PBS will show the delayed third season of Finding Your Roots on Jan. 5, marking the return of the show since host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was gave in to Ben Affleck’s
request to not mention a slave-owning ancestor from the actor’s episode of
the genealogy series. See PBS Suspends Finding Your Roots Over Affleck's Improper Influence
An internal review found that Gates “violated PBS
standards” by, among other things, not informing executives at PBS or
producing station WNET about Affleck’s request to censor the show’s
genealogical research into his ancestors.
After an internal review, an additional researcher/fact-checker, another genealogist and an expert in
DNA-based genealogical research have been added.
In the new season of Finding Your Roots Gates traces the ancestral trails of 28 new guests including Maya
Rudolph, Richard Branson, Soledad O’Brien, Bill Hader, Julianne Moore,
Keenen Ivory Wayans, Senator John McCain, Norman Lear, Shonda Rhimes,
and more.
Major corporate support for the third season of Finding Your Roots is provided by Ancestry.com
, Johnson & Johnson, POM and the Ford Motor Company.
Finding Your Roots is a TV show with host Henry Louis Gates Jr. and has been on air for 2 Seasons. The premise is similar to Who Do You Think You Are? and traces the roots and family histories of celebrity guests.
When an episode featuring Ben Affleck aired last October it was later learned (through hacked emails) that Affleck had told Gates he did not want mention made of his slave owning ancestors. Gates and the show's producer removed all mention.
When the emails surfaced there was a huge outcry from fans and genealogists alike, most of whom were dismayed at the editorial liberties taken by the show to hush up the past and hide the facts.
At the time Gates defended the decision to not air Affleck's ancestors' slave owning deeds by saying that the producers found "more interesting" ancestors to talk about.
After an investigation, PBS found that "... producers violated network standards
by letting Mr. Affleck have “improper influence” and “by failing to
inform PBS or WNET of Mr. Affleck’s efforts to affect program content.”
Before Season 3 airs, PBS plans on making staff changes and has not yet reached a decision as to whether or not there will be a fourth Season.
Read more in the NY Times at Citing Ben Affleck’s ‘Improper Influence,’ PBS Suspends ‘Finding Your Roots’
For those who haven't seen the dozens of news stories online, Ben Affleck was featured on Henry Louis Gates' PBS show Finding Your Roots. During the course of filming, Affleck learned that he has a slave owner ancestor. Leaked emails from Sony between Gates and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton reveal that Affleck did not want this aired in public and wanted that part edited out.
You can read the emails yourself but basically Gates made it clear he didn't like the idea of hiding the facts (truth). The producer then said as long as no one else had seen it and it could never be found out, humour Affleck and don't use it. Affleck was referred to as a "mega-star" and both men worried about making sure he got what he wanted.
And so his true family history was hidden. Affleck got the white-washed version he wanted where all his ancestors were public-spirited justice-seeking good guys. And of course all genealogists know that's a crock! Our ancestors were real people. They include the good and the bad, the farmer and the daredevil. Some we would like if we met them, others ... not so much.
The bottom line is that what our ancestors did is no reflection on us. Just as we cannot blame ourselves if we discover we had a "bad seed" in the ancestor mix, nor can we take credit for those who did amazing things. We can feel proud of them, or we can feel sorrow over misdeeds. But we need to accept who they were, and that their actions good or bad were in a different time and place.
It is only by learning about the past that we can stop evil from happening in the future. We learn from mistakes and they should not be hidden or deleted from our family tree or from history.
It's a shame Affleck didn't adopt Bill Paxton's approach on TLC’s "Who Do You Think You Are?", when he learned he had a slave owner as an ancestor. Mr. Paxton's response was that it was a shame but "your history good and bad is your history" And that, Mr. Affleck is the point.
Embrace your history, both the positive and the negative! Learn from it. Don't attempt to create a fictional family tree full of heroes and noble ancestors.
But as the saying goes "Karma will out" and now Mr. Affleck's request for an edited version of his family tree has bitten him in the (ahem) with the truth now known world-wide. What would have been seen by a small number of viewers watching the show, and truly not a big deal has become a huge deal with many casting stones Affleck's way. The perception by many, including me, is that it was a misuse of celebrity status to facilitate censorship. And this is never a good thing.
Credit: Photo by Stoonn.
