Lincoln would love the fact that Obama is such a great conciliator, trying to transcend ideology.

Thousand years ago, we all descended from Africans who left the continent. Those ancestors, we will never know their name. We can go back 200 or 300 years and actually populate your family tree with real people who had names and documents. They had customs, characteristics that, unbeknownst to you, you have inherited. Almost through osmosis it has been passed down to you.

I would like to do a series about sequencing the human genome, and also analyze more human diversity among other ethnic groups - a 'Faces of America 2.'

The first step toward tolerance is respect and the first step toward respect is knowledge.

What happened in the interim is, billions of records have been digitized. Historians and scholars have always used genealogical records to tell the story of American history. It takes months and years of research. I can't even tell you how laborious that is. You have to be somebody who has a lot of free time, like a professor who can take tenure or someone with a great deal of leisure.

Ever since I watched 'Roots,' I've dreamed of tracing my African ancestry and helping other people do the same.

If America has a civic religion, the First Amendment is its central article of faith.