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Many Rivers to Cross
African-American history has played an integral role in the shaping of politics, economics, and culture in the United States. Growing up, how did you learn about the accomplishments and struggles of African Americans? Were you in a classroom? Reading a book? Talking with relatives or friends? How has your understanding or knowledge of African-American history changed and/or developed over time? What do you think is the most effective way to pass along this rich and growing history to future generations?

Clare Robertsen

Dear Henry Louis Gates Jr.,

I love what you did in your documentary, The African Americans Many Rivers To Cross, because it’s full of interesting facts that I need to know about the Africans Americans as I grow older, because I will have to learn about all these tragic moments that have happened in the history of people treating blacks like property. I, as an individual, before this documentary, didn’t quite know how bad a human could possibly be treated. In fact, all I knew before this video was that African Americans were treated like less. That was all I knew.

During those times, African Americans must have been full of trepidation while protesting, some may say, but I think not, because they were protesting for their rights and they knew that they would make a difference in the African American history. They also knew that if they continued to protest, every white person would have no choice but to give the African Americans their rights and let them share the same public things that should have shared in the first place. If they were to kill the protesters, which there were a lot of, who were working for white people, they would not have many left to work; to sew, cook, clean, care for the children and, there were many more things that the African Americans did for just the smallest amounts of money possible.

In the video, I liked how you made a sort of pattern of emotion where it goes from good to terrible and repeats several times until the video lands on a good note. It shows progress. Although, I don’t think there will ever be a happy ending, because I don’t see how anyone could recover from the past; All we can do is stick our heads into the future and hope for the best. I wonder if we could ever live in a world with nothing but peace.

African Americans were killed for no reason at all. How could someone do such a things. It’s unnatural?

Your documentary opened my eyes to a whole other world of tragedy and progress and how this world today, in America, is amazing, and how I should be grateful for what an amazing country I live in, because it is free. I thought that it was really cool that you could bring this out of a person (me) through a documentary, so thank you.

From: Clare Robertsen

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