolic. It's like Humpty Dumpty. Whoever could edit the 'Encyclopedia Africana' would provide symbolic order to the fragments created over the past 500 years. That is a major contribution. Henry Louis Gates africanabackblack share on social
Brazil is the second blackest nation in the world. Henry Louis Gates blackbrazilnation Change image and share on social
All of the guests on 'Faces of America' were deeply moved by what we revealed about their ancestry. We were able to trace the ancestry of Native American writer Louise Erdrich back to 438 A.D. We found that Queen Noor is descended from royalty, and that's before she married King Hussein of Jordan. Henry Louis Gates americaamericanancestry share on social
People who own property feel a sense of ownership in their future and their society. They study, save, work, strive and vote. And people trapped in a culture of tenancy do not. Henry Louis Gates culturefeelfuture Change image and share on social
But you see, our society is still trapped in this binary, black/white logic and that has had some very positive implications for our generation. It's had some very negative ones as well and one of the negative ones is that it creates enormous identity problems for people who have one black ancestor and all white ancestors for example. Henry Louis Gates ancestorbinaryblack share on social
My father, if anything, first and last, was a man of words. He loved stories; he didn't live for stories, exactly, but I think he lived through stories. I think, like many writers, he loved stories about things he had experienced as much as, if not more than, he loved the experiences themselves. Henry Louis Gates experiencefatherlive share on social
Patriotism is best exemplified through auto-critique. When you're willing to stand up within the group and say, 'It is wrong for Black people to be anti-Semitic,' or 'It is wrong for America to discriminate against persons of African descent and made them slaves and based its wealth upon free labor,' it's crucial to say that. Henry Louis Gates africanamericaanti share on social
If you share a common ancestor with somebody, you're related to them. It doesn't mean that you're going to invite them to the family reunion, but it means that you share DNA. I think it's fascinating. Henry Louis Gates ancestorcommondna Change image and share on social