‘Roots’ of a UK memory

I had the privilege to attend UK from 1975 to 1977. In April 1977, the epic miniseries “Roots,” a dramatization of author Alex Haley's family line from Kunta Kinte’s enslavement to his descendents’ liberation, transfixed a nation. I recall viewing the program with my dorm mates at the former Boyd Hall in the television room.

I also had the privilege to attend a lecture by Haley in Memorial Hall, the very site of the current controversy over the fresco depicting life in early Lexington and Central Kentucky. It was there that Haley autographed my copy of Time magazine on which he appeared on the cover and a detailed story of the search for his family's history was featured within. He also surveyed the mural while there without comment.

The depiction of blacks working in fields in early Kentucky history is not any different than those roadside scenes I recall as a boy traveling through the deep south. In this age of political correctness, to what extent do we extinguish what some may consider culturally offensive while accurately depicting history ?

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 9:01 PM with the headline "‘Roots’ of a UK memory."