“Ever since I watched 'Roots,' I've dreamed of tracing my African ances...” — Henry Louis Gates Quote

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

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

“I think that the roots of racism have always been economic, and I think people are desperate and scared. And when you're desperate and scared you scapegoat people. It exacerbates latent tendencies toward - well, toward racism or homophobia or anti-Semitism.”

“'Pretty Deadly' is the story of these immortal and mortal characters, and the mortals' story follows Sarah's family, a black family, through the ages. I never made the choice of, 'Oh, this is gonna be the story of an African American family!'”

“During the Great Depression, African Americans were faced with problems that were not unlike those experienced by the most disadvantaged groups in society. The Great Depression had a leveling effect, and all groups really experienced hard times: poor whites, poor blacks.”