Breaking Silences

GATES: I'M HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR., WELCOME TO "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL MEET JOURNALIST GAYLE KING, DIRECTOR JORDAN PEELE AND ACTOR ISSA RAE.

THREE AFRICAN AMERICANS WHOSE ROOTS LIE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE COLOR LINE, LEAVING EACH WITH FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR ANCESTRY.

PEELE: I'VE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT THERE'S FAMILY OUT THERE, AND SOMETHING ABOUT THAT JOURNEY IS JUST, IS DAUNTING.

KING: MY GRANDMOTHER...

I KNEW HER FATHER WAS WHITE, BUT WE WERE NOT TO TALK ABOUT IT, AND SHE NEVER WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT.

GATES: THE CHARBONNETS WERE FREE... RAE: THEY WERE FREE MIXED BLACK PEOPLE.

GATES: THEY WERE FREE MIXED BLACK PEOPLE.

RAE: HOW DID THEY GET AWAY WITH THAT?

GATES: TO UNCOVER THEIR ROOTS, WE'VE USED EVERY TOOL AVAILABLE.

GENEALOGISTS HELPED STITCH TOGETHER THE PAST FROM THE PAPER TRAIL THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND, WHILE DNA EXPERTS UTILIZED THE LATEST ADVANCES IN GENETIC ANALYSIS TO REVEAL SECRETS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD.

PEELE: IT'S COOL TO KNOW THAT THERE'S A WARRIOR'S BLOOD IN THERE.

GATES: AND WE'VE COMPILED IT ALL INTO A BOOK OF LIFE.

KING: THAT GIVES ME GOOSEBUMPS LOOKING AT THAT.

GATES: A RECORD OF ALL OF OUR DISCOVERIES.

RAE: THAT IS SOME TWISTED FAMILY HISTORY.

PEELE: THIS IS FASCINATING.

I WANT TO KNOW THEIR STORIES.

GATES: MY THREE GUESTS GREW UP WONDERING ABOUT ENTIRE BRANCHES OF THEIR FAMILY TREES.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THAT, AND WE'RE GOING TO INTRODUCE THEM TO THE ANCESTORS, BOTH BLACK AND WHITE WHO MADE THEM WHO THEY ARE TODAY.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ ♪ GATES: GAYLE KING SEEMS LIKE A NATURAL.

THE CO-HOST OF THE FLAGSHIP MORNING NEWS SHOW AT CBS, SHE'S BLESSED WITH A RARE EASE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA.

KING: FLAWLESS.

THAT'S WHAT YOU CAN SAY.

WILLIAMS: NO.

NO, I COULD NOT.

KING: YES, YOU COULD.

SAY IT, PHARRELL.

YES, YOU COULD.

WILLIAMS: NO.

NO, I COULD NOT.

GATES: BUT GAYLE'S RISE TO THE TOP OF HER FIELD HAS BEEN ARDUOUS.

SHE'S EVEN FACED DOUBTERS WITHIN HER OWN FAMILY.

KING: I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD BE ON TV.

LISTEN, YOU'RE, YOU'RE LOOKING AT SOMEBODY WHOSE, WHOSE GRANDMOTHER TOLD HER, MY GRANDMOTHER SAID, YOU KNOW, "GAYLE, MOTHER NATURE WASN'T AS KIND TO YOU AS OTHER LITTLE GIRLS."

MY GRANDMOTHER.

THAT'S WHAT MY GRANDMA SAID.

GATES: THAT'S TERRIBLE.

HOW'D THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?

KING: TERRIBLE!

GATES: FORTUNATELY, GAYLE'S PARENTS WERE MORE SUPPORTIVE THAN HER GRANDMOTHER, AND HELPED NURTURE HER AMBITIONS.

EVEN SO, HER SUCCESS CAME AGAINST LONG ODDS.

AFTER GRADUATING FROM COLLEGE, GAYLE WORKED AT A TV STATION IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

NEWSCASTER: GOOD EVENING EVERYONE.

GATES: AT A TIME WHEN THERE WERE VERY FEW AFRICAN AMERICANS IN BROADCAST NEWS.

SHE SOON REALIZED THAT IF SHE WANTED TO MOVE UP IN HER CAREER, SHE NEEDED TO GET CREATIVE.

KING: I WAS VERY STRATEGIC.

I TOOK A MAP OF THE UNITED STATES, LOOKED AT ALL THESE MARKETS, THEN I SAID LET ME GET THE ABC, CBS, NBC AFFILIATES, GOT THEIR NUMBERS, AND I WOULD CALL AND NOT ASK FOR THE NEWS DIRECTOR.

I WOULD ASK FOR THE NEWS DIRECTOR'S ASSISTANT, BECAUSE THE ASSISTANTS KNOW EVERYTHING.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: SO, I WOULD INTRODUCE MYSELF ON THE PHONE.

I SAID, HI, MY NAME IS GAYLE KING, UH, YOU KNOW, I'M LOOKING FOR MY FIRST JOB, UH, I'M, I'M A BLACK WOMAN, I'M 22, 23, UH, IS IT WORTH MY WHILE TO SEND MY TAPE TO YOU?

GATES: THAT'S A BRILLIANT STRATEGY, BY THE WAY.

KING: I KNOW.

WITHOUT SAYING ARE, ARE THERE ANY OPENINGS FOR BLACK PEOPLE?

GATES: NO.

RIGHT.

KING: BECAUSE NOBODY CAN TELL YOU THAT.

GATES: NO.

KING: BUT I ALSO KNOW IF THEY HAD TWO BLACK WOMEN THERE, CHANCES ARE THEY WERE NOT GONNA HIRE ME.

GATES: RIGHT.

KING: THAT'S JUST A REALITY BACK THEN.

GATES: UH-HUH.

UH-HUH.

KING: AND I DON'T KNOW IF THEY APPRECIATED THE CANDOR OR THEY JUST FELT SOMETHING IN MY VOICE.

SOME OF THEM WOULD SAY YEAH, SURE, SEND IT TO ME AND SEND IT ADDRESSED TO ME, AND I WILL MAKE SURE THAT SO-AND-SO SEES IT.

GATES: GAYLE'S "STRATEGY" EVENTUALLY PAID OFF, IN A BIG WAY.

KING: GOOD MORNING.

I'M GAYLE KING.

GATES: SHE LANDED A JOB AS A WEEKEND ANCHOR IN KANSAS CITY.

THEN SPENT YEARS MOVING AMONG TV, RADIO, AND PRINT JOURNALISM BEFORE FINALLY BECOMING A HOUSEHOLD NAME WITH CBS.

ALL TOLD, GAYLE'S CAREER HAS SPANNED MORE THAN FOUR DECADES.

BUT SHE'S STILL SURPRISED THAT IT HAPPENED AT ALL, AND GRATEFUL TO HER PARENTS, WHO ENCOURAGED HER, EVEN WHEN IT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE.

KING: MY DAD USED TO SAY YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DO, YOU CAN BE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE, SO I, FROM THE TIME I WAS A LITTLE KID, I WAS ALWAYS RAISED WITH A LOT OF LOVE AND A LOT OF CONFIDENCE IN MYSELF, SO MY FAMILY ALWAYS MADE ME FEEL THAT I WAS REALLY GREAT.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: AND WHEN YOU'RE RAISED LIKE THAT, YOU CAN DO AMAZING THINGS.

MAN: MARK... PEELE: AND...ACTION.

GATES: MY SECOND GUEST IS JORDAN PEELE, THE OSCAR WINNING WRITER AND DIRECTOR OF THE INSTANT CLASSIC "GET OUT", A SCATHING SOCIAL SATIRE WRAPPED IN A SUPREMELY ENTERTAINING HORROR MOVIE.

ARMITAGE: NOW YOU'RE IN THE SUNKEN PLACE.

GATES: JORDAN IS A BORN FILMMAKER, A MODERN-DAY ALFRED HITCHCOCK.

BUT AS THE CHILD OF A BIRACIAL COUPLE, RAISED BY A SINGLE WHITE MOTHER, JORDAN'S STRUGGLED WITH ISSUES THAT ALFRED HITCHCOCK COULD NEVER IMAGINE.

AND HE'S LONG KNOWN THAT HIS RACE COULD PLACE A LIMIT ON HIS TALENTS.

PEELE: I ALWAYS LOVED MOVIES.

MOVIES WERE MY ESCAPE, MY INSPIRATION, EVERYTHING.

I WOULD LEAVE SCHOOL, I WOULD GO STRAIGHT TO THE MOVIE THEATER, WATCH MOVIES OVER AND OVER, ALONE, AND SO BY THE TIME I WAS 13-14 I KNEW I WANTED TO BE A DIRECTOR... GATES: MMM-HMM.

PEELE: BUT EVEN THOUGH I HAD A SUPPORTIVE SITUATION I GOT, I GOT THE MESSAGE THAT, YOU KNOW, BEING A DIRECTOR IS HARD, AND I GOT IT FROM, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY AROUND ME, AND HOW DIFFICULT IT LOOKED, BUT I ALSO GOT IT FROM THE LACK OF, OF BLACK DIRECTORS... GATES: SURE.

YEAH.

PEELE: OUT THERE, YOU KNOW, IT FELT ABSOLUTELY DAUNTING, AND I REMEMBER THE FEELING THAT I WANTED TO DIRECT WAS KIND OF A MISERABLE FEELING BECAUSE I, I KNEW I COULD BUT I DIDN'T THINK I WOULD EVER BE ABLE TO.

GATES: JORDAN'S PATH TO ACTUALLY ACHIEVING HIS DREAM WOULD PROVE CIRCUITOUS.

IT BEGAN AT SARAH LAWRENCE, A SMALL LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE, FOCUSED ON INDEPENDENT STUDY.

WHICH ALLOWED JORDAN TO MAKE SOME RATHER IDIOSYNCRATIC CHOICES.

PEELE: THEY STRESSED THAT YOU GET TO DESIGN YOUR OWN CURRICULUM, WHICH FOR ME WAS, WAS EVERYTHING.

SO I WENT AND I, MY SELF-DECLARED MAJOR WAS PUPPETEER.

PUPPETRY.

GATES: REALLY?

PEELE: YES, "WHY?"

IS THE QUESTION I USUALLY GET THERE.

WELL, YOU CAN'T REALLY FAIL AS A PUPPETEER, RIGHT?

IT'S ALREADY A HUMBLE CEILING, UM, AND I FELT LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF I SUCCEED IN THIS THEN I'M ALREADY SORT OF BREAKING A BOUNDARY.

GATES: FIRST NEGRO PUPPETEER.

PEELE: THAT'S RIGHT.

GATES: JORDAN EVENTUALLY SET ASIDE HIS PUPPETS AND MOVED INTO COMEDY, BECOMING ONE HALF OF THE BRILLIANT DUO "KEY AND PEELE."

PEELE: YOU GOT TO GET IT RIGHT IF YOU'RE GONNA DO IT.

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

GATES: BEFORE ULTIMATELY RETURNING TO HIS ORIGINAL PASSION.

SINCE THE SUCCESS OF "GET OUT," HE'S HAD HIS HAND IN A DIZZYING ARRAY OF FILMS AND TELEVISION SHOWS, AND HE SHOWS NO SIGN OF LETTING UP.

WHAT KEEPS HIM GOING?

ACCORDING TO JORDAN, HIS WORK IS ANIMATED BY A FASCINATION HE'S CARRIED WITH HIM SINCE CHILDHOOD.

PEELE: YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST, UH, DIRECTIONS, UM, MY, UH, PARENTS SORT OF POINTED ME IN WAS THIS QUESTION OF OKAY, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A BLACK MAN IN THIS COUNTRY, TO BE RAISED BY A WHITE WOMAN BUT TO UNDENIABLY BE BLACK, AN AFRICAN AMERICAN, AND ALSO TO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE THAT BLACK MALE, UH, ROLE MODEL FIGURE TO TEACH ME WHAT IT MEANT TO BE BLACK IN AMERICA, UM, AND THAT SET ME OFF ON THIS ADVENTURE OF ASKING ALL THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT RACE.

GATES: UNLIKE JORDAN AND GAYLE, ACTOR ISSA RAE TOOK A VERY DIRECT ROUTE TO FAME: YOUTUBE.

IN 2011, AFTER CREATING SEVERAL WEB SERIES THAT WENT NOWHERE, ISSA DECIDED TO TURN THE CAMERA ON HERSELF.

RAE: MY NAME IS J AND I'M AWKWARD AND BLACK.

GATES: THE RESULT, A COMEDIC GEM CALLED "THE MISADVENTURES OF AWKWARD BLACK GIRL", BECAME AN OVERNIGHT SENSATION, QUITE LITERALLY.

RAE: AFTER EDITING IT ALL NIGHT, UPLOADED IT, WENT TO SLEEP.

WHEN I WOKE UP IT WAS LIKE, EVERYWHERE.

IT WAS EVERYWHERE AROUND MY FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE AND OUTSIDE OF MY FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE.

GATES: MM.

RAE: AND SO I WAS JUST LIKE, THIS IS CRAZY, THIS HAS NOT BEEN HAPPENING TO THE OTHER WEB SERIES THAT I'D BEEN DOING.

GATES: RIGHT.

RAE: AND THEN PEOPLE WERE WRITING ME.

LIKE, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS UNTIL I WATCHED YOUR SERIES, LIKE, NOW I CAN SAY THAT I'M AN AWKWARD BLACK GIRL, AND FOR ME THAT FELT VERY SPECIAL, AND IT ALSO MADE ME SCRAMBLE TO BE LIKE, OH SHOOT, LIKE, I HAVE TO DO THE NEXT EPISODE AND THE NEXT ONE AND THE NEXT ONE.

GATES: "AWKWARD BLACK GIRL" LED TO THE HIT HBO SERIES "INSECURE", WHICH MADE ISSA A RISING STAR IN HOLLYWOOD.

THE ATTENTION IS RICHLY DESERVED, ISSA OFFERS A NUANCED PERSPECTIVE ON BLACK LIFE RARELY SEEN ON TELEVISION BEFORE.

RAE: SO DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

DON'T BE SHY, GUYS.

FIRE AWAY.

STUDENT: WHY YOU TALK LIKE A WHITE GIRL?

RAE: HA.

YOU CAUGHT ME.

I'M ROCKING BLACK FACE.

GATES: IT'S A PERSPECTIVE THAT ISSA SAYS SHE GAINED AS A CHILD, WHEN HER FAMILY MOVED FROM LOS ANGELES TO SENEGAL, IN WEST AFRICA, WHERE HER FATHER HAD GROWN UP.

RAE: YOU KNOW LIVING THERE WE COULDN'T GET A BASIC HOT SHOWER AT TIMES, YOU KNOW?

SOMETIMES IT WAS A STREAM OF WATER AND THAT WAS JUST WHAT IT WAS, AND NOT HAVING ACCESS TO A LOT OF THINGS REALLY PUT US IN PERSPECTIVE.

AND THAT'S WHY MY DAD WANTED US TO GO TO SENEGAL SO EARLY.

AND IT, I MEAN, IT SHAPED MY WORLD VIEW SO MUCH.

IT'S WHY, YOU KNOW, I HAVE A PASSION FOR BOTH SIDES, I HAVE EMPATHY FOR BOTH SIDES, AND THERE IS A PRIDE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, AND JUST SEEING ANOTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD WHERE THERE ARE, THERE'S NOTHING BUT BLACK PEOPLE, YOU KNOW?

GATES: OH, YEAH.

RAE: FOR THE MOST PART.

IT'S JUST, IT WAS, IT WAS ALWAYS SO BEAUTIFUL TO ME.

GATES: MM-HMM.

RAE: AND ALSO, JUST SEEING PEOPLE WHO HAVE MY FEATURES.

GATES: MM-HMM.

RAE: PEOPLE WHO, UM, RECOGNIZE ONE ANOTHER AS BEAUTIFUL, LIKE, THAT JUST, THAT, THAT LEFT SUCH AN IMPACT ON ME.

GATES: MY GUESTS CAME TO ME HOPING TO EXPLORE THE EXPERIENCES OF THEIR ANCESTORS, BOTH IN AFRICA AND IN THE UNITED STATES.

BUT THEIR ROOTS ARE ABOUT TO LEAD EACH OF THEM TO PLACES THEY'D NEVER IMAGINED.

I STARTED WITH GAYLE KING.

LIKE ALMOST ALL MY GUESTS, GAYLE KNEW LITTLE ABOUT HER FAMILY TREE, BUT THAT HADN'T STOPPED HER FROM FANTASIZING ABOUT IT.

INDEED, WHEN HER FAMILY MOVED TO ANKARA, TURKEY DURING HER CHILDHOOD SO THAT HER FATHER COULD WORK FOR THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, GAYLE USED HER SURNAME TO CREATE THE ULTIMATE FANTASY.

KING: YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS IN FOURTH GRADE, I'D SEEN MARTIN LUTHER KING ON THE COVER OF A MAGAZINE, AND I TOLD MY TEACHER THAT HE WAS MY UNCLE MARTY.

NOW, WHEN YOU'RE IN TURKEY, EVERYBODY THINKS ALL BLACK PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER.

LIKE, WELL, HAVE YOU EVER MET BILL COSBY?

DO YOU KNOW SIDNEY POITIER?

GATES: YEAH, THAT'S TRUE.

IT'S TRUE.

KING: SO WHEN MY PARENTS CAME TO PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE, MY TEACHER SAID TO MY DAD, OH, MR. KING, IT'S SUCH AN HONOR TO MEET YOU, YOUR BROTHER IS SO AMAZING, AND MY DAD'S LIKE WHAT, BEAUREGARD, JEROME?

NO, MARTIN LUTHER KING, GAYLE HAS TOLD US.

I GOT IN SO MUCH TROUBLE, MY FIRST LESSON ABOUT IT'S NEVER GOOD TO LIE.

GATES: WE NOW SET OUT TO TRACE THE KING FAMILY THAT IS ACTUALLY RELATED TO GAYLE AND SOON UNCOVERED A STORY THAT SHE MIGHT WELL HAVE BEEN PROUD TO TELL HER FOURTH GRADE TEACHER, HAD SHE ONLY KNOWN ABOUT IT AT THE TIME!

IT BEGAN IN THE ARCHIVES OF PIKE COUNTY, ALABAMA, WHERE WE FOUND GAYLE'S GRANDPARENTS MARRYING ON JULY 30TH, 1917, IN THE DEPTHS OF THE JIM CROW ERA, A TIME WHEN AFRICAN AMERICANS HAD VIRTUALLY NO CIVIL RIGHTS.

KING: WOW.

"COLORED" GATES: DID YOUR GRANDPARENTS EVER TALK ABOUT THAT TIME?

KING: I, I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER.

THAT'S ONE THING I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: I PROBABLY, IF I WANTED TO, I COULD COUNT ON BOTH HANDS, HOW MANY ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS I HAD, BECAUSE I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW THEM WELL.

YOU KNOW THEY WERE IN ALABAMA.

WE WOULD GO THERE FOR THE SUMMERS.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: AND I REMEMBER WE HAD TO GO TO FAT DADDY'S CHURCH.

HE WAS FAT DADDY.

GATES: MM-HMM.

KING: BUT WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A LOT OF CONVERSATION AND I, I JUST THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE RESOURCES THAT'S MISSING.

IF YOU HAVE OLDER PEOPLE IN YOUR FAMILY, I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD RECORD THEM AND TALK TO THEM.

GATES: I AGREE.

KING: SO, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I HAD NO CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS KIND OF STUFF, EVER.

GATES: GAYLE'S GRANDPARENTS MARRIED JUST MONTHS AFTER AMERICA ENTERED WORLD WAR I, AN EVENT THAT INSPIRED INTENSE DEBATE WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

MANY LEADERS, LIKE W.E.B.

DU BOIS, ENCOURAGED THE ENLISTMENT OF YOUNG BLACK MEN AS A STEP TOWARDS EQUALITY.

OTHERS ARGUED HOWEVER THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS SHOULD NOT SERVE A SEGREGATED NATION.

WE WANTED TO SEE WHAT GAYLE'S GRANDFATHER BEAUREGARD DID AMIDST ALL THIS DEBATE, AND WE GOT OUR ANSWER IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, WHERE WE FOUND HIM REGISTERING FOR THE UNITED STATES ARMY.

KING: WHOA.

"WHERE BORN, BULLOCK COUNTY, ALABAMA, RACE, NEGRO.

DATE OF REGISTRATION, JUNE 5, 1917."

GATES: DO YOU KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOUR GRANDFATHER EVER SERVED?

KING: I DON'T.

I'M SURPRISED TO SEE ANY OF THIS.

BECAUSE I ONLY KNEW HIM AS A PASTOR, AND WE WOULD HAVE TO GO TO HIS, TO FAT DADDY'S CHURCH ON SUNDAY.

GATES: WELL, LET'S SEE WHAT HE DID IN THE ARMY.

WILL YOU PLEASE TURN THE PAGE?

GAYLE, THIS IS A SERVICE RECORD SUMMARY FOR YOUR GRANDFATHER.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ WHAT IT SAYS?

KING: "SERVED OVERSEAS FROM SEPTEMBER 4, 1918."

GATES: YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS ONE OF ABOUT 200,000 AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN WHO CROSSED THE ATLANTIC AND SERVED IN EUROPE.

KING: NO WAY.

GATES: AS IT TURNS OUT, BEAUREGARD DIDN'T JUST SERVE, HE SAW THE WAR UP CLOSE, WHICH WAS HIGHLY UNUSUAL FOR AN AFRICAN AMERICAN!

AT THE TIME, MOST BLACK TROOPS WERE GIVEN MENIAL TASKS.

BUT GAYLE'S GRANDFATHER WAS ASSIGNED TO A MEDICAL UNIT, AND FOUND HIMSELF IN ONE OF THE LARGEST BATTLES OF THE ENTIRE WAR: A BLOODBATH KNOWN AS THE MEUSE-ARGONNE OFFENSIVE.

FOUGHT IN THE RAIN AND COLD, ALONG A HEAVILY FORTIFIED STRETCH OF GERMAN TRENCHES, THE OFFENSIVE WAS ULTIMATELY A SUCCESS, BUT IT CLAIMED MORE AMERICAN LIVES THAN EITHER GETTYSBURG OR D-DAY.

KING: SO, HE COULD'VE BEEN EASILY KILLED?

GATES: 26,000 AMERICANS WERE KILLED.

KING: WOW.

GATES: MORE THAN 91,000 AMERICANS WERE WOUNDED, THE DEADLIEST BATTLE IN ALL OF AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY.

KING: WOW.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE?

KING: NO.

AND THEN TO COME BACK AND SURVIVE, AND YOU KNOW, FROM A LITTLE GIRL'S POINT OF VIEW, SEEM VERY SANE.

GATES: YES.

KING: SEEM VERY LOVING, VERY KIND.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: A VERY ATTENTIVE, ATTENTIVE MINISTER.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: UH, WITH A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: SO, TO KNOW THAT HE HAD ALL OF THAT IN HIS BACKGROUND, I THINK, IS VERY, VERY INTERESTING TO ME.

GATES: GAYLE WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT HER GRANDFATHER EXPERIENCED.

WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE SOME HARROWING DETAILS.

(ARTILLERY FIRE) BEAUREGARD SPENT AT LEAST FOUR DAYS, LIKELY WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK, TRANSPORTING THE WOUNDED FROM THE FRONTLINE TRENCHES TO A FIELD HOSPITAL.

WHERE HE ASSISTED WITH TRIAGE, HELPING TO PRIORITIZE THE CARE OF PATIENTS, MANY OF WHOM WOULD SOON DIE.

GATES: IT WOULD'VE BEEN TREMENDOUSLY STRESSFUL.

KING: YEAH.

YEAH, YOU CAN TELL, LOOKING AT THESE PICTURES, IT'S TREMENDOUSLY STRESSFUL.

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO LEARN THIS?

KING: WELL, IT DOES MAKE YOU PROUD TO KNOW THAT YOU'RE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, THAT YOU COME FROM THAT "STOCK" OF PEOPLE.

GATES: ABSOLUTELY.

KING: THAT DOES MAKE YOU PROUD TO KNOW THAT.

GATES: SADLY, THERE IS A FINAL BEAT TO THIS STORY, ONE THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE PROUD OF.

IN FEBRUARY OF 1919, WITH THE WAR OVER, GAYLE'S GRANDFATHER LEFT FRANCE FOR THE UNITED STATES, BUT RETURNED TO A HORROR.

THAT SUMMER WOULD BECOME INFAMOUS FOR ITS INTENSE RACIAL VIOLENCE.

THERE WERE ANTI BLACK RIOTS AND LYNCHINGS ACROSS AMERICA.

MANY DIRECTED AT BLACK SOLDIERS, SOME STILL IN UNIFORM.

BEAUREGARD WAS SPARED THE VIOLENCE, BUT NOT THE TERROR.

KING: GOD, IT'S HARD TO THINK OF THAT.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE SERVING YOUR COUNTRY, SAVING LIVES, LIKE YOUR GRANDFATHER DID?

KING: OH.

YES.

GATES: AND THEN COMING HOME TO THAT?

KING: YEAH.

GATES: PEOPLE WERE THREATENED.

YOU GO TOO BIG FOR YOUR BRITCHES, THESE NEGROES HAVE BEEN TO EUROPE, THEY'VE SEEN COMBAT.

KING: YEAH.

I'LL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE.

I'LL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE.

GATES: THEY THINK THEY'RE EQUAL, I'LL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE, YOU GOT UPPITY.

KING: RIGHT.

WOW.

I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT THIS.

GATES: HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR GRANDFATHER DEALT WITH IT?

KING: I DON'T KNOW.

YOU KNOW WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT RACE IN MY HOUSE, SO I DON'T KNOW IF HE THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, I DID ALL THIS AND LOOK AT HOW I WAS TREATED, OR I DID ALL THIS AND I'M SO GLAD I DID IT.

I DON'T KNOW.

I REALLY DON'T KNOW.

THAT'S WHY THE HISTORY IS SO IMPORTANT, TO SEE WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND WHAT YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: WOW.

GATES: ISSA RAE WAS ABOUT TO TRAVEL TO THE SAME PLACE WE'D BEEN WITH GAYLE KING... TO FRANCE, DURING WORLD WAR I.

BUT THE JOURNEY WOULD BE A MORE PAINFUL ONE.

THE STORY BEGINS WITH HER GRANDFATHER, AMADOU DIOP, WHO WAS BORN IN SENEGAL IN 1912.

AT THAT TIME, SENEGAL HAD BEEN A FRENCH COLONY FOR MORE THAN FIVE DECADES, AND THE FRENCH COLONIALISTS DOMINATED ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF THEIR BLACK SUBJECTS' LIVES.

AS A RESULT, WHEN WORLD WAR I CAME AND FRANCE FOUND ITSELF STRUGGLING ON THE BATTLEFIELDS, IT WAS NOT SURPRISING THAT THEY TURNED TO THEIR AFRICAN COLONIES FOR MORE SOLDIERS.

AND THAT DECISION WOULD FALL HARD ON AMADOU'S FATHER, ISSA'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN CALLED YORO DIOP.

YORO WAS MOBILIZED IN JANUARY OF 1916.

HE WAS 36 YEARS OLD.

ALL ABLE-BODIED MEN CALLED WERE OBLIGED TO SERVE BECAUSE FRANCE WAS DESPERATE.

RAE: SO NO MATTER HOW OLD, YOU COULD BE... GATES: 36, MAN, THAT'S LIKE METHUSELAH TO BE A SOLDIER.

AND YOUR GRANDFATHER, CALLED AMADOU, WAS THREE YEARS OLD WHEN HIS FATHER WAS DRAFTED.

CAN YOU IMAGINE LEAVING BEHIND YOUR WIFE AND YOUR YOUNG, THREE-YEAR-OLD SON, TO GO TO FIGHT FOR A GOVERNMENT THAT OPPRESSED YOU?

RAE: NO.

WOW.

THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

I HAD NO IDEA.

GATES: IN SEPTEMBER OF 1916, ISSA'S GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS SENT TO A TRAINING CAMP IN SENEGAL, THEN SAILED FOR FRANCE... (ARTILLERY FIRE) WHERE, IN JULY OF THE FOLLOWING YEAR, HIS UNIT WAS THROWN INTO COMBAT.

YORO WOULD MEET A TRAGIC FATE.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSLATED SECTION?

RAE: "NAME, DIOP YORO.

NICKNAME, TAPA.

DEATH FOR FRANCE, JULY 14, 1917... (CRIES).

AT CERNY-EN-LAONNOIS.

TYPE OF DEATH, KILLED BY THE ENEMY."

I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM AND I'M JUST MAD.

MAD.

GATES: MM.

RAE: OOH.

GATES: CANNON FODDER.

RAE: YEAH.

OOF.

GATES: YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER DIED IN BATTLE FOR THE FRENCH.

ACCORDING TO A SCHOLAR WHOM WE HAD ANALYZE HIS MILITARY RECORDS, WE BELIEVE THAT HE WAS KILLED BY GERMAN SHELL FIRE.

(SNIFFS).

GATES: HIS BODY WAS NEVER RECOVERED.

RAE: OKAY.

SO 1917.

SO MY GRANDFATHER WAS, WHAT, FIVE?

GATES: YEAH.

HE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD.

RAE: OH.

SO MY DAD NEVER KNEW HIS GRANDFATHER.

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

AND YOUR GRANDFATHER DIDN'T KNOW HIS DAD.

RAE: YEAH.

THAT'S, YEAH.

WOW.

GATES: IRONICALLY, AFTER HIS DEATH, YORO RECEIVED A FRENCH MILITARY MEDAL FOR BRAVERY, AND AN OBITUARY, PUBLISHED IN A FRENCH JOURNAL CELEBRATED HIS HEROISM UNDER FIRE.

RAE: "VERY ENERGETIC AND VERY BRAVE.

WAS GLORIOUSLY KILLED DEFENDING HIS POSITION EXTREMELY BATTERED BY ARTILLERY."

I'M GOING TO FOCUS ON "VERY ENERGETIC AND VERY BRAVE."

GATES: HMM.

THAT IS YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S OBITUARY.

HE WAS WELL PERCEIVED BY HIS FRENCH OFFICERS, WHO WERE TRYING TO HONOR HIM IN HIS DEATH WITH THOSE WORDS.

RAE: WELL, I'LL CHOOSE TO TRUST WHAT THEY SAY.

GATES: MM-HMM.

RAE: BUT YEAH, I FEEL SO CONFLICTED.

GATES: MM-HMM.

RAE: I'M SO HAPPY TO KNOW THIS, BUT SO MAD TO KNOW THIS AS WELL... GATES: YEAH.

RAE: IT'S LIKE YOU GAVE HIM TO ME AND THEN YOU TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME ALL IN ONE FELL SWOOP.

GATES: YEAH.

RAE: UH, AND YOU KNOW, I'M DISHEARTENED TO LEARN THAT MY DAD OR MY GRANDFATHER DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO KNOW HIM, AND SO I'M, I'M SO HAPPY THAT THEY GET TO KNOW THIS ABOUT HIM IF THEY DIDN'T, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH THEY KNOW.

GATES: I DON'T THINK YOUR FATHER KNOWS THIS STORY.

RAE: I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL HIM, THEN.

PEELE: ACTION.

GATES: MY THIRD GUEST IS DIRECTOR JORDAN PEELE.

PEELE: THE NEXT THING WE'RE GOING TO DO AFTER THIS SHOT IS THEN HE'LL WALK OVER AND... GATES: UNLIKE ISSA RAE AND GAYLE KING, JORDAN HAS NO KNOWLEDGE AT ALL ABOUT HIS PATERNAL ROOTS.

INDEED, JORDAN LAST SAW HIS FATHER WHEN HE WAS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD, AND DIDN'T LEARN OF HIS DEATH UNTIL HE WAS AN ADULT.

PEELE: WE HADN'T HAD CONTACT IN I GUESS, WHAT, YOU KNOW, 12 YEARS OR WHATEVER, AND UM, I REMEMBER MY MOTHER SORT OF DID SOME RESEARCH AND CAME BACK WITH THE SAD NEWS THAT HE PASSED AWAY AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I HAD TRAINED MY MIND TO NOT NEED THAT CONNECTION, UM, AT ALL, SO WHEN I FOUND OUT ABOUT HIM I THINK, THAT HE DIED, I THINK MY INITIAL REACTION WAS, WELL, YOU KNOW, A GUY DIED SOMEWHERE, YOU KNOW?

UM, AND THEN ONLY LATER, IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS OR MAYBE EVEN YEARS DID I, UM, DID IT REALLY HIT ME.

GATES: YEAH.

PEELE: EMOTIONALLY.

GATES: JORDAN TOLD ME THAT HE'D NEVER MET HIS FATHER'S PARENTS, AND WAS ESPECIALLY EAGER TO LEARN ABOUT THEM.

OUR SEARCH LED US TO THE 1940 CENSUS FOR NORTH CAROLINA, WHERE WE FOUND HIS GRANDMOTHER LIVING WITH HER PARENTS, AS WELL AS A YOUNG BOY WHOSE NAME WAS QUITE FAMILIAR TO JORDAN.

PEELE: "PEELE, LUCY MAE, DAUGHTER, AGE 18.

OCCUPATION, LABORER, FARM.

PEELE, HAYWOOD, SON-IN-LAW, AGE 21.

OCCUPATION, FARMER.

PEELE, HAYWOOD JR., GRANDSON, AGE ONE."

GATES: SO YOU RECOGNIZE ANY OF THOSE NAMES?

PEELE: I'M GUESSING THAT PEELE, HAYWOOD JR... GATES: YEAH?

PEELE: WAS MY FATHER?

GATES: THAT'S RIGHT.

THAT'S YOUR FATHER AT, AT JUST ONE YEAR OLD.

PEELE: HMM.

GATES: AND YOU SAW WHAT THE CENSUS SAID THEY DID FOR WORK, RIGHT?

PEELE: MM-HMM.

FARMERS.

GATES: YOUR GRANDPARENTS AND YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS WERE FARM LABORERS, AND ACCORDING TO YOUR RELATIVES, YOUR GREAT-GRANDPARENTS MANCY AND HATTIE WERE SHARECROPPERS WORKING FOR A WHITE LOCAL LANDOWNER FARMING TOBACCO, PEANUTS, AND CORN.

PEELE: TOBACCO, PEANUTS, AND CORN.

GATES: I MEAN, DID YOU EVER IMAGINE YOU HAD SHARECROPPING IN YOUR ANCESTRY?

PEELE: I, I, I SORT OF IMAGINED.

YOU KNOW, I THINK, I THINK I PIECED TOGETHER MY OWN BLACK ANCESTRY, UM, WITH YOU KNOW, ALL THE, EVERY TALE I COULD OF, OF YOU KNOW, HISTORY FROM THIS COUNTRY.

SO YEAH... GATES: THESE ARE YOUR PEOPLE, MAN.

PEELE: THESE ARE MY PEOPLE.

GATES: JORDAN MAY WELL HAVE IMAGINED HIS ANCESTOR'S LIVES AS SHARECROPPERS.

BUT MOVING BACK JUST ONE GENERATION, WE CAME TO PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES WERE MUCH HARDER TO CONTEMPLATE.

WE FOUND JORDAN'S FAMILY LISTED AS SLAVES IN THE ESTATE RECORDS OF A WHITE PLANTER WHO LIVED IN PITT COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA.

AND WE SAW THAT JORDAN'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, A WOMAN NAMED ALVANIA PEEL, WAS SOLD AWAY FROM HER PARENTS ON NEW YEAR'S EVE, 1860, WHEN SHE WAS ROUGHLY 12 YEARS OLD.

PEELE: "SALE OF SLAVES.

ISRAEL TO EDMUND MOORE.

PRICE, $500.

ESTHER TO EDMUND MOORE.

PRICE, $276.

ALVANIA TO WILLIS CRANDELL.

PRICE, $1,250."

THAT'S JUST A TRUE HORROR.

A TRUE HORROR.

GATES: CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR YOUR OWN GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER TO BE PHYSICALLY SEPARATED FROM HER PARENTS AND BROTHER AFTER ALL THOSE YEARS?

PEELE: NO.

NO.

UM, IT'S CRAZY, AND YOU WONDER WHAT THAT DOES TO A, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A FAMILY GENERATIONS DOWN.

I MEAN, THAT KIND OF TRAUMA, UM, HAS TO LIVE ON IN SOME WAY.

AND YOU KNOW, NOT THAT I'M MAKING A DIRECT, UH, CORRELATION, BUT IT'S INTERESTING TO, YOU KNOW, HAVE A FATHER WHO, UM, WAS A ROLLING STONE, YOU KNOW, AND I WONDER IF THERE'S SOME KIND OF DEEP-SEATED CONNECTION AND THE IDEA OF, YOU CAN BE A FAMILY EVEN IF YOU'RE APART.

GATES: ALVANIA WAS SOLD FOR A COLD, SIMPLE REASON: HER OWNER HAD DIED AND HIS PROPERTY WAS BEING DIVIDED.

THIS WAS A COMMON EVENT DURING THE SLAVE ERA, ONE THAT COULD SHATTER A BLACK FAMILY IN AN INSTANT, AND THAT REALITY WAS ALMOST TOO MUCH FOR JORDAN TO BEAR.

PEELE: I MEAN, YOU'VE GOT TO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, KNOWING THAT THIS COULD HAPPEN, YOU GO, YOU GO YOUR ENTIRE LIFE OR YOUR CHILD'S ENTIRE LIFE FEARING THIS DAY.

GATES: OH, YEAH.

PEELE: MAN.

I'M VERY, UM, HAPPY THAT THIS PIECE OF THEIR STORY EXISTS BECAUSE THAT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT KIND OF TRAGEDY, TO KNOW HOW EASY IT IS TO, YOU KNOW, FOR US TO MOVE ON OR TO THINK WE'RE, WE'VE MOVED ON.

IT JUST UM, IT MAKES IT REAL.

GATES: IT MAKES IT REAL.

AND WE TRY TO SWEEP THIS HISTORY UNDER THE CARPET, AND WE'VE NEVER REALLY DEALT WITH IT, PEELE: IT'S SUCH A WOUND, BUT A LONG, DEEP WOUND.

GATES: YEAH.

WHAT HAPPENED IN AMERICA IS THEY JUST SAID, GET OVER IT.

WHY ARE Y'ALL TALKING ABOUT SLAVERY?

THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO.

AIN'T NOBODY, WAS YOUR DADDY A SLAVE?

WAS YOUR GRAND, BUT THE POINT IS YOU INHERIT ALL THAT STUFF, YOU KNOW.

YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE TRAUMA COMES FROM, YOU JUST KNOW IT'S THERE.

PEELE: YEAH.

YEAH.

YEAH.

YEAH.

AND HONESTLY IT GIVES ME A, A, A STRONGER PRIDE IN, UM, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLACK IN THIS COUNTRY AND, YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT THE, THE INDIVIDUAL STORIES, BUT ALSO HOW AS A LARGE BLACK FAMILY THAT WE ALL ARE IN, HOW, UM, MUCH ENDURANCE AND, THAT WE'VE MADE TO MAKE THIS MUCH PROGRESS.

UM, SO IT, IT MAKES ME EVEN MORE PROUD TO BE BLACK.

GATES: WE'D NOW INTRODUCED MY THREE GUESTS TO ANCESTORS WHOSE STORIES WERE BOUND UP IN THEIR AFRICAN HERITAGE.

IT WAS TIME TO SHIFT TO A VERY DIFFERENT SET OF STORIES, ABOUT ANCESTORS WHO HAD NO AFRICAN HERITAGE AT ALL.

FOR GAYLE KING, THIS MEANT FOCUSING ON HER MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER EMMA, A WOMAN WHO KEPT HER ORIGINS A SECRET.

KING: I KNEW THAT MY GRANDMOTHER WAS BIRACIAL, BACK THEN WERE CALLED MULATTOS.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: AND THAT SHE WAS VERY ASHAMED OF THAT.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: AND THAT, MY MOTHER USED TO SAY DON'T ASK HER ABOUT HER FATHER 'CAUSE SHE DOESN'T LIKE TO TALK ABOUT IT.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: SO, I KNEW HER FATHER WAS WHITE AND THAT HER MOTHER WAS BLACK, BUT WE WERE NOT TO TALK ABOUT IT, AND SHE NEVER WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT.

GATES: WHAT KIND OF WHITE MAN WAS HE?

WHAT WAS HIS ETHNICITY?

KING: UH, WHITE MAN.

GATES: JUST WHITE MAN?

KING: WHITE MAN.

GATES: NOT, NOT FROM GERMANY, ENGLAND, IRELAND, NOTHING?

KING: NO, WHITE MAN.

GATES: WHITE MAN.

OKAY.

KING: WHITE MAN, AND DO NOT ASK HER ABOUT HER FATHER.

GATES: ACCORDING TO HER DEATH CERTIFICATE, GAYLE'S GRANDMOTHER WAS THE DAUGHTER OF A MAN NAMED "JOHN BROWN", BUT WE COULD NOT CONNECT HER TO ANYONE WITH THAT SURNAME.

SO WE TURNED TO DNA.

CECE MOORE, OUR GENETIC GENEALOGIST COMPARED GAYLE'S DNA TO THE DNA PROFILES HELD IN PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASES, AND DISCOVERED THAT GAYLE WAS GENETICALLY TIED TO MANY WHITE PEOPLE WHO SHARED ONE SURNAME, BUT THAT SURNAME WAS NOT "BROWN".

PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

KING: IT WAS NOT BROWN?

GATES: WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE FAMILY NAME AT THE TOP?

KING: COPES, COPES FAMILY GENETIC NETWORK.

GATES: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD THAT NAME MENTIONED IN YOUR FAMILY, BY ANYBODY, COPES?

KING: NEVER.

NEVER.

GATES: THOSE ARE YOUR ANCESTORS.

YOU DESCEND FROM THEM.

KING: AND THE COPES ARE WHITE PEOPLE?

GATES: EVERYBODY ON THERE IS WHITE.

KING: WOW.

THAT GIVES ME GOOSEBUMPS LOOKING AT THAT.

GATES: THERE WERE MORE "GOOSEBUMPS" TO COME.

BY COMPARING THE FAMILY TREES OF GAYLE'S DNA MATCHES, CECE DETERMINED THAT GAYLE IS A DIRECT DESCENDANT OF A MAN NAMED ROBERT ELLIOT COPES, WHO LIVED IN ORANGEBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA IN THE 1880S, THE SAME TOWN WHERE GAYLE'S GRANDMOTHER EMMA WAS BORN ALMOST 30 YEARS LATER.

ROBERT WAS TOO OLD TO BE EMMA'S FATHER, BUT HE HAD TWO SONS, ROBERT JR AND HENRY.

NOW, WE CAN'T SAY FOR SURE WHICH ONE OF THE TWO BROTHERS FATHERED YOUR GRANDMOTHER.

KING: YEAH.

GATES: BUT NEVERTHELESS, ONE OF THESE TWO GUYS IS YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER AND THE OTHER IS YOUR GREAT UNCLE.

KING: WOW.

ARE THEY GONNA WALK IN THE DOOR?

THE WHITE RELATIVES?

YEAH.

GATES: GUESS WHAT?

THEY WILL SHOW UP AFTER THIS AIRS.

KING: YEAH.

GATES: BUT ISN'T IT INTERESTING THAT SCIENTISTS IN A LAB, RIGHT, ANALYZED DNA?

KING: YEAH AND CAN NAME A NAME.

GATES: THEN THERE ARE THESE MATCHES, AND THEN WE THEN TURN THAT INFORMATION OVER TO OUR GENEALOGICAL TEAM, AND THEY FIND OUT THAT NOT ONLY IS THE DNA RIGHT BUT THAT THESE PEOPLE LIVED CLOSE TO EACH OTHER.

KING: YEAH.

IT KIND OF MAKES ME WANT TO GO TO ORANGEBURG AND POKE AROUND A LITTLE BIT.

GATES: IF GAYLE WERE TO VISIT ORANGEBURG, SHE MIGHT BE DISAPPOINTED, AS MOST OF THE COPES FAMILY HAVE LONG SINCE MOVED AWAY.

BUT THE ARCHIVES OF THE LOCAL PAPER DO CONTAIN OBITUARIES FOR THE TWO BROTHERS, WHICH GAVE US A GREAT DEAL OF INFORMATION ABOUT THEM.

WE STARTED WITH HENRY, WHO DIED FIRST, AFTER WORKING A SERIES OF JOBS, INCLUDING MAILMAN, FARMER, AND CARPENTER.

HE MARRIED A WOMAN NAMED MINNIE LEE HUNT, AND THEY HAD SEVERAL CHILDREN TOGETHER.

KING: HE DIED VERY YOUNG, TOO.

GATES: YEAH, HE DID.

KING: UH-HUH.

GATES: NOW, I WANT YOU TO READ THE OBITUARY OF THE OTHER SON.

THIS IS FOR ROBERT, JUNIOR.

KING: OKAY, SO THIS IS ROBERT?

GATES: YEAH.

KING: ROBERT'S DOING A LITTLE BETTER, IT SEEMS.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: UH, "THE DEATH OF ROBERT ELLIOTT COPES, 66.

AS A YOUNG MAN, MR. COPES WAS EMPLOYED IN A LOCAL BANK, SERVED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY TREASURER, AND AT ONE TIME HELD THE OFFICE OF THE JUDGE OF PROBATE OF THIS COUNTY.

HE WAS LATER ELEVATED TO THE CIRCUIT BENCH, SERVING AS A JUDGE OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL COURT."

I THINK IT'S HIM.

GATES: HE WAS A HIGH-CLASS DUDE.

NOW, LOOK AT THAT.

KING: I THINK IT WAS THIS COPES BROTHER.

GATES: I THINK, I THINK I'M DESCENDED FROM HIM, SHE SAYS.

KING: I AM NOT DISPARAGING THE CARPENTERS, BUT THERE'S, I LIKE THE LEGAL PROFESSION.

I WANTED TO DO THAT AT ONE POINT.

GATES: SO, WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THIS?

KING: WELL, IT MAKES ME WONDER DID THEY KNOW ABOUT MY GRANDMOTHER?

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: DID THEY EVEN KNOW THAT ONE OF THEM WAS, WAS HER FATHER?

GATES: RIGHT.

KING: AND IF THEY DID KNOW, WHAT, WHAT WAS THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH HER?

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT RELATIONSHIP SHE HAD.

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: UH, I JUST KNOW THAT WE WEREN'T ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT IT.

GATES: WE DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO GAYLE'S QUESTION, BUT WE DID HAVE MORE TO SHARE WITH HER.

TURNING FROM THE TWO COPES BROTHERS TO THEIR PARENTS, GAYLE'S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDPARENTS, WE WERE ABLE TO TRACE THIS PART OF HER FAMILY BACK TO THE MID-1700S, MAPPING OUT ROOTS IN THE CAROLINAS, PENNSYLVANIA, AND RHODE ISLAND.

WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE ALL THOSE GENERATIONS OF YOUR WHITE ANCESTORS?

YOU COULD NAME, UNLIKE VIRTUALLY THE, THE OVERWHELMING PERCENTAGE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA WHO THEIR WHITE ANCESTORS ARE.

KING: THAT'S TRUE, BUT YOU KNOW, I DON'T REALLY THINK OF MYSELF AS HAVING A LOT OF WHITE BLOOD IN ME, YOU KNOW?

GATES: UH-HUH.

KING: YOU KNOW WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME, YOU WOULDN'T THINK THERE'S ANYTHING ABOUT ME THAT HAS ANY, UH, DROP OF WHITE BLOOD, BUT CLEARLY I DO.

AND CLEARLY HAVE A, A LOT OF WHITE PEOPLE IN MY LIFE, SO.

GATES: UH-HUH.

RIGHT.

KING: YEAH.

GATES: YOU WANT TO SEE HOW MANY DROPS OF WHITE BLOOD YOU HAVE?

KING: YEAH.

YEAH I DO.

GATES: PLEASE TURN THE PAGE.

ALL RIGHT.

KING: I DO.

GATES: CAN YOU READ THESE PERCENTAGES?

KING: 66.3 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.

GATES: RIGHT.

KING: 32.2 EUROPEAN.

GATES: YOU ARE ONE THIRD WHITE.

KING: I AM NOT.

GATES: YOU ARE ONE THIRD WHITE.

KING: TAKE THAT BACK.

GATES: YOU'RE GETTIN' WHITER.

YOU'RE A LOT WHITER THAN YOU WERE THREE HOURS AGO.

AND IT MAKES SENSE BECAUSE YOU WOULD HAVE INHERITED ABOUT 12.5% OF YOUR DNA FROM YOUR COPES GREAT-GRANDFATHER.

KING: YEAH, I SEE.

GATES: AND THERE YOU CAN SEE IT.

KING: YEAH.

WELL, I'M TELLING YOU, MY MOTHER WAS VERY, VERY LIGHT.

GATES: YEAH, BUT SHE HAD TO BE.

KING: UH, YEAH.

GATES: GENETICALLY.

KING: YEAH.

YEAH.

SHE HAD TO BE.

UM, BUT IT, I DIDN'T THINK I HAD THIS MUCH WHITE, UH, BLOOD.

GATES: SO THAT'S A SURPRISE?

KING: A BIG, A BIG SURPRISE.

GATES: YEAH.

KING: A BIG, BIG, BIG SURPRISE.

GATES: I MEAN ALL THAT TIME YOU'RE WALKING AROUND, BEING A THIRD WHITE.

KING: A BIG SURPRISE.

GATES: ISSA RAE WAS ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE A SURPRISE JUST AS BIG AS GAYLE'S, ALTHOUGH IT WOULD BE HIDDEN DEEPER IN HER FAMILY TREE.

ON HER MOTHER'S SIDE, WE FOUND THAT ISSA'S THIRD GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED DORSON LOUIS CHARBONNET, WAS LISTED AS A MULATTO IN LOUISIANA CENSUS RECORDS.

WHAT'S MORE, IN THE 1860 CENSUS, THE LAST CENSUS TAKEN BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, WE FOUND DORSON LISTED BY NAME, A SURE SIGN THAT HE AND HIS FAMILY WERE NOT TYPICAL OF AFRICAN AMERICANS AT THE TIME.

RAE: IF THEY WERE NAMED WOULD THEY BE FREE?

GATES: THE CHARBONNETS WERE FREE.

RAE: WOW.

GATES: SO YOU DIDN'T KNOW THIS?

RAE: NO.

I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT MY CHARBONNET SIDE WAS, LIKE, THEY'RE VERY LIGHT.

GATES: THE CHARBONNETS WERE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR.

RAE: HOW DID THEY GET AWAY WITH THAT?

GATES: THE ANSWER TO ISSA'S QUESTION WOULD PROVE SHOCKING.

DORSON'S MOTHER WAS A WOMAN NAMED MARIE LOUISE MELITE.

AND COURT DOCUMENTS SHOW THAT SHE WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY BORN INTO SLAVERY.

BUT THOSE SAME DOCUMENTS ALSO SHOW THAT IN MARCH OF 1816, MELITE WAS EMANCIPATED BY A MAN NAMED JEAN LOUIS BEAULIEU, AND JEAN LOUIS WAS SOMETHING THAT MANY PEOPLE DON'T EVEN REALIZE EXISTED: A BLACK SLAVE-OWNER.

YOUR ANCESTOR WAS FREED BY ANOTHER BLACK PERSON.

RAE: WHAT?

HE WAS BLACK?

WOW.

GATES: HE IS A FREE MAN OF COLOR IN 1816, FREEING TWO BLACK WOMEN WHOM HE OWNS, ONE NAMED MARY, 48 YEARS OLD, ONE NAMED MELITE, WHO WAS MIXED HERSELF, 30 YEARS OLD.

RAE: SO YOU JUST BLEW MY MIND EVEN MORE.

GATES: MM-HMM.

RAE: SO THEY WERE OWNED BY A BLACK DUDE.

GATES: ANOTHER BLACK PERSON.

SLAVERY WAS A VERY COMPLICATED INSTITUTION.

RAE: YES, IT WAS.

GATES: THOUGH COMPLICATED, THIS SITUATION WASN'T ACTUALLY THAT UNUSUAL.

IN 1830, ROUGHLY 40% OF LOUISIANA'S FREE BLACK HOUSEHOLDS CONTAINED SLAVES!

THE RATIONALE, IN SOME CASES, WAS THE SAME AS IT WAS IN WHITE HOUSEHOLDS: THE DESIRE FOR FREE LABOR.

BUT MANY BLACK SLAVE-OWNERS WERE MOTIVATED BY SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY: FAMILY TIES.

AND AS WE RESEARCHED MELITE'S OWNER, WE SOON DISCOVERED THAT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS NOT AS IT FIRST APPEARED.

MELITE IS THE DAUGHTER OF JEAN LOUIS BEAULIEU, WHICH MEANS MELITE WAS FREED BY HER FATHER.

RAE: OKAY.

GATES: JEAN LOUIS OWNED AND THEN FREED BOTH HIS DAUGHTER AND HIS WIFE.

IN OTHER WORDS, HE OWNED A WOMAN, HAD A RELATIONSHIP WITH HER, THEY HAD A CHILD, AND AFTER A CERTAIN POINT, HE FREED THEM BOTH.

RAE: JESUS.

THAT'S AMAZING.

WOW.

THIS IS SO, IT'S LIKE YOU JUST TOOK ME THROUGH A SOAP OPERA.

LIKE, A SLAVE SOAP OPERA.

WHOO, WOW.

THAT IS SOME TWISTED FAMILY HISTORY.

GATES: WE NOW KNEW HOW DORSON'S MOTHER MELITE BECAME FREE.

BUT THERE WAS STILL A QUESTION IN FRONT OF US: WHAT ABOUT HIS FATHER?

ON HIS WEDDING CERTIFICATE, WE SAW THAT DORSON WAS THE SON OF A MAN NAMED AMABLE CHARBONNET, AND WE SOON DISCOVERED SOMETHING QUITE INTERESTING ABOUT AMABLE...

HE AND MELITE NEVER WERE MARRIED.

RAE: OOO.

GATES: INSTEAD, AMABLE REMAINED MARRIED TO ANOTHER WOMAN... RAE: I ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS.

GATES: NOW.

RAE: OKAY.

GATES: SO WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THAT?

RAE: SO DORSON WAS MULATTO.

SO AMABLE WAS WHITE?

GATES: YOU GOT IT.

YOUR FOURTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER WAS A WHITE MAN.

RAE: LOOK AT THAT.

OH, AMABLE.

GATES: THERE'S ONE MORE THING I WANT TO SHOW YOU.

WOULD YOU PLEASE READ THE TRANSLATED LINE?

RAE: "MR. AMABLE BARTHELEMY CHARBONNET, BORN AT JÉRÉMIE ON THE ISLAND OF ST.

DOMINGUE."

GATES: YOU KNOW WHERE SAINT-DOMINGUE IS?

RAE: NO.

GATES: HAITI.

RAE: WAIT, WHAT?

GATES: ISSA'S ANCESTOR WAS BORN ON THE ISLAND OF SAINT-DOMINGUE IN 1789.

AT THE TIME, THE ISLAND WAS AN EXTRAORDINARILY PROFITABLE FRENCH COLONY, THE WORLD'S LARGEST PRODUCER OF SUGAR AND COFFEE, AND ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST IMPORTERS OF SLAVE LABOR.

RAE: SO HE WAS A WHITE FRENCHMAN BORN IN HAITI.

GATES: YOU GOT IT.

RAE: WOW.

GATES: SO YOU HAVE HAITIAN ROOTS.

RAE: LOOK AT US.

FRENCH TILL WE DIE.

GATES: ISSA'S WORDS WERE ABOUT TO TAKE ON A VERY LITERAL MEANING.

IN AUGUST OF 1791, THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE OF SAINT DOMINGUE ROSE UP.

LAUNCHING WHAT WE NOW CALL THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION, THE MOST SUCCESSFUL SLAVE REVOLT IN HUMAN HISTORY.

FIGHTING WOULD LAST FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, BUT BY 1803, THE OUTCOME WAS CLEAR.

AS A FORMIDABLE BLACK ARMY MARCHED ACROSS THE COUNTRY, TURNING ITS WRATH ON THE FRENCH.

ISSA'S FOURTH-GREAT-GRANDFATHER AMABLE WOULD ESCAPE THE VIOLENCE, BUT HIS FATHER, ISSA'S FIFTH-GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WAS NOT SO FORTUNATE.

THIS IS A PAGE FROM A GENEALOGY REPORT COMPILED BY A MAN NAMED WILFRED CHARBONNET... (LAUGHTER) RAE: I'M SORRY.

GATES: WILFRED CHARBONNET IS YOUR FIFTH COUSIN, TWICE REMOVED.

WILL YOU READ THE TRANSLATED LINE.

RAE: THIS IS LIKE THE OPPOSITE REACTION THAT I'M HAVING.

UM, "JEAN-BARTHELEMY CHARBONNET, BORN ON THE 28TH OF NOVEMBER 1730, DECEASED IN JANUARY OR FEBRUARY 1804, MASSACRED BY THE NEGROES AT ST.

DOMINGUE."

I'M SORRY.

GATES: ISN'T THIS AMAZING?

RAE: YEAH.

MY MIND IS JUST BLOWN.

YOU KNOW, BEING A "VICTIM" OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL UPRISING.

GATES: MMM.

RAE: UM, IN SLAVE HISTORY IS, LIKE, MY FEELINGS FOR THAT ARE, I FIND THEM COMICAL, BECAUSE I WOULD NEVER THOUGHT THAT I'D BE CELEBRATING THE DEATH OF A, OF AN ANCESTOR, OF SOMEONE RELATED TO ME.

GATES: SURE.

HISTORY IS MORE COMPLICATED THAN, UH, THE SIMPLE NARRATIVE THAT WE GET IN SCHOOL.

RAE: IT SURE IS.

THIS IS PHENOMENAL.

GATES: LIKE ISSA AND GAYLE, JORDAN PEELE HAS EUROPEAN ANCESTRY: HIS MOTHER, WHO RAISED HIM, IS WHITE.

NEVERTHELESS, JORDAN TOLD ME THAT HE'D NEVER TAKEN AN INTEREST IN THIS PART OF HIS HERITAGE.

THAT WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE.

IN THE ARCHIVES OF SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK WE FOUND HIS SIXTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER, A MAN NAMED BENAJAH STRONG.

HE WAS BORN IN 1749.

WHEN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION CAME, BENAJAH JOINED THE PATRIOT CAUSE, AND ENDED UP A GUERRILLA FIGHTER, SERVING UNDER A FAMED SPYMASTER NAMED BENJAMIN TALLMADGE.

TALLMADGE CREATED A SPY RING AROUND NEW YORK KNOWN AS THE CULPER SPY RING, AND THEY PROVIDED INFORMATION TO GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON.

AND YOUR SIXTH GREAT-GRANDFATHER BENAJAH WAS WORKING WITH THEM!

PEELE: COOL.

GATES: THAT'S COOL, HUH?

PEELE: SPIES.

GATES: YEAH, SPIES.

PEELE: GUERRILLAS.

GATES: HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION.

THAT'S NO JOKE, MAN.

PEELE: YES!!!

GATES: WHAT'S IT LIKE TO SEE THAT?

PEELE: IT'S, IT'S COOL TO KNOW THAT I HAVE, UH, THERE'S A WARRIOR'S BLOOD IN THERE SOMEWHERE.

GATES: BENAJAH'S CAREER AS A "WARRIOR" REACHED A DRAMATIC PEAK.

IN NOVEMBER OF 1780, HE WAS PART OF A SMALL GROUP CHOSEN BY TALLMADGE TO RAID A BRITISH STRONGHOLD IN SOUTHERN LONG ISLAND.

TO GET THERE, THE MEN CROSSED LONG ISLAND SOUND THEN CAMPED OVERNIGHT IN THE RAIN, BEFORE SETTING OUT ON A MARCH THAT CAUGHT THE BRITISH UNPREPARED.

PEELE: "AT THIS MOMENT, THE SENTINEL IN ADVANCE OF THE STOCKADE DEMANDED, "WHO COMES THERE?"

AND FIRED.

BEFORE THE SMOKE FROM HIS GUN HAD CLEARED HIS VISION MY SERGEANT REACHED HIM WITH HIS BAYONET AND PROSTRATED HIM."

OOOOH.

GOT CAUGHT.

GATES: YEAH, BIG TIME.

TALLMADGE ORDERED HIS MEN TO LEAVE THEIR MUSKETS UNLOADED AND FIGHT ONLY WITH BAYONETS SO THAT GUNFIRE WOULDN'T RUIN THE SURPRISE.

AND IT WAS A COMPLETE SUCCESS.

THE PATRIOTS DESTROYED THE STORES OF THE FORT, THEY TOOK CAPTIVES, AND THEN MARCHED BACK ACROSS THE ISLAND AND RETURNED TO CONNECTICUT.

AND YOUR ANCESTOR WAS PART OF IT.

PEELE: THAT'S VERY COOL.

IT MAKES ME, UM, IT MAKES ME WANT TO DIG IN TO THE STORY AND I MEAN, THE DETAIL REALLY, YOU KNOW, THE DETAIL THAT IT WAS RAINING PUTS ME THERE.

AND YOU KNOW, AS A DIRECTOR WHO GETS TO PRETEND TO BE THE CAPTAIN OF A SMALL, UM, MILITIA.

GATES: YEAH.

PEELE: YOU KNOW, I FEEL THAT CONNECTION.

GATES: AFTER THE REVOLUTION, BENAJAH BECAME A PROMINENT CITIZEN OF THE NEW NATION HE'D HELPED CREATE, LIVING IN ISLIP, LONG ISLAND, WHERE HE WAS ELECTED TO THE OFFICE OF TOWN SUPERVISOR, WHICH RAISED AN INTERESTING QUESTION.

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO KNOW THERE'S ANOTHER IRONY OF AMERICAN HISTORY, AND PARTICULARLY OF YOUR ANCESTRY, WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO KNOW THAT YOUR MATERNAL ANCESTORS HAD A HAND DIRECTLY IN CREATING A COUNTRY, A NEW COUNTRY, PART OF WHICH WOULD SUBSEQUENTLY OPPRESS ANCESTORS ON YOUR PATERNAL SIDE?

PEELE: WELL, THAT'S THE, THE, THE DIFFICULT, REALLY DIFFICULT THING TO, UM, RECONCILE, IS YOU KNOW, I HAVE, I'M SURE SOMETIMES INCORRECT PRESUMPTION THAT THE WHITE SIDE OF MY FAMILY WOULD HAVE ALL BEEN RACIST, WHICH OF COURSE IS NOT, IS A BLANKET STATEMENT AND NOT ALWAYS TRUE.

GATES: RIGHT.

I MEAN, YOUR MOTHER WASN'T.

PEELE: THAT'S RIGHT.

THAT'S RIGHT.

BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST VERY STRANGE HOW, UM, YOU KNOW, GROWING UP IN THIS COUNTRY AND FEELING THAT DYNAMIC EFFECTS MY FEELING OF CONNECTION TO THE... GATES: YES.

PEELE: THE BLACK SIDE OF MY FAMILY BUT MORE THAN THIS SIDE OF MY FAMILY.

GATES: YEAH.

BUT GENETICALLY YOU'RE JUST AS CONNECTED TO BOTH.

PEELE: UM.

GENETICALLY.

YEAH.

I ALWAYS THINK, WOULD THIS PERSON HAVE ACCEPTED ME?

GATES: RIGHT.

PEELE: YOU KNOW, AND UM, MY PRESUMPTION IS NO.

GATES: YEAH, BUT YOU SHOW THEM THAT OSCAR AND HE'D SAY, WELL, YOU'RE NOT SO BAD.

HE'LL GO, WHERE YOU LIVE?

HOW MUCH MONEY YOU MAKE?

WHOA.

THAT'S MY BOY.

PEELE: THAT'S RIGHT.

GATES: THE PAPER TRAIL HAD NOW RUN OUT FOR EACH OF MY GUESTS.

IT WAS TIME TO SEE WHAT DNA COULD TELL US ABOUT THEIR DEEPER ROOTS.

WE'D ALREADY REVEALED THAT GAYLE KING IS ROUGHLY 32% EUROPEAN.

YEAH, AND THE AMOUNT OF EUROPEAN IS MORE THAN AVERAGE FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS.

KING: I KNOW.

THERE'S A VERY BIG GREEN CHUNK ON THIS PIE CHART.

GATES: WE NOW SAW THAT JORDAN PEELE'S EUROPEAN ANCESTRY IS ABOUT 51% OF HIS ADMIXTURE.

PEELE: I FEEL MORE, MORE OF A MUTT, THAN UM, THAN I EVEN THOUGHT.

GATES: AND AS FOR ISSA RAE?

THE NUMBER IS CLOSE TO 17%.

RAE: IT JUST MAKES ME WANT TO LEARN MORE.

GATES: THESE RESULTS REFLECT THE COMPLEXITY BURIED IN OUR GENOMES, A COMPLEXITY THAT IS BOTH CHALLENGING, AND COMPELLING.

RAE: THERE'S SOMETHING SO EMPOWERING ABOUT KNOWING WHERE YOU COME FROM, WHERE YOU DESCENDED, WHAT YOUR STORY IS, AND I FEEL LIKE I HAVE MORE CLARITY OF WHAT MY FAMILY STORY IS AND WHETHER I LIKE IT OR NOT, IT DOES INFORM A LOT OF WHO I AM.

KING: I COULD ONLY GO BACK TO MY DAD AND MY GRANDFATHER, AND EVEN THOSE ARE KIND OF FUZZY, VAGUE MEMORIES, SO THIS IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL TO SEE.

AND IT JUST SHOWS WHERE YOU COME FROM, THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S VERY HUMBLING TO ME.

PEELE: IT'S EASY TO WANT TO PUT YOURSELF IN A BOX.

AND UH, THIS KIND OF INFORMATION SHOWS ME THE BOX I PUT MYSELF IN, THE BOXES OR THE HOLE, AND, UM, IT REMINDS ME THAT, YOU KNOW, RACE...

IN MANY WAYS IS, IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS, IS WAY, WAY, WAY MORE COMPLICATED AND NUANCED AND INTERESTING THAN HOW WE DEAL WITH IT TODAY.

GATES: IT IS.

PEELE: YEAH.

GATES: IT'S A DEEP THING TO REALIZE.

PEELE: YEAH.

GATES: THAT'S THE END OF OUR JOURNEY WITH JORDAN PEELE, GAYLE KING, AND ISSA RAE.

JOIN ME NEXT TIME WHEN WE UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE PAST FOR NEW GUESTS ON ANOTHER EPISODE OF "FINDING YOUR ROOTS".