G.G. Vandagriff Undoubtedly, the deepest wound in the spirit of the United States was caused by the enslavement of Africans prior to the Civil War. One of the worst effects of slavery was the dismemberment and in some cases the total obliteration of the family. Even today, African-Americans bear the scars of that time in their heritage. As an extractor for the Church Family History Department, I pore over death records, trying to discern the story behind each one.
Birth dates are often completely unknown.
Knowing this, I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the greatest boost to the Spirit of Elijah in the Twentieth Century was the book and mini-series Roots . With unquestionable drama, it chronicled the heritage of Alex Haley back to his ancestors in Africa. It affected millions of Americans both black and white, whetting their appetite to find the stories of the forebears. Alex Haley tells of a story that occurred spontaneously during the filming of Roots . It illustrates the desperation and horrible plight of the Africans when they were forced to give up their identity.