In fact, the class divide in the black community is now seen by some as a permanent aspect of our existence.

In fact, the class divide in the black community is now seen by some as a permanent aspect of our existence.

In the old days, you lived in one neighborhood, you knew all your neighbors and your daughter married the guy next door. That was social and economic progress. That model is gone now. We also had a world order that was fraught but fairly stable.

It turns out one of my ancestors fought in the Continental Army, so I was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution.

We have to stop making excuses. One of the things that I'm careful to show is the horrendous effects of institutional and structural racism, but in the end, you can't wait for white man or a Black man to come riding in on a white horse to save you. We have to save ourselves, and that's the lesson of "The African Americans."

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

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.