Was Kunta Kinte a real person? Was ROOTS A TRUE STory?

Question

Im now watching the marathon now on tvONE!!!
this stuff is really deep. makes me really think of my ancestors.

Answer 1

Yes...it is based on Alex Healey's discovery of his roots. They did embellish some for the movie as they do in all movies.

Answer 2

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First of all Black History month is February in North America so I assume you are in the UK. Roots is a Historical Novel. This means that it is based on Historical fact, but may contain material that has not been documented. An author does research and writes a story that may use fictional or real characters. There is quite a bit of literary license used in areas of story where actual facts are missing or vague. In short Roots tells the story of a people, (the underlying story is more important than the characters) Black Americans through the Haily family in much the same way that Forrest Gump tells the story of the 60s generation. (not necessarily fact but it could very well have happened, and did, just that actual recorded facts may be missing) Many of the stories in Roots are based on stories passed down (orally) which can have many discrepancies. The worst thing I remember about the TV Roots is that it aired at the same time as Helter Skelter

Answer 3

Seriously....are you people kidding me??? I know this is a message from 7 years ago, but come on. Even the person that said it was true and then left a link to wikipedia obviously didn't read it. Read the rest of the wikipedia page. It will let you that the book was fiction. Alex Haley has no proof that "Roots" was a non-fiction novel. He was sued by two different people claiming that he copied parts of their novels. One received a settlement of $650,000 and Haley had to admit that he did copy some of it. The other lawsuit was thrown out of court. Alex Haley later went on to state that it was primarily fiction (he likes to call it faction). He stated that Kunta Kinte was really his ancestor, but doesn't really have proof of anything that happened to him...other than getting captured and brought to North America.

What happened back then was terrible, but let's at least not try making it out that this story is true...just because the types of things that went on back then were put into the story.

Answer 4

quick over view, so far i as i can tell, the story is false. the author was sued for plagiarizing from at least two authors. apparently historians had found that the area kunta kinte was supposedly from couldn't bring up a proper lineage until later on in the 19th century, 1800s for those that were wondering, the book itself has contradictions in it that would make someone question its authenticity, it could be a true story but most likely not.

Answer 5

The Real Kunta Kinte

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Was Kunta Kinte a real person? Was ROOTS A TRUE STory?
Im now watching the marathon now on tvONE!!!
this stuff is really deep. makes me really think of my ancestors.

Answer 7

In the HISTORY 2016 version of ROOTS. Kunta wanted to go to the University of Timbuktu in the 1760's or so. How can that be true? Plus the villagers seemed to be Muslims and lived in a nice area and rode horses. I think the slaves that came here were very poor. I think most of the new ROOTS is fiction.

Answer 8

According to the writer of the novel, Alex Haley, Kunta was a real person. The book was written as a factual account of Haley's family history. So yes, it was a true story. A link is posted below, enjoy.

Answer 9

The Author of Roots, Alex Haley this was his life history, his roots. He also wrote a book called Queen or Queenie and this was the story of his grandmother or great grandmother. Both are very good books. God bless****

Answer 10

The author of the book roots Alex Haily, did a complete serch of his family history. In the end it led him to Kunta kinte. Now i do think he may have added a few things to the story. But i would say about 90% of the roots story is true.