1 00:00:04,809 --> 00:00:06,476 GATES: I'm Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 2 00:00:06,476 --> 00:00:09,143 Welcome to Finding Your Roots. 3 00:00:09,143 --> 00:00:13,276 In this episode, we'll meet activist Angela Davis and 4 00:00:13,276 --> 00:00:16,176 statesman Jeh Johnson, 5 00:00:16,176 --> 00:00:18,943 two African Americans who are about to discover 6 00:00:18,943 --> 00:00:22,109 that their families are far more diverse 7 00:00:22,109 --> 00:00:24,909 than they ever dreamed. 8 00:00:24,909 --> 00:00:27,509 DAVIS: My father must have known this, right, because... 9 00:00:27,509 --> 00:00:29,409 GATES: I can't imagine that he didn't. 10 00:00:29,409 --> 00:00:33,009 DAVIS: Why did he not say something to us about this? 11 00:00:33,009 --> 00:00:36,309 JOHNSON: This was not even part of family folklore. 12 00:00:36,309 --> 00:00:37,409 GATES: Right? 13 00:00:37,409 --> 00:00:39,243 JOHNSON: And there's a lot of family folklore. 14 00:00:39,243 --> 00:00:43,109 GATES: To uncover their roots, we've used every tool available. 15 00:00:43,809 --> 00:00:46,476 Genealogists combed through paper trails stretching back 16 00:00:46,476 --> 00:00:48,776 hundreds of years. 17 00:00:48,776 --> 00:00:52,009 DAVIS: This is something I never expected to discover. 18 00:00:52,009 --> 00:00:55,476 GATES: While DNA experts utilized the latest advances 19 00:00:55,476 --> 00:00:58,909 in genetic analysis to reveal secrets that have lain 20 00:00:58,909 --> 00:01:01,609 hidden for generations. 21 00:01:01,609 --> 00:01:04,009 JOHNSON: That's remarkable. 22 00:01:04,009 --> 00:01:06,676 GATES: And we've compiled it all into a book of life... 23 00:01:06,676 --> 00:01:07,976 JOHNSON: Oh, my. 24 00:01:07,976 --> 00:01:10,176 GATES: A record of all of our discoveries. 25 00:01:10,176 --> 00:01:14,109 DAVIS: No. I can't believe this. No. 26 00:01:14,109 --> 00:01:16,776 My ancestors did not come here on the Mayflower. 27 00:01:16,776 --> 00:01:19,376 GATES: Your ancestors came on the Mayflower. 28 00:01:19,376 --> 00:01:20,709 DAVIS: No. No. No. 29 00:01:20,709 --> 00:01:22,676 JOHNSON: It's the American story. 30 00:01:22,676 --> 00:01:25,743 In all of its tragedy... 31 00:01:25,743 --> 00:01:28,043 And it's part of who I am. 32 00:01:28,043 --> 00:01:32,543 It's part of who I am as an American and 33 00:01:32,543 --> 00:01:35,576 an American of African descent. 34 00:01:35,576 --> 00:01:38,776 GATES: My guests came to me with a dilemma common 35 00:01:38,776 --> 00:01:41,843 to many Black people: their family's stories 36 00:01:41,843 --> 00:01:43,776 had been obliterated. 37 00:01:43,776 --> 00:01:47,043 In this episode, we'll reconstruct those stories, 38 00:01:47,043 --> 00:01:51,476 using a pioneering combination of genealogy and genetics. 39 00:01:52,043 --> 00:01:56,209 Along the way, Angela and Jeh will meet ancestors 40 00:01:56,209 --> 00:02:00,543 whose identities they never imagined, and explore chapters 41 00:02:00,543 --> 00:02:03,809 in our nation's history that they never knew existed. 42 00:02:09,576 --> 00:02:16,043 (theme music playing). 43 00:02:21,976 --> 00:02:26,709 ♪ ♪ 44 00:02:26,709 --> 00:02:27,776 (book closes) 45 00:02:33,976 --> 00:02:40,543 ♪ ♪ 46 00:02:50,309 --> 00:02:53,876 GATES: Angela Davis is a living legend. 47 00:02:54,876 --> 00:02:59,243 Since the early 1970s, the philosopher and activist 48 00:02:59,243 --> 00:03:02,843 has been a tireless advocate for social justice, 49 00:03:02,843 --> 00:03:07,076 crisscrossing the globe to write and speak, 50 00:03:07,076 --> 00:03:09,376 on behalf of the oppressed. 51 00:03:09,376 --> 00:03:13,276 DAVIS: If we do not realize that the time is now, 52 00:03:13,276 --> 00:03:16,676 then the time will never come. 53 00:03:17,876 --> 00:03:21,243 GATES: But Angela's own journey began far from the spotlight. 54 00:03:24,609 --> 00:03:28,976 She was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1944, 55 00:03:28,976 --> 00:03:31,943 in the depths of the Jim Crow era. 56 00:03:33,676 --> 00:03:37,443 She came of age with the civil rights movement, and she 57 00:03:37,443 --> 00:03:41,143 witnessed first-hand the violent pushback it unleashed. 58 00:03:43,443 --> 00:03:44,776 When she was a child, 59 00:03:44,776 --> 00:03:48,643 White racists bombed homes in her neighborhood so frequently 60 00:03:48,643 --> 00:03:52,343 that it became known as "dynamite hill"... 61 00:03:53,376 --> 00:03:57,543 Fortunately, Angela's mother, a schoolteacher, taught her 62 00:03:57,543 --> 00:04:00,509 to imagine a better place. 63 00:04:01,976 --> 00:04:06,676 DAVIS: I knew that there were people in the world who did 64 00:04:06,676 --> 00:04:11,943 not appreciate the fact that we existed, to put it that way, 65 00:04:11,943 --> 00:04:17,676 but my mother always told us, 66 00:04:17,676 --> 00:04:20,743 that, that wasn't the way things were supposed to be. 67 00:04:20,743 --> 00:04:22,076 GATES: Mm-hmm. 68 00:04:22,076 --> 00:04:24,309 DAVIS: Because she used to say that, when we wanted to go to 69 00:04:24,309 --> 00:04:29,043 the amusement park, and Black children were not allowed to 70 00:04:29,043 --> 00:04:32,109 go to the big amusement park in Birmingham, but we would 71 00:04:32,109 --> 00:04:37,276 drive by it, and we would see the white kids on the 72 00:04:37,276 --> 00:04:41,443 Ferris wheel and you know, on all of the rides and my mother 73 00:04:42,676 --> 00:04:46,509 would always say that this is not the way things are supposed 74 00:04:46,509 --> 00:04:48,943 to be and that they will change. 75 00:04:48,943 --> 00:04:50,209 GATES: A better day's gonna come. 76 00:04:50,209 --> 00:04:51,609 DAVIS: Absolutely. 77 00:04:51,609 --> 00:04:55,409 So, I think my, my consciousness 78 00:04:55,409 --> 00:04:58,909 about being Black was always a consciousness of 79 00:04:58,909 --> 00:05:02,843 the need to imagine a better future. 80 00:05:03,809 --> 00:05:06,843 GATES: Fueled by her mother's vision, Angela initially 81 00:05:06,843 --> 00:05:09,143 followed in her footsteps. 82 00:05:09,143 --> 00:05:13,409 A brilliant student, she earned a PhD in philosophy 83 00:05:13,409 --> 00:05:16,809 and joined the faculty at UCLA. 84 00:05:17,809 --> 00:05:20,309 She was a political radical, 85 00:05:20,309 --> 00:05:23,243 immersed in the burgeoning Black power movement... 86 00:05:23,243 --> 00:05:27,043 DAVIS: We will not stop until we have won. 87 00:05:28,809 --> 00:05:32,276 GATES: But she was first and foremost an academic. 88 00:05:33,609 --> 00:05:37,276 All that changed in the fall of 1969, 89 00:05:37,276 --> 00:05:41,076 when Angela lost her job at UCLA 90 00:05:41,076 --> 00:05:44,209 due to her ties to the communist party. 91 00:05:44,209 --> 00:05:48,576 Suddenly, she was thrust in front of the media, 92 00:05:48,576 --> 00:05:51,343 a role she reluctantly embraced. 93 00:05:51,876 --> 00:05:56,209 DAVIS: I had never imagined myself as being the center of 94 00:05:56,209 --> 00:06:01,109 controversy or publicly exposed in that way, 95 00:06:01,109 --> 00:06:07,276 and there's a story I often tell, when I was holding a 96 00:06:07,276 --> 00:06:09,209 press conference for the first time 97 00:06:09,209 --> 00:06:11,809 after this news was released, 98 00:06:11,809 --> 00:06:15,876 and people have looked at that press conference, and they've 99 00:06:15,876 --> 00:06:18,543 said, oh, Angela, you were so militant then, you were 100 00:06:18,543 --> 00:06:21,976 really, really, really, and I said, no, no, no, no, no 101 00:06:21,976 --> 00:06:24,943 my knees were shaking, I was scared to death, 102 00:06:25,443 --> 00:06:27,009 it wasn't about that. 103 00:06:27,009 --> 00:06:33,543 So, I had to learn how to be that uh... 104 00:06:33,543 --> 00:06:35,609 public persona. 105 00:06:37,476 --> 00:06:40,676 GATES: Angela's "learning process" was accelerated by 106 00:06:40,676 --> 00:06:43,276 a horrifying ordeal. 107 00:06:43,576 --> 00:06:48,776 On October 13th, 1970, she was arrested for allegedly 108 00:06:48,776 --> 00:06:52,543 providing guns that were used to kill four people 109 00:06:52,543 --> 00:06:54,809 in a California courthouse. 110 00:06:55,976 --> 00:06:59,909 She would spend 16 months in jail, and become the focus of 111 00:06:59,909 --> 00:07:04,309 a world-wide campaign demanding her freedom, 112 00:07:04,309 --> 00:07:09,443 before she was finally acquitted on all charges. 113 00:07:11,109 --> 00:07:13,343 DAVIS: This is the happiest day of my life. 114 00:07:15,009 --> 00:07:17,176 GATES: It was a travesty of justice. 115 00:07:17,176 --> 00:07:20,709 But it gave Angela a global platform, 116 00:07:20,709 --> 00:07:23,509 one she's never relinquished. 117 00:07:24,543 --> 00:07:28,009 In the four decades since, she's been a vital voice in 118 00:07:28,009 --> 00:07:32,443 the struggle for equality, a true public intellectual. 119 00:07:34,076 --> 00:07:36,343 looking back on it all, however, 120 00:07:36,343 --> 00:07:39,576 Angela remains reluctant to take any credit. 121 00:07:40,176 --> 00:07:44,209 For her, larger goals have always been the priority. 122 00:07:45,809 --> 00:07:49,909 DAVIS: I never considered that the achievements that 123 00:07:49,909 --> 00:07:52,743 are attributed to me, 124 00:07:52,743 --> 00:07:54,143 are mine alone. 125 00:07:54,143 --> 00:07:55,343 GATES: Uh-huh. 126 00:07:55,343 --> 00:08:00,976 DAVIS: And I've always recognized that there are vast 127 00:08:00,976 --> 00:08:05,776 numbers of people who made it possible for them to happen, 128 00:08:05,776 --> 00:08:11,843 and I guess, one of the things I'm perhaps most proud of, 129 00:08:13,143 --> 00:08:14,976 I had little to do with... 130 00:08:14,976 --> 00:08:16,209 GATES: Mm-hmm. 131 00:08:16,209 --> 00:08:18,743 DAVIS: And that is the fact that this amazing movement 132 00:08:18,743 --> 00:08:20,809 that developed when I was in jail, that 133 00:08:20,809 --> 00:08:25,243 brought together people from literally, all over the world... 134 00:08:25,243 --> 00:08:26,376 GATES: Mm-hmm. 135 00:08:26,376 --> 00:08:30,876 DAVIS: From you know, Palestine to Brazil. 136 00:08:30,876 --> 00:08:34,043 GATES: Mm-hmm. 137 00:08:34,043 --> 00:08:37,209 DAVIS: And the fact that we won the case 138 00:08:37,209 --> 00:08:41,643 was an indication that even when 139 00:08:41,643 --> 00:08:45,576 we're up against the most powerful forces in the world, 140 00:08:45,576 --> 00:08:48,809 that we can, we can struggle, we can fight back, 141 00:08:48,809 --> 00:08:51,176 we can resist, and we can win. 142 00:08:52,743 --> 00:08:57,276 GATES: My second guest is lawyer and statesman Jeh Johnson. 143 00:08:57,776 --> 00:09:02,576 Jeh served in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, 144 00:09:02,576 --> 00:09:05,443 culminating in a three-year stint as 145 00:09:05,443 --> 00:09:08,076 Secretary of Homeland Security, 146 00:09:08,076 --> 00:09:12,776 the first African American to hold that position. 147 00:09:13,109 --> 00:09:14,909 He's also a partner at one of 148 00:09:14,909 --> 00:09:17,576 America's most prestigious law firms, 149 00:09:17,576 --> 00:09:20,876 a member of the council on foreign relations, 150 00:09:20,876 --> 00:09:24,209 and a trustee at Columbia University. 151 00:09:25,543 --> 00:09:27,409 It's an impressive resume. 152 00:09:27,409 --> 00:09:30,076 All the more so because, according to Jeh, 153 00:09:30,076 --> 00:09:33,076 he barely graduated from high school. 154 00:09:34,343 --> 00:09:36,676 Growing up in a Wappinger's Falls, 155 00:09:36,676 --> 00:09:40,076 a village about 80 miles north of New York City, 156 00:09:40,076 --> 00:09:42,609 he was a miserable student, 157 00:09:42,609 --> 00:09:46,109 and the source of great frustration to his parents. 158 00:09:47,043 --> 00:09:51,943 JOHNSON: I did not have, in my mind, any good reason 159 00:09:51,943 --> 00:09:54,543 to devote the time to studying. 160 00:09:54,543 --> 00:09:58,809 So, numerically, I would typically get grades in 161 00:09:58,809 --> 00:09:59,976 the 50s, 60s. 162 00:09:59,976 --> 00:10:01,243 GATES: Mm-hmm. 163 00:10:01,243 --> 00:10:05,343 JOHNSON: If I got a grade in the 70s, that was, like, a gift. 164 00:10:05,343 --> 00:10:07,909 And I just felt no need to study. 165 00:10:07,909 --> 00:10:14,009 And I remember a moment when my mother insisted, 166 00:10:14,709 --> 00:10:16,043 "You're gonna study. 167 00:10:16,043 --> 00:10:17,743 You're gonna sit down, you're gonna, 168 00:10:17,743 --> 00:10:19,843 in front of this book, and you're gonna read this book. 169 00:10:19,843 --> 00:10:21,109 And you're gonna do your homework. 170 00:10:21,109 --> 00:10:22,709 And you're gonna sit here for two hours." 171 00:10:22,709 --> 00:10:25,076 And I said to her, "Mom, you can make me sit here. 172 00:10:25,076 --> 00:10:26,609 You can make me open the book. 173 00:10:26,609 --> 00:10:27,809 You can make me look at the book. 174 00:10:27,809 --> 00:10:30,176 But you can't make me read the book." 175 00:10:30,876 --> 00:10:34,009 GATES: Jeh's salvation was Morehouse, the 176 00:10:34,009 --> 00:10:37,543 esteemed Black men's college in Atlanta, Georgia, 177 00:10:37,543 --> 00:10:40,243 alma mater of civil rights luminaries 178 00:10:40,243 --> 00:10:42,209 Martin Luther King, Jr, 179 00:10:42,209 --> 00:10:45,643 Maynard Jackson, and Julian Bond. 180 00:10:46,409 --> 00:10:50,243 Jeh told me that his father encouraged him to apply, 181 00:10:50,243 --> 00:10:53,809 and that his guidance counselor didn't think he'd be accepted, 182 00:10:54,609 --> 00:10:56,943 but once Jeh set foot on campus, 183 00:10:56,943 --> 00:10:59,576 he was transformed. 184 00:11:00,409 --> 00:11:04,743 JOHNSON: There were students from Alabama, Mississippi, 185 00:11:04,743 --> 00:11:09,809 Georgia, who were very dedicated, very, uh, 186 00:11:09,809 --> 00:11:12,709 ambitious, uh, very studious. 187 00:11:12,709 --> 00:11:17,509 And then there were a lot of kids from the North, like me. 188 00:11:17,509 --> 00:11:18,776 GATES: Mm-hmm. 189 00:11:18,776 --> 00:11:21,509 JOHNSON: Whose parents thought it would be good for them, 190 00:11:21,509 --> 00:11:24,676 in their formative period, to have that experience. 191 00:11:24,676 --> 00:11:26,243 GATES: You need to be immersed. 192 00:11:26,243 --> 00:11:28,643 JOHNSON: I, to be immersed in Black life, Black culture, 193 00:11:28,643 --> 00:11:30,143 Black education, Black history. 194 00:11:30,143 --> 00:11:32,409 GATES: They were tryin' to save your soul, Jeh. 195 00:11:32,409 --> 00:11:35,609 JOHNSON: And to be in the majority for four years. 196 00:11:35,609 --> 00:11:36,909 GATES: Yeah, right. 197 00:11:36,909 --> 00:11:39,443 JOHNSON: I had grown up in a predominantly white situation. 198 00:11:39,443 --> 00:11:40,476 GATES: Mm-hmm. 199 00:11:40,476 --> 00:11:42,843 JOHNSON: I did not have many role models. 200 00:11:42,843 --> 00:11:44,076 Except for my own family. 201 00:11:44,076 --> 00:11:45,776 I did not have many role models around me. 202 00:11:45,776 --> 00:11:46,943 GATES: Mm-hmm. 203 00:11:46,943 --> 00:11:48,443 JOHNSON: And it wasn't 'til I got to Morehouse, 204 00:11:48,443 --> 00:11:50,509 that I was exposed. 205 00:11:50,509 --> 00:11:51,676 GATES: Right. 206 00:11:51,676 --> 00:11:53,509 JOHNSON: And overdosed in role models, at Morehouse. 207 00:11:53,509 --> 00:11:54,909 GATES: Immersed, like going to Africa. 208 00:11:54,909 --> 00:11:56,076 JOHNSON: It was like going to Africa. 209 00:11:56,076 --> 00:11:57,343 GATES: They were... 210 00:11:57,343 --> 00:11:58,109 JOHNSON: And yes, that's a good, that's a good parallel. 211 00:11:58,109 --> 00:11:59,409 GATES: Yeah. 212 00:11:59,409 --> 00:12:01,176 JOHNSON: It's like going to Africa. It's like going home. 213 00:12:02,209 --> 00:12:05,276 GATES: Jeh left Morehouse a straight A-student with the 214 00:12:05,276 --> 00:12:08,109 confidence to achieve even more, 215 00:12:08,109 --> 00:12:12,209 that confidence propelled him to Columbia law school, 216 00:12:12,209 --> 00:12:14,343 where he emerged as a star, 217 00:12:14,343 --> 00:12:18,109 setting him on the path he's still following today, 218 00:12:18,109 --> 00:12:22,743 and giving him the perspective to make a profound impact. 219 00:12:24,243 --> 00:12:26,476 Looking back at everything that you've accomplished, 220 00:12:26,476 --> 00:12:28,176 what are you proudest of? 221 00:12:28,176 --> 00:12:29,776 JOHNSON: What am I proudest of? 222 00:12:29,776 --> 00:12:31,076 Two things. 223 00:12:31,076 --> 00:12:36,009 One, the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law. 224 00:12:36,009 --> 00:12:37,476 GATES: Right. 225 00:12:37,476 --> 00:12:41,576 JOHNSON: I was assigned to co-chair a working group that 226 00:12:41,576 --> 00:12:45,109 would study whether or not the military could handle 227 00:12:45,109 --> 00:12:48,809 gay and lesbian service members serving openly. 228 00:12:48,809 --> 00:12:50,043 GATES: Mm-hmm. 229 00:12:50,043 --> 00:12:52,409 JOHNSON: And spent 10 months doing that, 230 00:12:52,409 --> 00:12:54,543 issued a comprehensive report. 231 00:12:54,543 --> 00:12:58,943 No one in Congress could question how thorough it was. 232 00:12:58,943 --> 00:13:00,309 GATES: Mm-hmm. 233 00:13:00,309 --> 00:13:03,276 JOHNSON: And after we issued the report, two or three weeks 234 00:13:03,276 --> 00:13:05,009 later, Congress repealed that law... 235 00:13:05,009 --> 00:13:06,276 GATES: Hmm. 236 00:13:06,276 --> 00:13:10,143 JOHNSON: To the point where even today, 12 years later, 237 00:13:10,143 --> 00:13:15,309 people in the U.S. military will come up to me and say, 238 00:13:15,309 --> 00:13:18,176 "Thank you for what you did for me. 239 00:13:18,176 --> 00:13:20,943 Let me introduce you to my spouse." 240 00:13:20,943 --> 00:13:22,109 GATES: Wow. 241 00:13:22,109 --> 00:13:24,309 JOHNSON: Which had they done that 12 years before, 242 00:13:24,309 --> 00:13:25,976 would've been automatic grounds for their removal 243 00:13:25,976 --> 00:13:27,476 from the U.S. military. 244 00:13:27,476 --> 00:13:28,576 GATES: Right. 245 00:13:28,576 --> 00:13:31,243 JOHNSON: Just that simple act of introducing me to 246 00:13:31,243 --> 00:13:33,309 a same sex spouse. 247 00:13:33,309 --> 00:13:34,576 GATES: Hmm. 248 00:13:34,576 --> 00:13:37,309 JOHNSON: Um, but, you know what I'm most proud, proud of, 249 00:13:37,309 --> 00:13:42,143 I tell high school kids, "You can be a C and D student, 250 00:13:42,143 --> 00:13:43,376 and it's never too late." 251 00:13:43,376 --> 00:13:44,443 GATES: Mm-hmm. 252 00:13:44,443 --> 00:13:46,276 JOHNSON: "You're never as inconsequential as 253 00:13:46,276 --> 00:13:48,243 you think you might be." 254 00:13:48,676 --> 00:13:52,609 GATES: After meeting my guests, it was clear that Angela and Jeh 255 00:13:52,609 --> 00:13:54,909 had been shaped by their childhoods 256 00:13:54,909 --> 00:13:57,476 in very different ways, 257 00:13:57,476 --> 00:13:59,109 but turning to their roots, 258 00:13:59,109 --> 00:14:02,943 we saw their ancestors' stories converge. 259 00:14:03,676 --> 00:14:07,476 Both had profound mysteries hidden in the closest branches 260 00:14:07,476 --> 00:14:10,276 of their family trees. 261 00:14:10,276 --> 00:14:13,276 For Angela, the mystery centered around her mother, 262 00:14:13,276 --> 00:14:15,743 Sallye Bell. 263 00:14:15,743 --> 00:14:19,576 Sallye grew up in a foster home, and Angela came to me 264 00:14:19,576 --> 00:14:23,843 hoping to learn the identity of her biological parents. 265 00:14:24,809 --> 00:14:28,876 This request prompted a question of my own. 266 00:14:28,876 --> 00:14:32,176 Why is it important to you to solve this mystery? 267 00:14:32,176 --> 00:14:36,276 Some people don't want to know, some people do. 268 00:14:36,276 --> 00:14:39,143 I would want to know, so the answer seems obvious to me, 269 00:14:39,143 --> 00:14:40,976 but not to our audience. 270 00:14:40,976 --> 00:14:42,476 So, that's why I'm asking. 271 00:14:42,476 --> 00:14:45,176 DAVIS: I don't necessarily know whether 272 00:14:45,176 --> 00:14:49,276 my sense of myself will change as a result of knowing 273 00:14:49,276 --> 00:14:55,709 something more about her origins, but my mother was 274 00:14:55,709 --> 00:14:57,476 such a remarkable woman, 275 00:14:57,476 --> 00:15:00,509 and I just would like to know you know... 276 00:15:00,509 --> 00:15:01,609 GATES: Where that came from. 277 00:15:01,609 --> 00:15:02,709 DAVIS: And the ingredients of it. 278 00:15:02,709 --> 00:15:04,843 Exactly. Exactly. 279 00:15:05,543 --> 00:15:09,176 GATES: There are no records of Sallye's birth, so our only 280 00:15:09,176 --> 00:15:13,143 chance at solving this mystery was DNA, 281 00:15:13,143 --> 00:15:16,809 and, at first, even that proved frustrating. 282 00:15:19,409 --> 00:15:23,309 Angela's maternal haplogroup, the "genetic signature" passed 283 00:15:23,309 --> 00:15:27,409 from mother to child, traces back to Africa, 284 00:15:27,409 --> 00:15:32,009 indicating that Sallye's mother was an African American woman, 285 00:15:32,009 --> 00:15:35,943 but this alone couldn't establish her actual identity, 286 00:15:35,943 --> 00:15:39,843 and DNA could tell us nothing further. 287 00:15:40,476 --> 00:15:43,076 We had better luck with Sallye's father. 288 00:15:45,543 --> 00:15:47,943 Our genetic genealogist, CeCe Moore, 289 00:15:47,943 --> 00:15:50,709 compared Angela's DNA profile 290 00:15:50,709 --> 00:15:54,476 to millions of others in publicly available databases, 291 00:15:54,476 --> 00:15:57,476 and discovered that Angela has a pair of 292 00:15:57,476 --> 00:16:00,743 half first cousins she didn't know she had. 293 00:16:02,509 --> 00:16:05,876 And by mapping the family trees of these cousins, CeCe 294 00:16:05,876 --> 00:16:10,009 realized they who could only be related to Angela through 295 00:16:10,009 --> 00:16:14,776 the man who had to be Sallye's biological father: 296 00:16:14,776 --> 00:16:19,076 a white Alabama lawyer named John Austin Darden. 297 00:16:21,176 --> 00:16:23,976 DAVIS: Wow. 298 00:16:26,076 --> 00:16:28,476 He has my mother's lips. 299 00:16:29,643 --> 00:16:31,143 Hmm. 300 00:16:31,143 --> 00:16:32,943 GATES: That is your biological grandfather. 301 00:16:32,943 --> 00:16:34,543 You're looking at your mother's father. 302 00:16:34,543 --> 00:16:36,176 DAVIS: Wow. 303 00:16:36,176 --> 00:16:39,076 That's so funny. I can see her in him. 304 00:16:39,076 --> 00:16:40,909 Hmmm. 305 00:16:40,909 --> 00:16:43,509 GATES: Would you please turn the page? 306 00:16:45,943 --> 00:16:48,176 DAVIS: Yup. You see, didn't I say that? 307 00:16:48,176 --> 00:16:49,543 GATES: There you go. 308 00:16:49,543 --> 00:16:51,509 We wanted to put them in profile. 309 00:16:51,509 --> 00:16:54,176 DAVIS: Wow. Wow. 310 00:16:54,176 --> 00:16:56,176 GATES: What's it like to see your mother, and her father, 311 00:16:56,176 --> 00:16:58,876 like that, side by side? 312 00:16:58,876 --> 00:17:00,509 DAVIS: Well, I can't get used to the fact that this is her 313 00:17:00,509 --> 00:17:03,509 father, but I mean, I know it... 314 00:17:03,509 --> 00:17:05,109 GATES: Yes, yes. 315 00:17:05,109 --> 00:17:09,809 DAVIS: But uh, but I, yes. 316 00:17:09,809 --> 00:17:12,409 It's, it's really amazing. 317 00:17:12,943 --> 00:17:15,143 GATES: Once we looked at those profiles, we said, 318 00:17:15,143 --> 00:17:16,676 we didn't need the DNA test. 319 00:17:16,676 --> 00:17:18,076 DAVIS: That's true. That's true. 320 00:17:18,076 --> 00:17:19,443 GATES: The barbershop would have convicted the brother 321 00:17:19,443 --> 00:17:21,376 right there. 322 00:17:21,376 --> 00:17:22,576 DAVIS: Wow. 323 00:17:22,576 --> 00:17:24,176 GATES: She looked like her daddy. 324 00:17:24,176 --> 00:17:26,876 Do you think your mother would have liked to meet 325 00:17:26,876 --> 00:17:29,043 her cousins, or her relatives? 326 00:17:29,043 --> 00:17:31,543 DAVIS: Yes. GATES: Yeah? 327 00:17:31,543 --> 00:17:35,643 DAVIS: My mother was so open, and so gracious, and 328 00:17:35,643 --> 00:17:41,843 so always willing to look for the good in people. 329 00:17:41,843 --> 00:17:43,243 GATES: Right. 330 00:17:43,943 --> 00:17:48,109 Since we cannot identify Sallye's mother, we can't 331 00:17:48,109 --> 00:17:50,876 determine how she met John Austin Darden, 332 00:17:50,876 --> 00:17:53,909 or do anything more than guess as to 333 00:17:53,909 --> 00:17:56,843 the nature of their relationship. 334 00:17:56,843 --> 00:17:59,143 But our researchers were able to uncover 335 00:17:59,143 --> 00:18:02,309 a great deal about John himself. 336 00:18:05,209 --> 00:18:08,176 DAVIS: "A veteran lawyer and Alabama legislator, 337 00:18:08,176 --> 00:18:13,843 John Austin Darden, 63, died unexpectedly here, Sunday. 338 00:18:13,843 --> 00:18:17,443 The former publisher of  The Goodwater Enterprise, 339 00:18:17,443 --> 00:18:21,176 who served both as a representative and senator 340 00:18:21,176 --> 00:18:23,009 at various times, 341 00:18:23,009 --> 00:18:26,309 had practiced law here 40 years. 342 00:18:27,243 --> 00:18:30,709 Other than his widow, he is survived by four sons 343 00:18:30,709 --> 00:18:33,776 and two daughters." 344 00:18:34,476 --> 00:18:36,943 Wow. 345 00:18:37,543 --> 00:18:42,743 I didn't think that we would ever, um, have a name. 346 00:18:43,009 --> 00:18:44,343 GATES: Hmm. 347 00:18:44,343 --> 00:18:47,776 DAVIS: I, I always imagined, 348 00:18:47,776 --> 00:18:51,276 imagined him as an anonymous figure. 349 00:18:51,743 --> 00:18:54,476 GATES: He was a prominent member of his community, 350 00:18:54,476 --> 00:18:57,709 quite accomplished, very well educated, very wealthy. 351 00:18:57,709 --> 00:18:59,243 DAVIS: Well. 352 00:18:59,243 --> 00:19:01,676 was he a member of the Ku Klux Klan? 353 00:19:01,676 --> 00:19:03,176 Or the White Citizens Counsel, 354 00:19:03,176 --> 00:19:04,843 that's something I would also want to know. 355 00:19:04,843 --> 00:19:06,143 GATES: Yeah. 356 00:19:06,143 --> 00:19:08,609 DAVIS: Because in those days, in order to achieve that power... 357 00:19:08,609 --> 00:19:09,809 GATES: Right. 358 00:19:09,809 --> 00:19:13,276 DAVIS: One had to thoroughly embrace white supremacy. 359 00:19:13,276 --> 00:19:14,743 GATES: It would not be a surprise if 360 00:19:14,743 --> 00:19:16,009 those things were true. 361 00:19:16,009 --> 00:19:17,043 DAVIS: Yeah. 362 00:19:17,043 --> 00:19:18,109 GATES: But we just don't know. 363 00:19:18,109 --> 00:19:19,343 We don't know anything about it. 364 00:19:19,343 --> 00:19:22,643 Can I ask you what you're feeling right now? 365 00:19:22,643 --> 00:19:25,443 DAVIS: I guess I'm both glad, but I'm also really angry. 366 00:19:25,443 --> 00:19:26,509 GATES: Of course. 367 00:19:26,509 --> 00:19:27,709 DAVIS: I'm really, really angry. 368 00:19:27,709 --> 00:19:29,343 GATES: Mm-hmm. 369 00:19:29,343 --> 00:19:33,843 DAVIS: And I see that this notice in The Birmingham News 370 00:19:33,843 --> 00:19:35,209 says that he's survived by 371 00:19:35,209 --> 00:19:36,809 four sons and two daughters. 372 00:19:36,809 --> 00:19:37,976 GATES: Right. 373 00:19:37,976 --> 00:19:40,743 DAVIS: But you know, what about... 374 00:19:40,743 --> 00:19:42,543 my mother may not have been the only one. 375 00:19:42,543 --> 00:19:43,976 GATES: Right. 376 00:19:43,976 --> 00:19:47,843 DAVIS: She may have siblings who are half Black. 377 00:19:47,843 --> 00:19:49,843 GATES: Mm-hmm. 378 00:19:49,843 --> 00:19:51,109 DAVIS: So, this actually, 379 00:19:51,109 --> 00:19:53,576 it opens up so many other questions. 380 00:19:53,576 --> 00:19:54,843 GATES: Right. 381 00:19:54,843 --> 00:19:56,909 DAVIS: But of course, that's true about knowledge, isn't it? 382 00:19:56,909 --> 00:19:57,909 GATES: It is. 383 00:19:57,909 --> 00:19:59,243 DAVIS: You know, the more you learn, 384 00:19:59,243 --> 00:20:01,676 the more you realize that there is to learn. 385 00:20:04,076 --> 00:20:06,743 GATES: As it turns out, Angela's knowledge of her 386 00:20:06,743 --> 00:20:11,009 newfound Darden family was about to expand dramatically. 387 00:20:11,009 --> 00:20:15,709 We were able to follow the paper trail from John back 388 00:20:15,709 --> 00:20:18,776 to Angela's fourth-great grandfather, 389 00:20:18,776 --> 00:20:21,209 a man named Stephen Darden, 390 00:20:21,209 --> 00:20:24,343 Stephen was born in colonial Virginia 391 00:20:24,343 --> 00:20:28,709 sometime around the year 1750. 392 00:20:28,709 --> 00:20:30,609 and in the National Archives, 393 00:20:30,609 --> 00:20:34,276 we discovered that he did something remarkable. 394 00:20:35,543 --> 00:20:40,076 DAVIS: "Muster Roll of Captain Abraham Kirkpatrick's Company, 395 00:20:40,076 --> 00:20:43,343 4th Virginia Regiment of Foot in the service of the 396 00:20:43,343 --> 00:20:48,209 United States for the month of November 1779. 397 00:20:49,043 --> 00:20:52,376 Drum and Fifes: Stephen Darden." 398 00:20:52,376 --> 00:20:54,409 Okay. He was a musician. 399 00:20:54,409 --> 00:20:59,209 GATES: You, Angela Davis are descended from a Patriot. 400 00:20:59,876 --> 00:21:04,309 Your fourth great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary War. 401 00:21:04,309 --> 00:21:06,709 And as you can see on the muster roll in front of you, 402 00:21:06,709 --> 00:21:08,043 he played the drums. 403 00:21:08,043 --> 00:21:09,076 DAVIS: Yes. 404 00:21:09,076 --> 00:21:11,376 GATES: So, when you were studying the 405 00:21:11,376 --> 00:21:14,176 American Revolution, did it ever occur that you could 406 00:21:14,176 --> 00:21:15,376 have an ancestor who... 407 00:21:15,376 --> 00:21:17,343 DAVIS: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. 408 00:21:17,343 --> 00:21:19,343 GATES: So, what do you do with that information now that you 409 00:21:19,343 --> 00:21:22,243 know that you do, that you are descendant from someone who 410 00:21:22,243 --> 00:21:25,443 did in fact serve in the American Revolution? 411 00:21:25,443 --> 00:21:29,209 DAVIS: Um, well, the American Revolution 412 00:21:29,209 --> 00:21:31,376 should have gone further than it actually did. 413 00:21:31,376 --> 00:21:32,643 GATES: Without a doubt. 414 00:21:32,643 --> 00:21:35,609 DAVIS: But I'm glad to be able to have this information. 415 00:21:35,609 --> 00:21:36,843 GATES: Right. 416 00:21:36,843 --> 00:21:40,543 DAVIS: Because, and you know, one of the reasons, and 417 00:21:40,543 --> 00:21:42,376 I'm thinking off the top of my head right now... 418 00:21:42,376 --> 00:21:43,943 GATES: Of course. 419 00:21:43,943 --> 00:21:48,476 DAVIS: You only just threw all of this information at me. 420 00:21:48,476 --> 00:21:50,676 GATES: We're improvising together. 421 00:21:50,676 --> 00:21:56,476 DAVIS: But you know, I'm remembering that 422 00:21:56,476 --> 00:22:00,576 so many people have called those of us who fight, 423 00:22:00,576 --> 00:22:05,643 who try to fight against racism, and who have visions of a more 424 00:22:05,643 --> 00:22:08,676 radical democracy, as un-American. 425 00:22:08,676 --> 00:22:09,943 GATES: Yes. 426 00:22:09,943 --> 00:22:15,309 DAVIS: And you know, I've you know, always insisted that 427 00:22:15,309 --> 00:22:19,709 the best way to pay tribute to this country is to try to 428 00:22:19,709 --> 00:22:23,809 change it and allow it to develop into 429 00:22:23,809 --> 00:22:29,209 the, the kind of um, uh, place where you know, 430 00:22:29,209 --> 00:22:33,609 anyone can be free, and equal, and happy. 431 00:22:33,609 --> 00:22:34,909 GATES: I'm with you. 432 00:22:34,909 --> 00:22:41,176 DAVIS: So, there's a sense in which I identify with the... 433 00:22:41,176 --> 00:22:44,809 the identity of the Patriot, 434 00:22:44,809 --> 00:22:46,843 but it has to be a radical... 435 00:22:46,843 --> 00:22:47,876 GATES: Of course. 436 00:22:47,876 --> 00:22:49,209 DAVIS: Identification. 437 00:22:49,209 --> 00:22:51,376 GATES: The most American thing you can do is to 438 00:22:51,376 --> 00:22:52,943 fight against injustice. 439 00:22:52,943 --> 00:22:55,876 DAVIS: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. 440 00:22:56,776 --> 00:23:00,076 GATES: Unfortunately, Angela's ability to "identify" with her 441 00:23:00,076 --> 00:23:03,676 ancestor would soon diminish considerably. 442 00:23:05,076 --> 00:23:07,676 Records show that after the Revolutionary War, 443 00:23:07,676 --> 00:23:11,943 Stephen Darden moved from Virginia to Georgia, 444 00:23:11,943 --> 00:23:15,676 where, at the time of his death, 445 00:23:15,676 --> 00:23:20,043 he owned a farm, and at least six enslaved people. 446 00:23:20,543 --> 00:23:23,576 A fact that took Angela by surprise. 447 00:23:25,143 --> 00:23:29,809 DAVIS: I always imagined my ancestors as the people 448 00:23:29,809 --> 00:23:31,676 who were enslaved. 449 00:23:31,676 --> 00:23:32,976 GATES: Right. 450 00:23:32,976 --> 00:23:36,776 DAVIS: Well, my mind and my heart is swirling with all of 451 00:23:36,776 --> 00:23:40,043 these contradictory emotions you know, 452 00:23:40,043 --> 00:23:41,576 I'm glad, on the one hand, 453 00:23:41,576 --> 00:23:44,609 that we've begun to solve this mystery... 454 00:23:44,609 --> 00:23:45,809 GATES: Mm-hmm. 455 00:23:45,809 --> 00:23:47,209 DAVIS: You know, we have something that 456 00:23:47,209 --> 00:23:49,276 we didn't have before. 457 00:23:49,276 --> 00:23:50,576 GATES: Right. 458 00:23:50,576 --> 00:23:53,643 DAVIS: But at the same time, I think it makes me even more 459 00:23:53,643 --> 00:23:58,009 committed to struggling for a better world. 460 00:23:58,009 --> 00:23:59,409 GATES: Of course. 461 00:23:59,409 --> 00:24:05,743 DAVIS: Because this world that could give rise to such a 462 00:24:05,743 --> 00:24:08,076 beautiful person as my mother, 463 00:24:08,076 --> 00:24:11,376 was not the world I want to see in the future. 464 00:24:11,376 --> 00:24:12,943 GATES: Of course not. 465 00:24:12,943 --> 00:24:15,476 What would your mom have made of this? 466 00:24:15,476 --> 00:24:19,476 DAVIS: She would have probably said, well, it's good to know 467 00:24:19,476 --> 00:24:23,243 my genetic background, 468 00:24:23,243 --> 00:24:26,809 it's good to know my ancestry, 469 00:24:27,476 --> 00:24:29,576 but those are not necessarily my people. 470 00:24:29,576 --> 00:24:30,876 GATES: Of course. 471 00:24:30,876 --> 00:24:35,343 DAVIS: My people you know, are the ones who fought for me, 472 00:24:35,343 --> 00:24:36,876 who supported me. 473 00:24:36,876 --> 00:24:38,643 GATES: Who nurtured and loved me and nourished me, right? 474 00:24:38,643 --> 00:24:40,609 DAVIS: Exactly. Exactly. 475 00:24:42,576 --> 00:24:45,943 GATES: Unlike Angela, Jeh Johnson came to me knowing 476 00:24:45,943 --> 00:24:50,343 a tremendous amount about his family tree, in part because 477 00:24:50,343 --> 00:24:53,576 it contains some very celebrated individuals. 478 00:24:54,309 --> 00:24:58,509 Jeh's paternal grandfather, Charles S. Johnson, 479 00:24:58,509 --> 00:25:01,409 was a renowned sociologist and the 480 00:25:01,409 --> 00:25:04,376 first Black president of Fisk University, 481 00:25:05,009 --> 00:25:07,709 and Jeh's maternal roots were notable as well. 482 00:25:08,376 --> 00:25:13,676 JOHNSON: My mother's family were native Washingtonians. 483 00:25:13,676 --> 00:25:16,809 They were proud to live in the nation's capital. 484 00:25:16,809 --> 00:25:20,776 My mother used to tell the story of watching Franklin Roosevelt 485 00:25:20,776 --> 00:25:23,776 on his, uh, in his convertible, with the dog, 486 00:25:23,776 --> 00:25:25,576 driving up Maryland Avenue, past her home. 487 00:25:25,576 --> 00:25:26,743 GATES: Wow. 488 00:25:26,743 --> 00:25:28,076 JOHNSON: With a Secret Service chase car. 489 00:25:28,076 --> 00:25:29,643 And, years... 490 00:25:29,643 --> 00:25:30,643 GATES: Imagine that. 491 00:25:30,643 --> 00:25:31,743 JOHNSON: Imagine that. 492 00:25:31,743 --> 00:25:33,709 And years later, I said to her, "Would you ever 493 00:25:33,709 --> 00:25:35,576 have imagined your own son would one day have a 494 00:25:35,576 --> 00:25:37,909 Secret Service chase car?" 495 00:25:37,909 --> 00:25:40,309 The C and D student in high school. 496 00:25:40,843 --> 00:25:46,743 Uh, interestingly, her mother's family were Goodwins. 497 00:25:46,743 --> 00:25:48,176 From Alabama. 498 00:25:48,176 --> 00:25:49,209 GATES: Yep. 499 00:25:49,209 --> 00:25:50,609 JOHNSON: From Selma, Alabama. 500 00:25:50,609 --> 00:25:52,943 If you went to the Brown AME Chapel, 501 00:25:52,943 --> 00:25:55,809 in Selma, Alabama, the national historic landmark 502 00:25:55,809 --> 00:25:57,209 where the marches originated from... 503 00:25:57,209 --> 00:25:58,276 GATES: Mm-hmm. 504 00:25:58,276 --> 00:26:00,243 JOHNSON: You would see the name R.M. Goodwin, 505 00:26:00,243 --> 00:26:02,043 founding secretary, on the cornerstone. 506 00:26:02,043 --> 00:26:03,176 GATES: Wow. 507 00:26:03,176 --> 00:26:04,509 JOHNSON: That is my great-great-grandfather. 508 00:26:04,509 --> 00:26:06,576 GATES: Man, you come from people on both sides. 509 00:26:06,576 --> 00:26:08,209 JOHNSON: Well, we've done a lot of research. 510 00:26:08,209 --> 00:26:09,443 GATES: Yeah. 511 00:26:09,443 --> 00:26:12,309 JOHNSON: A, as you say, everys, every person's legacy 512 00:26:12,309 --> 00:26:13,376 is interesting. 513 00:26:13,376 --> 00:26:14,643 GATES: It is. 514 00:26:14,643 --> 00:26:15,709 JOHNSON: If you know your legacy, you know your history, 515 00:26:15,709 --> 00:26:18,276 you will find many interesting things. 516 00:26:18,709 --> 00:26:21,409 GATES: Jeh's words would prove prophetic. 517 00:26:21,409 --> 00:26:24,476 As we dug into his roots, we uncovered one of the most 518 00:26:24,476 --> 00:26:28,276 "interesting" stories we've ever told, a story that 519 00:26:28,276 --> 00:26:32,676 somehow had been lost in the passage of time. 520 00:26:33,543 --> 00:26:39,343 It begins in the 1870 census for Robertson Township, Virginia, 521 00:26:39,343 --> 00:26:41,976 where we found Jeh's great-great-grandfather 522 00:26:41,976 --> 00:26:46,176 Joseph Clore listed as a nine year old boy, 523 00:26:46,176 --> 00:26:48,843 living in a household headed by his mother, 524 00:26:48,843 --> 00:26:52,176 a woman named Margaret Clore. 525 00:26:52,443 --> 00:26:54,109 JOHNSON: Oh my! 526 00:26:54,109 --> 00:26:55,409 GATES: What's it like to see this? 527 00:26:55,409 --> 00:26:58,509 This is your family over 150 years ago just five years 528 00:26:58,509 --> 00:27:00,809 after the end of the Civil War. 529 00:27:00,809 --> 00:27:02,743 JOHNSON: News to me. 530 00:27:02,743 --> 00:27:07,209 Um, this is fascinating, and I did not know, uh, that 531 00:27:07,209 --> 00:27:12,176 I had ancestors in Robertson Township, Virginia. 532 00:27:12,176 --> 00:27:14,209 GATES: Well, as you can see, Joseph and his mother and 533 00:27:14,209 --> 00:27:18,176 several of his siblings were all born before 1865, 534 00:27:18,176 --> 00:27:21,876 meaning that they were likely born into slavery. 535 00:27:21,876 --> 00:27:22,976 JOHNSON: Yes. 536 00:27:22,976 --> 00:27:24,443 GATES: Have you thought much about your ancestors 537 00:27:24,443 --> 00:27:25,909 who were enslaved? 538 00:27:25,909 --> 00:27:27,509 JOHNSON: Yes. 539 00:27:27,509 --> 00:27:31,676 Um, I could visit the grave site of a number of 540 00:27:31,676 --> 00:27:34,943 ancestors who were enslaved... 541 00:27:34,943 --> 00:27:36,476 GATES: Mm-hmm. 542 00:27:36,476 --> 00:27:42,776 JOHNSON: And, um, cannot fathom what life was like then, uh, 543 00:27:42,776 --> 00:27:45,176 but I am mindful of it. 544 00:27:45,943 --> 00:27:49,809 GATES: It can be very difficult to trace African American roots 545 00:27:49,809 --> 00:27:51,209 under slavery, 546 00:27:51,209 --> 00:27:52,709 because enslaved people 547 00:27:52,709 --> 00:27:57,143 weren't typically listed by name in federal records. 548 00:27:57,643 --> 00:28:01,243 But in Jeh's case, we got lucky. 549 00:28:01,609 --> 00:28:05,709 In 1874, nine years after emancipation, 550 00:28:05,709 --> 00:28:09,976 his third great-grandmother Margaret gave a deposition 551 00:28:09,976 --> 00:28:13,943 in which she described her family in great detail, 552 00:28:13,943 --> 00:28:15,909 introducing to Jeh to 553 00:28:15,909 --> 00:28:19,443 a host of ancestors whose names and identities 554 00:28:19,443 --> 00:28:23,276 were a complete surprise. 555 00:28:23,276 --> 00:28:26,409 JOHNSON: "I am the widow of Lewis B. Clore. 556 00:28:26,409 --> 00:28:30,643 He was a slave of Aaron Clore, who was his father. 557 00:28:31,443 --> 00:28:34,509 He had ten children by the same woman who was a 558 00:28:34,509 --> 00:28:36,509 slave of his also. 559 00:28:36,509 --> 00:28:39,376 Her name is Eliza Clore. 560 00:28:39,376 --> 00:28:42,176 She lives near me now." 561 00:28:42,176 --> 00:28:45,443 So I guess I'm related to some White folks named Clore? 562 00:28:46,043 --> 00:28:49,076 GATES: Your fourth-great grandfather was a White man, 563 00:28:49,076 --> 00:28:51,276 and his name was Aaron Clore. 564 00:28:51,276 --> 00:28:54,409 And he owned your fourth great-grandmother, 565 00:28:54,409 --> 00:28:57,443 a woman named Eliza. 566 00:28:57,443 --> 00:28:59,076 What do you make of that? 567 00:28:59,076 --> 00:29:00,543 JOHNSON: I don't know what to make of that. 568 00:29:00,543 --> 00:29:04,276 That, that is, um, striking. 569 00:29:04,276 --> 00:29:05,709 Striking to me. 570 00:29:05,709 --> 00:29:07,009 GATES: Hmm. 571 00:29:07,009 --> 00:29:09,109 JOHNSON: I don't think I've ever heard of such an arrangement. 572 00:29:09,109 --> 00:29:11,043 GATES: But raises a lot of questions about the... 573 00:29:11,043 --> 00:29:13,143 JOHNSON: Ten children by the same woman who was a slave? 574 00:29:13,143 --> 00:29:15,076 GATES: Yeah. 575 00:29:15,076 --> 00:29:16,509 JOHNSON: Hm. 576 00:29:16,509 --> 00:29:18,843 GATES: Can you love someone who owns you? 577 00:29:18,843 --> 00:29:22,543 JOHNSON: Um, I suppose in theory. 578 00:29:22,543 --> 00:29:24,376 GATES: Mm-hmm. 579 00:29:24,376 --> 00:29:26,443 JOHNSON: Don't know, we'll never know the relationship 580 00:29:26,443 --> 00:29:27,876 between these two. 581 00:29:27,876 --> 00:29:29,243 GATES: Mm-hmm. 582 00:29:29,243 --> 00:29:31,543 JOHNSON: Wow. 583 00:29:31,543 --> 00:29:33,043 GATES: We wanted to learn more about this 584 00:29:33,043 --> 00:29:34,643 highly unusual couple, 585 00:29:34,643 --> 00:29:38,776 and in the 1860 census for Virginia, 586 00:29:38,776 --> 00:29:42,076 we found a slave schedule for Aaron Clore. 587 00:29:43,909 --> 00:29:48,109 As was customary, the schedule lists enslaved people not by 588 00:29:48,109 --> 00:29:53,109 their names, but only by their age, gender, and color. 589 00:29:54,209 --> 00:29:57,943 It wasn't definitive, but it did allow Jeh the chance to 590 00:29:57,943 --> 00:30:01,309 glimpse his fourth great-grandmother as the 591 00:30:01,309 --> 00:30:05,143 human property of his fourth great-grandfather. 592 00:30:06,509 --> 00:30:07,809 JOHNSON: "Number one." 593 00:30:07,809 --> 00:30:08,943 They have numbers? 594 00:30:08,943 --> 00:30:09,943 GATES: Yeah. 595 00:30:09,943 --> 00:30:13,743 JOHNSON: Uh. "Age 50, female, Black. 596 00:30:13,743 --> 00:30:17,009 Number two, age 45, female, Black. 597 00:30:17,009 --> 00:30:20,476 Number four, age 28, male, Black." 598 00:30:20,476 --> 00:30:22,409 they're not even worthy of a name in the census. 599 00:30:22,409 --> 00:30:23,609 GATES: No names... 600 00:30:23,609 --> 00:30:24,909 JOHNSON: Right. 601 00:30:24,909 --> 00:30:27,009 GATES: So you know what that means, either the 45-year-old 602 00:30:27,009 --> 00:30:31,676 or the 50-year-old woman is your fourth great-grandmother, Eliza. 603 00:30:31,676 --> 00:30:32,843 JOHNSON: Right. 604 00:30:32,843 --> 00:30:34,843 GATES: And the 28-year-old man is their son, your 605 00:30:34,843 --> 00:30:37,176 third great-grandfather, Lewis. 606 00:30:37,176 --> 00:30:39,076 JOHNSON: They're, they're listed like commodities. 607 00:30:39,076 --> 00:30:40,843 GATES: He was listing the woman who bore his children 608 00:30:40,843 --> 00:30:42,209 and his own son. 609 00:30:42,209 --> 00:30:43,476 JOHNSON: He's listing his family, but they're not 610 00:30:43,476 --> 00:30:44,543 worth a name. 611 00:30:44,543 --> 00:30:45,543 GATES: Right. 612 00:30:45,543 --> 00:30:48,776 JOHNSON: Right. Yeah. 613 00:30:48,776 --> 00:30:51,209 GATES: What's it like for you to know 614 00:30:51,209 --> 00:30:56,676 A, the name of the White man who owned your family, and 615 00:30:56,676 --> 00:31:00,009 B, to know the name of the White man who 616 00:31:00,009 --> 00:31:02,243 is your fourth great-grandfather? 617 00:31:02,243 --> 00:31:06,543 JOHNSON: The best way to look at this in my judgment 618 00:31:06,543 --> 00:31:11,143 is it's the American story. 619 00:31:11,143 --> 00:31:14,943 In all of its tragedy, 620 00:31:14,943 --> 00:31:16,543 and hypocrisy. 621 00:31:16,543 --> 00:31:17,876 GATES: Mm-hmm. 622 00:31:17,876 --> 00:31:19,443 JOHNSON: And, I can't undo it. 623 00:31:19,443 --> 00:31:21,476 I won't disavow it. 624 00:31:21,476 --> 00:31:22,743 It's part of who I am. 625 00:31:22,743 --> 00:31:24,076 GATES: Mm-hmm. 626 00:31:24,076 --> 00:31:27,709 JOHNSON: It's part of whom I, who I am as an American and an 627 00:31:27,709 --> 00:31:30,109 American of African descent. 628 00:31:30,109 --> 00:31:31,409 GATES: Mm-hmm. 629 00:31:31,409 --> 00:31:34,543 JOHNSON: Would I want my grandchildren to 630 00:31:34,543 --> 00:31:36,476 see this page? 631 00:31:36,476 --> 00:31:37,743 Absolutely. 632 00:31:37,743 --> 00:31:41,743 Because I'd want them to understand our history. 633 00:31:41,743 --> 00:31:42,976 And this nation's history. 634 00:31:42,976 --> 00:31:44,276 GATES: Mm-hmm. 635 00:31:44,276 --> 00:31:46,743 JOHNSON: In its full color. 636 00:31:46,743 --> 00:31:48,576 So it is what it is. 637 00:31:48,576 --> 00:31:50,543 We have to accept the reality of it. 638 00:31:50,543 --> 00:31:54,976 And just like, I can't lop off my left arm. 639 00:31:54,976 --> 00:31:57,976 I can't lop off Aaron Clore. 640 00:31:57,976 --> 00:31:59,276 GATES: Mm-mm. 641 00:31:59,276 --> 00:32:03,443 JOHNSON: Slave owner who happens to also be my direct ancestor. 642 00:32:05,509 --> 00:32:08,143 GATES: We'd already solved a DNA mystery regarding 643 00:32:08,143 --> 00:32:10,843 Angela Davis' mother. 644 00:32:10,843 --> 00:32:15,509 Now we confronted a second mystery of a similar nature. 645 00:32:16,843 --> 00:32:20,043 Angela's father, Frank Davis, 646 00:32:20,043 --> 00:32:24,243 grew up in the tiny town of Linden, Alabama. 647 00:32:24,243 --> 00:32:28,809 In 1889, his mother, Mollie Spencer, 648 00:32:28,809 --> 00:32:32,409 married a man named "Edward Davis." 649 00:32:32,409 --> 00:32:35,109 Frank carries the Davis surname, 650 00:32:35,109 --> 00:32:38,109 but Edward Davis was not his father. 651 00:32:39,809 --> 00:32:43,876 In fact, it seems that Mollie and Edward separated long 652 00:32:43,876 --> 00:32:47,643 before Frank, and many of his siblings, were born. 653 00:32:48,809 --> 00:32:51,576 Frank himself never spoke about the subject. 654 00:32:51,576 --> 00:32:55,943 But his siblings, especially one of Angela's aunts, 655 00:32:55,943 --> 00:32:59,543 had told wild stories about it. 656 00:32:59,543 --> 00:33:04,209 DAVIS: So, she told us that her father, 657 00:33:04,209 --> 00:33:06,576 my father's father, 658 00:33:06,576 --> 00:33:08,143 was a White man... 659 00:33:08,143 --> 00:33:09,309 GATES: Mm-hmm. 660 00:33:09,309 --> 00:33:12,876 DAVIS: And that my grandmother had gone to New York 661 00:33:12,876 --> 00:33:15,409 and had got married to him, 662 00:33:15,409 --> 00:33:20,043 and my other aunt said that's absolutely ridiculous. 663 00:33:20,043 --> 00:33:22,309 So, you know, because my grandmother was 664 00:33:22,309 --> 00:33:23,776 a rural person. 665 00:33:23,776 --> 00:33:26,043 There's no way she would be able to go to New York. 666 00:33:26,043 --> 00:33:29,609 But anyway, these are the kinds of stories that 667 00:33:29,609 --> 00:33:32,043 circulated within the family. 668 00:33:33,143 --> 00:33:36,076 GATES: Surprisingly, the wild family stories may have 669 00:33:36,076 --> 00:33:39,343 contained a grain of truth... 670 00:33:39,343 --> 00:33:43,876 Alabama census records reveal that for at least a decade 671 00:33:43,876 --> 00:33:46,376 Mollie lived next door to 672 00:33:46,376 --> 00:33:49,476 a White man named "Murphy Jones". 673 00:33:50,243 --> 00:33:53,309 And when we examined the genetic profiles of Murphy's 674 00:33:53,309 --> 00:33:55,443 known living relatives, 675 00:33:55,443 --> 00:33:59,443 we found multiple matches to Angela. 676 00:33:59,443 --> 00:34:05,276 Meaning that Murphy Jones was Frank's biological father, 677 00:34:07,109 --> 00:34:09,743 DAVIS: My father must have known this, right, because... 678 00:34:09,743 --> 00:34:11,709 GATES: I can't imagine that he didn't. 679 00:34:11,709 --> 00:34:16,476 DAVIS: And why did he not say something to us about this? 680 00:34:18,043 --> 00:34:20,676 GATES: What do you think the answer to that question is? 681 00:34:20,676 --> 00:34:23,909 DAVIS: Well, I think we all know, you know, 682 00:34:23,909 --> 00:34:27,609 it's Jim Crow South, 683 00:34:27,609 --> 00:34:32,743 miscegenation was absolutely prohibited by law, 684 00:34:34,143 --> 00:34:38,509 but if they were involved in a 685 00:34:38,509 --> 00:34:41,843 "relationship" for so long, 686 00:34:41,843 --> 00:34:46,909 it would appear that my father would have had 687 00:34:46,909 --> 00:34:50,609 something to say about it, and... 688 00:34:50,609 --> 00:34:52,309 GATES: He would have seen this man. 689 00:34:52,309 --> 00:34:53,409 DAVIS: Yes. 690 00:34:53,409 --> 00:34:54,843 GATES: I mean, they lived next door to each other. 691 00:34:54,843 --> 00:34:56,209 DAVIS: That's true. That's true. 692 00:34:56,209 --> 00:34:57,576 GATES: Yeah. DAVIS: Yup. 693 00:34:57,576 --> 00:34:59,776 But my father, if you asked my father about him, 694 00:34:59,776 --> 00:35:01,209 he would never talk about him. 695 00:35:01,209 --> 00:35:03,243 GATES: Yeah. DAVIS: Never. 696 00:35:03,776 --> 00:35:06,909 GATES: Murphy and Mollie's relationship occurred at a time 697 00:35:06,909 --> 00:35:11,243 when interracial sex was illegal across the south. 698 00:35:11,243 --> 00:35:15,809 This fact, however, doesn't seem to have deterred them. 699 00:35:15,809 --> 00:35:18,076 We believe the couple may have had 700 00:35:18,076 --> 00:35:21,643 as many as four children together. 701 00:35:21,643 --> 00:35:26,076 What's more: in 1906, Murphy sold Mollie 702 00:35:26,076 --> 00:35:30,376 22 acres of land for $200, 703 00:35:30,376 --> 00:35:34,009 a transaction that suggests the two may have been 704 00:35:34,009 --> 00:35:38,909 closely bonded, even though it made Angela suspicious. 705 00:35:40,409 --> 00:35:43,509 DAVIS: I'm thinking, why didn't he just give it to her. 706 00:35:43,509 --> 00:35:46,909 You know, she was raising his children. 707 00:35:46,909 --> 00:35:48,776 GATES: Sure, but I mean, we don't know where the 708 00:35:48,776 --> 00:35:50,576 $200 came from. 709 00:35:50,576 --> 00:35:52,576 He could have given her the 200, I mean, the whole thing 710 00:35:52,576 --> 00:35:54,243 could have been a staged transaction, you know? 711 00:35:54,243 --> 00:35:55,276 DAVIS: That's true. That's true. 712 00:35:55,276 --> 00:35:56,676 GATES: Just to make it legal. 713 00:35:56,676 --> 00:35:57,843 DAVIS: Uh-huh. 714 00:35:57,843 --> 00:35:59,409 GATES: I'm not trying to cut him some slack, but... 715 00:35:59,409 --> 00:36:01,676 DAVIS: No. No. Yeah. Hmm. 716 00:36:01,676 --> 00:36:04,443 GATES: But it seems reasonable to assume that they had a 717 00:36:04,443 --> 00:36:07,343 long-term loving relationship. 718 00:36:07,343 --> 00:36:08,909 I don't know how else you would put it. 719 00:36:08,909 --> 00:36:10,709 DAVIS: I hope so. 720 00:36:10,709 --> 00:36:11,876 GATES: And they broke the law. 721 00:36:11,876 --> 00:36:13,076 DAVIS: They definitely broke the law. 722 00:36:13,076 --> 00:36:16,776 GATES: Uh-huh. DAVIS: Yes. 723 00:36:16,776 --> 00:36:20,043 GATES: We now turned our focus to Mollie's roots. 724 00:36:20,043 --> 00:36:23,609 Her father, Angela's great-grandfather, was a man 725 00:36:23,609 --> 00:36:26,076 named Isom Spencer. 726 00:36:26,076 --> 00:36:29,843 We found Isom, along with two of his brothers, listed as 727 00:36:29,843 --> 00:36:32,743 collateral on a loan document 728 00:36:32,743 --> 00:36:37,643 filed in 1854 by a slave-owner named William Pauling. 729 00:36:39,309 --> 00:36:43,676 Pauling owned a plantation in Marengo County, Alabama, and 730 00:36:43,676 --> 00:36:46,809 in this document, he gives a detailed accounting of the 731 00:36:46,809 --> 00:36:49,443 human beings who worked it, 732 00:36:49,443 --> 00:36:51,643 making the reality of slavery 733 00:36:51,643 --> 00:36:55,909 palpable to Angela in a way she'd never expected. 734 00:36:57,209 --> 00:37:02,576 DAVIS: I assumed that my ancestors lived on plantations 735 00:37:02,576 --> 00:37:06,743 as slaves, but of course, 736 00:37:06,743 --> 00:37:09,009 I didn't know who they were, and 737 00:37:09,009 --> 00:37:15,143 I didn't know who the slave owners were, 738 00:37:16,909 --> 00:37:22,576 and I just feel so sad 739 00:37:22,576 --> 00:37:26,176 that these are my people 740 00:37:26,176 --> 00:37:30,809 who had to live under those conditions, 741 00:37:30,809 --> 00:37:34,943 So, you know, it makes me realize what a miracle it is 742 00:37:34,943 --> 00:37:36,609 that we're here now. 743 00:37:36,609 --> 00:37:39,609 GATES: Oh my God, and this is yesterday. 744 00:37:39,609 --> 00:37:44,009 In terms of an historical timeline, our blood ancestors 745 00:37:44,009 --> 00:37:49,643 were owned by other human beings according to the law 746 00:37:49,643 --> 00:37:53,143 yesterday in terms of the passage of time. 747 00:37:53,143 --> 00:37:55,609 DAVIS: Exactly. That's true. 748 00:37:55,609 --> 00:37:58,343 That's true. 749 00:37:58,676 --> 00:38:01,043 GATES: Angela's great-grandfather Isom 750 00:38:01,043 --> 00:38:04,109 not only marks her family's transition from slavery to 751 00:38:04,109 --> 00:38:08,576 freedom, he's also at the center of a fascinating story. 752 00:38:10,309 --> 00:38:15,043 In 1866, a year after the end of the Civil War, 753 00:38:15,476 --> 00:38:18,776 Isom's former owner, William Pauling, 754 00:38:18,776 --> 00:38:22,376 was keeping four of Isom's orphaned nephews 755 00:38:22,376 --> 00:38:26,076 as unpaid apprentices on his plantation, 756 00:38:26,076 --> 00:38:31,176 essentially he was continuing to hold them in slavery, 757 00:38:31,176 --> 00:38:35,109 using his power and privilege to circumvent the law. 758 00:38:37,076 --> 00:38:40,809 But Isom and his brothers weren't intimidated by Pauling. 759 00:38:40,809 --> 00:38:44,076 To the contrary, they went to court and filed 760 00:38:44,076 --> 00:38:46,309 a complaint against him. 761 00:38:46,309 --> 00:38:47,509 DAVIS: That's great. 762 00:38:47,509 --> 00:38:48,543 GATES: It runs in the family. 763 00:38:48,543 --> 00:38:49,976 DAVIS: Oh my God. Absolutely. 764 00:38:49,976 --> 00:38:52,209 This I'm so happy to see. 765 00:38:52,209 --> 00:38:54,276 GATES: Isn't that cool? 766 00:38:54,276 --> 00:38:55,909 DAVIS: Yes. Yes. 767 00:38:55,909 --> 00:38:57,509 GATES: I mean, these are people who have been 768 00:38:57,509 --> 00:39:02,109 kept in bondage, and in 1866 said we are going to use the 769 00:39:02,109 --> 00:39:03,609 mechanism of law against this racist... 770 00:39:03,609 --> 00:39:05,909 DAVIS: Absolutely. Absolutely. 771 00:39:05,909 --> 00:39:07,209 GATES: Whose got these kids... 772 00:39:07,209 --> 00:39:08,476 DAVIS: And they figured out how to do it. 773 00:39:08,476 --> 00:39:09,843 GATES: They figured out how to do it. 774 00:39:09,843 --> 00:39:12,043 DAVIS: So, they brought an actual complaint. 775 00:39:12,043 --> 00:39:13,209 GATES: It's amazing. 776 00:39:13,209 --> 00:39:15,676 DAVIS: Wow. Wow. 777 00:39:15,676 --> 00:39:21,043 GATES: Unfortunately, Angela's ancestor faced steep odds. 778 00:39:22,076 --> 00:39:27,043 At the time, former slave owners all over the south 779 00:39:27,043 --> 00:39:30,043 were trying to keep Black children on their plantations 780 00:39:30,043 --> 00:39:33,109 as free labor. 781 00:39:33,109 --> 00:39:36,743 The practice was so common that the judge who heard the 782 00:39:36,743 --> 00:39:40,209 family's complaint saw nothing wrong with it. 783 00:39:42,276 --> 00:39:45,309 DAVIS: "I thought it was a capital arrangement for such 784 00:39:45,309 --> 00:39:49,543 children and the best thing that could be done for them. 785 00:39:49,543 --> 00:39:54,209 I do not think that any good will result from the angry and 786 00:39:54,209 --> 00:39:57,243 frivolous complaints of the uncles and aunts 787 00:39:57,243 --> 00:40:01,509 of such children, they can do nothing for them, 788 00:40:01,509 --> 00:40:04,509 and they do not know what is best for them or 789 00:40:04,509 --> 00:40:05,776 for the children." 790 00:40:05,776 --> 00:40:07,609 GATES: The judge presiding over your relative's case 791 00:40:07,609 --> 00:40:09,343 sided with the planter. 792 00:40:09,343 --> 00:40:10,843 DAVIS: That doesn't surprise me. 793 00:40:10,843 --> 00:40:12,776 GATES: He endorsed Pauling's desire to have your relatives 794 00:40:12,776 --> 00:40:15,176 stay on as his quote-unquote "apprentices". 795 00:40:15,176 --> 00:40:17,409 Stating that Isom and his brothers did not 796 00:40:17,409 --> 00:40:20,943 quote-unquote "know what is best for them or for the children". 797 00:40:20,943 --> 00:40:22,876 What do you imagine your great-grandfather and his 798 00:40:22,876 --> 00:40:25,276 brothers felt at that moment? 799 00:40:25,276 --> 00:40:30,009 DAVIS: Well, you know, I'm sure that they were 800 00:40:30,009 --> 00:40:31,543 extremely angry. 801 00:40:31,543 --> 00:40:35,643 They were the uncles of these children 802 00:40:35,643 --> 00:40:36,943 who were being exploited. 803 00:40:36,943 --> 00:40:38,143 GATES: Blood kin. 804 00:40:38,143 --> 00:40:41,609 DAVIS: Who were being turned into slaves. 805 00:40:41,609 --> 00:40:44,109 So, is this the way it ends? 806 00:40:45,476 --> 00:40:48,643 GATES: Happily, this is not where the story ends. 807 00:40:49,376 --> 00:40:51,509 Less than a year later, 808 00:40:51,509 --> 00:40:54,209 the Freedman's Bureau, a federal agency 809 00:40:54,209 --> 00:40:57,376 set up, in part, to help African Americans, 810 00:40:57,376 --> 00:41:02,376 intervened on Isom's behalf, and ordered that his nephews 811 00:41:02,376 --> 00:41:05,476 be released from their apprenticeships. 812 00:41:06,676 --> 00:41:10,776 DAVIS: Finally. Finally. Yeah. 813 00:41:10,776 --> 00:41:13,743 GATES: So, your great-grandfather, a man born 814 00:41:13,743 --> 00:41:18,143 and raised in slavery pulled off a victory less than 815 00:41:18,143 --> 00:41:20,109 two years after he became free. 816 00:41:20,109 --> 00:41:21,343 That's astonishing. 817 00:41:21,343 --> 00:41:23,043 DAVIS: Wow. Wow. 818 00:41:23,043 --> 00:41:24,509 GATES: So, do you see a little bit of him and his 819 00:41:24,509 --> 00:41:27,309 determination trickling down that family tree of yours? 820 00:41:27,309 --> 00:41:28,943 DAVIS: Oh, absolutely. 821 00:41:28,943 --> 00:41:30,209 Absolutely. 822 00:41:30,209 --> 00:41:31,476 Yes. 823 00:41:31,476 --> 00:41:32,909 Definitely. 824 00:41:32,909 --> 00:41:37,976 I'm happy to find that there's a motif of resistance there. 825 00:41:37,976 --> 00:41:39,809 GATES: There is, definitely. 826 00:41:39,809 --> 00:41:42,509 DAVIS: Because that is what I feel like I've been trying to 827 00:41:42,509 --> 00:41:44,676 do since I was a teenager. 828 00:41:44,676 --> 00:41:47,543 GATES: Well, you came by it naturally my daddy would say. 829 00:41:47,543 --> 00:41:49,009 DAVIS: Yeah. 830 00:41:49,009 --> 00:41:51,609 That I never would have expected! 831 00:41:53,876 --> 00:41:56,243 GATES: We'd already introduced Jeh Johnson to his 832 00:41:56,243 --> 00:42:01,109 fourth great-grandparents: Aaron and Eliza Clore, 833 00:42:01,109 --> 00:42:03,643 revealing that Aaron was a white slave owner, 834 00:42:03,643 --> 00:42:06,876 and Eliza was one of his slaves. 835 00:42:07,943 --> 00:42:11,243 Now Jeh was about to discover that this relationship was 836 00:42:11,243 --> 00:42:14,609 even more complex than it first appeared. 837 00:42:15,109 --> 00:42:18,809 Records show that the couple had ten children together, 838 00:42:18,809 --> 00:42:21,143 even though Aaron was married, 839 00:42:21,143 --> 00:42:25,343 with a White wife and two White children. 840 00:42:25,343 --> 00:42:30,309 What's more, in 1874, one of Aaron and Eliza's daughters 841 00:42:30,309 --> 00:42:32,409 gave a deposition, 842 00:42:32,409 --> 00:42:36,043 describing how Aaron organized his two families. 843 00:42:37,143 --> 00:42:39,409 JOHNSON: "Our father had three farms. 844 00:42:39,409 --> 00:42:43,676 His White family was on one and we were on one." 845 00:42:44,309 --> 00:42:45,943 So he kept them separate. 846 00:42:45,943 --> 00:42:47,043 GATES: Mm-hmm. 847 00:42:47,043 --> 00:42:48,309 JOHNSON: Yeah. 848 00:42:48,309 --> 00:42:50,676 GATES: This is something we have never seen before, Jeh. 849 00:42:50,676 --> 00:42:52,743 How do you imagine this family dynamic? 850 00:42:52,743 --> 00:42:54,509 JOHNSON: Um, well they probably didn't spend 851 00:42:54,509 --> 00:42:55,743 holidays together. 852 00:42:55,743 --> 00:42:57,009 Put it that way. 853 00:42:57,009 --> 00:42:59,876 Um, they probably didn't all sit around the table 854 00:42:59,876 --> 00:43:01,743 at Thanksgiving. 855 00:43:01,743 --> 00:43:05,509 And they probably never came together except 856 00:43:05,509 --> 00:43:07,376 perhaps if one was working for the other. 857 00:43:07,376 --> 00:43:08,509 GATES: Right. 858 00:43:08,509 --> 00:43:13,443 JOHNSON: And my speculation 859 00:43:13,443 --> 00:43:15,709 is that this arrangement 860 00:43:15,709 --> 00:43:17,843 was an open secret... 861 00:43:17,843 --> 00:43:18,976 GATES: Oh yeah. 862 00:43:18,976 --> 00:43:20,976 JOHNSON: Among the Clore family. 863 00:43:20,976 --> 00:43:22,443 GATES: Mm-hmm. 864 00:43:22,443 --> 00:43:24,509 Just from sheer physical resemblance. 865 00:43:24,509 --> 00:43:25,776 JOHNSON: Right. 866 00:43:25,776 --> 00:43:27,343 It's probably something and, and, and you're right there 867 00:43:27,343 --> 00:43:31,943 probably were colored Black siblings that 868 00:43:31,943 --> 00:43:34,043 looked an awful lot, like the White ones... 869 00:43:34,043 --> 00:43:35,176 GATES: Yeah. 870 00:43:35,176 --> 00:43:36,476 JOHNSON: Perhaps even more so than the White ones 871 00:43:36,476 --> 00:43:37,809 looked like each other. 872 00:43:37,809 --> 00:43:40,343 GATES: Sure, and I wonder how these two women dealt with this? 873 00:43:40,343 --> 00:43:42,043 JOHNSON: It's probably something that didn't get 874 00:43:42,043 --> 00:43:45,743 discussed, but tolerated perhaps. 875 00:43:47,676 --> 00:43:51,909 GATES: We have no idea how Eliza and Aaron's wife 876 00:43:51,909 --> 00:43:54,976 felt about each other, but when freedom came, 877 00:43:54,976 --> 00:43:58,109 Aaron did something that strongly suggests 878 00:43:58,109 --> 00:44:01,409 what he felt about them. 879 00:44:01,409 --> 00:44:07,409 In the 1870 census, we found Aaron living with Eliza, 880 00:44:07,409 --> 00:44:10,109 and their mixed race children. 881 00:44:10,943 --> 00:44:12,776 JOHNSON: Oh my. What's going on here? 882 00:44:12,776 --> 00:44:14,343 GATES: This is a household. 883 00:44:14,343 --> 00:44:15,809 JOHNSON: I see. 884 00:44:15,809 --> 00:44:17,043 GATES: This is a household. 885 00:44:17,043 --> 00:44:18,309 JOHNSON: Oh. 886 00:44:18,309 --> 00:44:20,443 So you're suggesting to me that maybe the White wife put 887 00:44:20,443 --> 00:44:23,643 him out and he went to live with the colored family? 888 00:44:23,643 --> 00:44:26,409 GATES: Maybe he decided he was really in love with his 889 00:44:26,409 --> 00:44:29,176 Black wife equivalent. 890 00:44:29,176 --> 00:44:30,543 JOHNSON: Maybe. 891 00:44:30,543 --> 00:44:32,909 GATES: They ended up living together willingly, Jeh. 892 00:44:32,909 --> 00:44:35,776 Those are your fourth great grandparents living together 893 00:44:35,776 --> 00:44:37,109 five years after the Civil War, 894 00:44:37,109 --> 00:44:40,476 a White man and a Black woman willingly cohabiting. 895 00:44:40,476 --> 00:44:43,009 JOHNSON: That's an interesting speculation. 896 00:44:43,009 --> 00:44:44,743 GATES: Well, they're living under the same roof. 897 00:44:44,743 --> 00:44:45,909 JOHNSON: They appear to be. 898 00:44:45,909 --> 00:44:47,476 GATES: And they openly admitted. 899 00:44:47,476 --> 00:44:48,843 JOHNSON: And I guess you can't count somebody twice 900 00:44:48,843 --> 00:44:49,909 in the Census. 901 00:44:49,909 --> 00:44:50,909 GATES: No you can't. 902 00:44:50,909 --> 00:44:52,143 JOHNSON: Right. GATES: No, you can't. 903 00:44:52,143 --> 00:44:56,543 JOHNSON: Yeah. Hmm. Okay. Interesting. 904 00:44:58,143 --> 00:45:01,709 GATES: At this point, Jeh was understandably struggling with 905 00:45:01,709 --> 00:45:04,843 what the paper trail was telling us, 906 00:45:04,843 --> 00:45:07,009 and even I thought it seemed unlikely 907 00:45:07,009 --> 00:45:10,776 that his ancestor would make such a decision, 908 00:45:10,776 --> 00:45:13,843 but in the same census that showed Aaron and Eliza 909 00:45:13,843 --> 00:45:17,209 living together, we saw another household that 910 00:45:17,209 --> 00:45:20,009 left little room for doubt. 911 00:45:21,709 --> 00:45:25,943 JOHNSON: "Aaron F. Clore, age 48, White, occupation farmer. 912 00:45:25,943 --> 00:45:29,409 Rosanna, age 81, White." 913 00:45:29,409 --> 00:45:31,109 So is this, the, the White family? 914 00:45:31,109 --> 00:45:33,076 GATES: Yes, Rosanna is your fourth great grandfather's 915 00:45:33,076 --> 00:45:34,176 White wife. 916 00:45:34,176 --> 00:45:35,409 JOHNSON: Right. 917 00:45:35,409 --> 00:45:37,076 GATES: And in this census, she's living alone 918 00:45:37,076 --> 00:45:39,309 in that same year, 1870... 919 00:45:39,309 --> 00:45:40,609 JOHNSON: With a son named Aaron. 920 00:45:40,609 --> 00:45:42,643 GATES: That your fourth great grandfather is living with 921 00:45:42,643 --> 00:45:45,243 your Black fourth great grandmother. 922 00:45:45,243 --> 00:45:48,776 She is living alone with her son Aaron about 18 miles away 923 00:45:48,776 --> 00:45:50,643 from where her husband is living with your 924 00:45:50,643 --> 00:45:52,543 fourth great grandmother. 925 00:45:52,543 --> 00:45:54,743 So Jeh, you know what that means? 926 00:45:54,743 --> 00:45:56,943 Aaron chose to live with Eliza. 927 00:45:56,943 --> 00:46:01,276 He basically left his wife for your fourth great grandmother. 928 00:46:01,676 --> 00:46:03,943 JOHNSON: Okay. I don't know what to think. 929 00:46:03,943 --> 00:46:05,209 I don't know what to think. 930 00:46:05,209 --> 00:46:06,976 GATES: Well first, did you have any idea when you sat 931 00:46:06,976 --> 00:46:10,209 down today that this story would be one that we had 932 00:46:10,209 --> 00:46:11,643 uncovered on your family? 933 00:46:11,643 --> 00:46:12,943 JOHNSON: None. Zero. None. 934 00:46:12,943 --> 00:46:14,109 GATES: None. 935 00:46:14,109 --> 00:46:16,043 JOHNSON: This was not even part of family folklore. 936 00:46:16,043 --> 00:46:17,276 GATES: Right? 937 00:46:17,276 --> 00:46:18,576 JOHNSON: And there's a lot of family folklore swirling 938 00:46:18,576 --> 00:46:19,909 around in my family. 939 00:46:19,909 --> 00:46:22,943 This was not even, this was not even part of family folklore. 940 00:46:23,476 --> 00:46:25,709 GATES: There is a final, and truly incredible, 941 00:46:25,709 --> 00:46:28,143 beat to this story. 942 00:46:28,143 --> 00:46:32,943 When Aaron Clore died he was still living with Eliza, 943 00:46:32,943 --> 00:46:37,876 and in his will, he gave Eliza land and livestock, 944 00:46:37,876 --> 00:46:41,243 just as he did his White wife. 945 00:46:41,243 --> 00:46:46,309 Aaron also directed that his White son build Eliza a house, 946 00:46:46,309 --> 00:46:49,276 and that money be held in trust 947 00:46:49,276 --> 00:46:52,309 for Eliza and her children. 948 00:46:54,109 --> 00:46:56,276 GATES: So what do you think of this dude now? 949 00:46:56,276 --> 00:46:58,609 JOHNSON: Money does talk, I guess livestock talks, 950 00:46:58,609 --> 00:46:59,909 property talks. 951 00:46:59,909 --> 00:47:01,309 So... 952 00:47:01,309 --> 00:47:02,843 GATES: A house, new house. 953 00:47:02,843 --> 00:47:07,409 JOHNSON: He thought enough of his colored family to 954 00:47:07,409 --> 00:47:10,243 leave them some, some property... 955 00:47:10,243 --> 00:47:11,309 GATES: Right. 956 00:47:11,309 --> 00:47:12,809 JOHNSON: Something worthwhile. 957 00:47:12,809 --> 00:47:15,909 And this story sounds very human to me, put it that way. 958 00:47:15,909 --> 00:47:16,943 GATES: It does. 959 00:47:16,943 --> 00:47:18,009 JOHNSON: That's the best way I can say it. 960 00:47:18,009 --> 00:47:19,643 This story sounds very human. 961 00:47:19,643 --> 00:47:20,876 GATES: Sounds like... 962 00:47:20,876 --> 00:47:24,076 JOHNSON: What occurs during Reconstruction in, in the 963 00:47:24,076 --> 00:47:28,476 South, Virginia, um, in the abstract no one would ever 964 00:47:28,476 --> 00:47:29,909 believe it, but here it is. 965 00:47:29,909 --> 00:47:31,243 GATES: Right. 966 00:47:31,243 --> 00:47:33,876 JOHNSON: We talk about how stories like this can be lost 967 00:47:33,876 --> 00:47:37,109 to history, lost over time. 968 00:47:37,109 --> 00:47:39,709 What's interesting is if you went to my mother's family 969 00:47:39,709 --> 00:47:41,343 cemetery in Maryland, 970 00:47:41,343 --> 00:47:43,276 just outside the District of Columbia, 971 00:47:43,276 --> 00:47:46,209 there are generations of her ancestors. 972 00:47:46,209 --> 00:47:49,076 And I remember she used to talk about Granny Clore. 973 00:47:49,076 --> 00:47:50,109 GATES: Huh? 974 00:47:50,109 --> 00:47:51,743 JOHNSON: Who I think was her, 975 00:47:51,743 --> 00:47:54,409 could have been her great-grandmother. 976 00:47:54,409 --> 00:47:55,743 GATES: Mm-hmm. 977 00:47:55,743 --> 00:47:57,843 JOHNSON: And... or Grandma Clore. 978 00:47:57,843 --> 00:48:00,776 Grandma Clore probably knew this story. 979 00:48:00,776 --> 00:48:01,809 GATES: I'm sure. 980 00:48:01,809 --> 00:48:02,876 JOHNSON: She probably knew this story... 981 00:48:02,876 --> 00:48:04,109 GATES: Mm-hmm. 982 00:48:04,109 --> 00:48:07,376 JOHNSON: From her parents, from her grandparents, whatever. 983 00:48:07,376 --> 00:48:10,309 She probably knew this story, but it's a story lost to my 984 00:48:10,309 --> 00:48:13,376 generation until this moment. 985 00:48:13,943 --> 00:48:16,909 GATES: My time with my guests was coming to a close, 986 00:48:16,909 --> 00:48:21,176 but we had one more detail to share with Angela, 987 00:48:21,176 --> 00:48:24,643 turning back to her grandfather Murphy Jones, 988 00:48:24,643 --> 00:48:26,476 we were able to map her 989 00:48:26,476 --> 00:48:30,143 paternal family tree all the way back to her 990 00:48:30,143 --> 00:48:34,376 10th great-grandfather, a man named William Brewster. 991 00:48:35,643 --> 00:48:38,276 William was born in Nottinghamshire, England 992 00:48:38,276 --> 00:48:41,343 around the year 1570, 993 00:48:41,343 --> 00:48:44,643 but he didn't stay in England for long. 994 00:48:45,443 --> 00:48:48,409 DAVIS: "The names of those which came over first, 995 00:48:48,409 --> 00:48:52,643 in the year 1620 and were, by the blessing of God, 996 00:48:52,643 --> 00:48:56,176 the first beginners, and in a sort, 997 00:48:56,176 --> 00:48:59,809 the foundation of all the plantations, 998 00:48:59,809 --> 00:49:02,443 and colonies in New England. 999 00:49:02,909 --> 00:49:06,543 William Brewster, Mary his wife, with two sons." 1000 00:49:07,276 --> 00:49:09,476 GATES: Any idea what you're looking at? 1001 00:49:09,476 --> 00:49:12,109 That is a list of the passengers on the Mayflower. 1002 00:49:12,109 --> 00:49:13,676 DAVIS: No. 1003 00:49:13,676 --> 00:49:14,909 I can't believe this. 1004 00:49:14,909 --> 00:49:16,643 No. 1005 00:49:16,643 --> 00:49:19,309 My ancestors did not come here on the Mayflower. 1006 00:49:19,309 --> 00:49:21,109 GATES: Your ancestors came on the Mayflower. 1007 00:49:21,109 --> 00:49:22,943 DAVIS: No. No. No. No. 1008 00:49:22,943 --> 00:49:26,943 GATES: You are descendant from one of the 101 people 1009 00:49:26,943 --> 00:49:29,443 who sailed on the Mayflower. 1010 00:49:29,443 --> 00:49:34,576 DAVIS: Oomph, that's a little bit too much 1011 00:49:34,576 --> 00:49:37,176 to deal with right now. 1012 00:49:37,176 --> 00:49:40,143 GATES: Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that you 1013 00:49:40,143 --> 00:49:44,176 may have descended from people who laid the foundation 1014 00:49:44,176 --> 00:49:45,543 for this country? 1015 00:49:45,543 --> 00:49:49,509 DAVIS: Never. Never. Never. Never. 1016 00:49:50,909 --> 00:49:55,109 GATES: The paper trail had run out for Angela and Jeh... 1017 00:49:55,109 --> 00:49:58,676 You're looking at the names of all of the ancestors... 1018 00:49:58,676 --> 00:50:01,909 It was time show them their full family trees. 1019 00:50:01,909 --> 00:50:03,309 JOHNSON: Oh, my. 1020 00:50:03,309 --> 00:50:04,576 Look at this. 1021 00:50:04,576 --> 00:50:08,309 This looks like a Department of Homeland Security Org Chart. 1022 00:50:08,309 --> 00:50:10,343 GATES: This is Jeh Johnson Org Chart. 1023 00:50:10,343 --> 00:50:12,976 JOHNSON: Yes, there I am at the bottom. 1024 00:50:12,976 --> 00:50:15,809 GATES: Seeing his roots stretch back centuries, 1025 00:50:15,809 --> 00:50:20,743 on both sides of the color line, allowed Jeh to reflect on how 1026 00:50:20,743 --> 00:50:25,409 his ancestors embody the American experience, 1027 00:50:25,409 --> 00:50:28,009 in all its diversity. 1028 00:50:28,009 --> 00:50:31,743 JOHNSON: It, tells me something about how, 1029 00:50:31,743 --> 00:50:34,076 complicated our nation is, and how often 1030 00:50:34,076 --> 00:50:39,143 life is contrary to stereotypes. 1031 00:50:39,143 --> 00:50:40,443 GATES: Mm-hmm. 1032 00:50:40,443 --> 00:50:42,143 JOHNSON: You know, when they say you can't make this stuff up. 1033 00:50:42,143 --> 00:50:43,409 GATES: No, you can't make it up. 1034 00:50:43,409 --> 00:50:47,543 JOHNSON: Right, so it'd be, it'd be hard to sell this movie. 1035 00:50:47,543 --> 00:50:49,276 GATES: But it's the real American history. 1036 00:50:49,276 --> 00:50:50,343 JOHNSON: Right. 1037 00:50:50,343 --> 00:50:51,709 GATES: It's the real history of race. 1038 00:50:51,709 --> 00:50:52,743 JOHNSON: Yeah. 1039 00:50:52,743 --> 00:50:53,776 GATES: That's why I want everybody 1040 00:50:53,776 --> 00:50:54,943 to do their family trees. 1041 00:50:54,943 --> 00:50:56,143 JOHNSON: Right. 1042 00:50:56,143 --> 00:50:57,809 GATES: 'Cause it's only that way that, inductively, 1043 00:50:57,809 --> 00:51:00,409 we could then, uh, gather the information... 1044 00:51:00,409 --> 00:51:01,409 JOHNSON: Yes. 1045 00:51:01,409 --> 00:51:02,509 GATES: The data to tell a new... 1046 00:51:02,509 --> 00:51:03,576 JOHNSON: Right. 1047 00:51:03,576 --> 00:51:05,209 GATES: Story of American history. 1048 00:51:05,209 --> 00:51:06,876 JOHNSON: That's true. 1049 00:51:06,876 --> 00:51:10,743 GATES: For Angela, the experience made clear her deep 1050 00:51:10,743 --> 00:51:15,376 connection to the women and men who blazed the trail that 1051 00:51:15,376 --> 00:51:18,609 she's been walking for so long... 1052 00:51:18,609 --> 00:51:21,209 DAVIS: It inspires me, let me put it that way. 1053 00:51:21,209 --> 00:51:22,709 It makes me feel full. 1054 00:51:22,709 --> 00:51:27,909 It makes me feel as if there have always been others 1055 00:51:27,909 --> 00:51:30,276 accompanying me as I've done this work. 1056 00:51:30,276 --> 00:51:31,509 Of course there are, 1057 00:51:31,509 --> 00:51:33,643 but I'm talking about those who came before me, 1058 00:51:34,609 --> 00:51:36,343 that they've always been with me, 1059 00:51:36,343 --> 00:51:37,843 they've always walked with me. 1060 00:51:37,843 --> 00:51:38,943 GATES: Mm-hmm. 1061 00:51:38,943 --> 00:51:41,243 DAVIS: And I want to thank you, so much, 1062 00:51:41,243 --> 00:51:45,643 for doing the work that uncovered this information, 1063 00:51:45,643 --> 00:51:50,009 which I never would have predicted, never, ever. 1064 00:51:50,009 --> 00:51:53,143 GATES: And look, it made you who you are. 1065 00:51:53,143 --> 00:51:54,676 DAVIS: Exactly. 1066 00:51:54,676 --> 00:51:56,776 GATES: That's the end of our search for the ancestors of 1067 00:51:56,776 --> 00:51:59,709 Angela Davis and Jeh Johnson... 1068 00:52:00,509 --> 00:52:01,809 Join me next time 1069 00:52:01,809 --> 00:52:03,076 when we unlock 1070 00:52:03,076 --> 00:52:04,509 the secrets of the past 1071 00:52:04,509 --> 00:52:06,076 for new guests 1072 00:52:06,076 --> 00:52:07,676 on another episode of 1073 00:52:07,676 --> 00:52:09,809 Finding Your Roots.