The Daily Show: Ears Edition - From the Archives: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. - November 30, 2017

Episode Date: July 13, 2018

Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., discusses his PBS series "Finding Your Roots," which explores the diverse ancestral backgrounds of celebrities such as Questlove and Ava DuVernay.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show.. It it it. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. It's. to to the. to to to to to to to to to the. the. to to to to the, the, the th, th, th, th, the th, the th, the the th, the th, the the the the the the the th. th. the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the the the the the the the t ti ti ti ti. ti. ti. the the the the the the the the the the the smartest way to hire. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about. All the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking

about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Please welcome Dr. Henry Lewis Cates, Jr. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome to the show. Thank you. I love for being here and what an amazing honor it is to have you, not just because of the work you've done on what you stand for, but but also because of the show.

I'm such a fan of this series and what people saw just now was mind blowing, not just for us, but for Quest Love himself. Explain a bit of that episode that's coming up, please. Well, it's an incredible story. The slave trade to the slave. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the s the s to to the s. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. tr. the. tra. tra. tra. tra. tra. tra th. th. thea. tha. the. thean. the. the the the th. himself. Explain a bit of that episode that's coming up, please. Well it's an incredible story. The slave trade to the United States was abolished in 1808. The slavery didn't end until the 13th Amendment, but the slave trade ended in 1808, ended in Britain in 1807. And there was a southern businessman in Mobile, Alabama, who made a bet with a northern businessman that he could sneak a boatload of illegal slaves into the United States. And he did. He came in 1860 a year before the Civil War started.

And it was over somewhere between 110 and 160 slaves who left from Weda in Dahomey. And Questlove's third great-grandparents, Charlie and Maggie Lewis, were on that ship. It's an incredible story. It's an incredible story, it's a painful story, and at the same time, it's a, there is beauty in and amongst all of the pain, because, as you said, Questlove goes,

I know exactly where my family came from, a story that's been stolen from so many people in the United States, so many African-Americans. Right, I have never met another African-American who knows the name of the slave ship that his original African ancestors were on. And not just one, but two, a third third-grade grandfather and a third-grade grandmother and even more incredible to me is that by 1870 five years at the end of the Civil War they owned property. They got free by 1865 and our property owners by 1870 you can't make this stuff up but you know something every time I'm

think about the series in the abstract I actually think about you think about you you think about me the me th the the the the the the the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi th th th th th th thi thi thi th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. th. th. th. th. the the th. the the the the the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thin thi thin. theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. the the. the the. you can't make this stuff up. But you know something, every time I'm think about this series in the abstract, I actually think about you. You think about you? Yeah, because you, more than anyone understands the arbitrary nature of race. Because your mother, Kosa, I can't say. Kosa. closer. We'll be here all night. And your father Swiss. Yes. And you were, as you say, born a crime, right? So you were illegitimate and illegal as far as the South African government was concerned. But your parents were 99.99% the same at the level of the genome.

It's the genetics deconstructs all of our simple notions about race and racism. It's fascinating and it's sad because it's the reality that we live in. But when you say, we can't make this up. It's true and it's scary at the same time. Are there people who come to your show and are afraid of what they'll discover? Because I think, you know, if you're African-American,

you may be going, oh wow, I want to know because this is something I don't have. I'm assuming, I mean, like, for instance, I know there's an episode of Dr. Phil, where you go, what if, what if th th th th th, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, what, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. If, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, if, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thr. thr. thr. th. th. th. th. th. th. thr. th. to. to. thi. th. of his ancestors was murdered by a slave. Wow. Yeah. And then, the white man's descendant killed the slave and stood trial, and basically they patted him on the hand and he was able to go. But you know the big fear of African Americans is being too white.

Are you serious? Yeah, the average African American, and here's the total shock, the average African American is 24% European. Now you're 50% European. Yeah, I looked at my crystal ball and figured that out. Yeah. That's an interesting fear. Is that because some people fear that in some way it will diminish their blackness?

Is that? Because I mean, I know Eva Duvene is one of the people in the series. And in Ava's story, you discover that she is the descendant on, like a long lineage of, it was French slave owners who fled the Haitian Revolution. Who fled Sandemang was the name of the island that became the richest colony in the history of the world up to that time because of sugar. And Ava is descended from a white man who was th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the thi, thi, the the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, like is thi, like thi, like she is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is thi is the thi is thi, like, the the the the the the the their is their is their, their, their, their, their, their, is a thi, is a thi, is a the, is a theea, is a thea.ea.ea.ea.ea, is a thea.ea, thea, thea, thea, thi, thi up to that time because of sugar. And Ava is descended from a white man who was a slave owner and whose wife or, you know, the woman who gave birth to their children who was a mixed race. But at the end, she goes, I'm black, I'm black because she's 57% African. So you want to be a little bit mixed, but not too mixed if you see that. But Brian Gumble, we found an incredible story of Bryant Gumbull and Brian Gubble, 65% European and 7%

Ashkenazi Jewish. He wanted to know where his name came from and it comes from a German man named Carl Gumbel who came to the United States in 1863 and we traced back two more generations to Elias Gimple from Albys Gheimme, the the German the, thir, and their, and their, and their, and their, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and th, and thi, and thi, and thi, and thi, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and Bri, and their, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, and I, the, the, the, the, the, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, their, their, theyy, they, they, theyy, they, theyri, theyriiii, their, their, their, their, their, their, theirto the United States in 1863 and we traced back two more generations to Elias Gimple from Albashim, Germany who was an Ashkenazi Jew. And that is Bryant Gumbel's heritage. One of the brilliant things about our show, it shows everybody, everybody is mixed. There is no racial purity. So that's why when you see these horrific images of white supremacists, you know, they're, first of all, they're dreaming of a world that never existed. Right. There never was this racial purity and

that's why all of us have to stand up. Whenever white supremacy rears its ugly and heinous hip. We have to stand up. Whenever white supremacy rears its ugly and heinous head, we have to stand up again. I want to watch every single episode. I'm so excited for it. I'm so honored to have you on the show. Thank you so much for being here. Dr. Gates, everybody. Finding Your Roots as Tuesday at 8 p.m. on PBS. The Daily Show with Trevnoa, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central, and the Comedy Central app. Watch full episodes and videos at the Daily Show. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to the Daily Show on

YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show. We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.