Henry Louis Gates Explores Adrian Grenier's Heritage On "Finding Your Roots" (VIDEO)

Every week, Henry Louis Gates has investigated what it means to have a range of genealogical history including European and African heritage. This week on the season finale of his show "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr.," the renowned Harvard professor is exploring what it means to be Latino.

Gates will delve into the family origins of actor Adrian Grenier, actress Michelle Rodriguez and Fox News political analyst Linda Chavez, each of whom discover their Latino identity is mixed with European, Native-American and African genealogy.

Gates' show has received tons of praise and has been called a "must see" television series. This season he helped a number of celebrities explore their family history including Barbara Walters, Martha Stewart and John Legend.

Find out what Grenier, Rodriguez and Chavez discover on tonight's episode on PBS at 9 p.m.

From our partners

• Selita Ebanks Gets Back To Werk With New S&M Style Editorial. Peep The Pics! - styleblazer.com
• Ahmad 'Real' Givens Of VH1's 'Real Chance Of Love' In The Fight Of His Life After Stage 4 Cancer Diagnosis - madamenoire.com
• 5 (Fun) Things You Should Know About March Madness Right Now - colorlines.com

Comments

[BlairCase]

04:56 PM on 05/22/2012

Michelle Rodriguez was amazed, and a little upset, to discover she has about 75% European ancestry. Linda Chavez, whose family came to Santa Fe with tre conquistadores in the 1590s, discovered she's almost 70% European and 30% Jewish. Many of her ancestors were "Crypto Jews" who fled the Spanish Inquisition. Adrian Grenier found out that he does have significant Native American ancestry, although it's more likely Pueblo rather than Apache, as he imagined.

[DeloresLongo]

10:31 AM on 05/22/2012

I watched that show and Adrian didn't seem very happy about his Hispanic side preferring to be Native American. Michelle was amazed to learn she was not Indian but Spanish and African.

[erl92]

03:04 AM on 05/22/2012

This show is really good. Professor Gates is very thorough and a likable personality. Adrian Grenier had a little bit of Native Ancestry. I think people from the eastern US would tend to have more native in their background if they researched it. I have been researching for a few years now and it perks your interest in history when you actually can place your own ancestry in that history. I also find DNA research fascinating. I look forward to his next series. The website:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/

[Rob Paterson1]

04:33 PM on 05/21/2012

only one with african roots is puerto rican michelle rodriguez, just as the whole carribean have lots of black blood in them.

Mexican-American#1 Linda Chavez Found out that she was part Jewish, a Spanish Crypto-Jew just like many Mexican-Americans#1 and Mexicans#1 which henry louis gates jr. pointed out.

[Karen1]

12:51 AM on 05/22/2012

You're right. The article above is wrong. Adrian was Spanish and Native American, and Linda Chavez was Spanish, Native American and Jewish. Both had very little Native ancestry, and other European ancestry. .

MIchelle Rodriguez, who is Puerto Rican and Dominican, was Spanish, Native American and African.

[Rob Paterson1]

06:10 PM on 05/22/2012

yup just like Mexican-American#1 Linda Chavez.!

[Goldie Treasure]

01:23 PM on 05/21/2012

I would love to have this done on me.

[Karen1]

02:48 PM on 05/23/2012

I would too. I thought of doing a DNA test from 23 and Me, but what do they do with your DNA sample? And what happens if someone else--like an insurance compnay--buys 23 and Me in the future? Hmmm...

[Royce09]

09:33 AM on 05/21/2012

I know my roots, my family goes back to the 1800s in alabama and worked side by side with slaves, exccept for poor whites were called share croppers. This was basically one notch up from being a slave. After slavery was abolished , the slaves became sharecroppers too. They were still held at a lower status than white sharecroppers.

Poor whites were abused too, but not nearly as bad as the slaves were, not even. Even today, miniorities are being abused along with poor whites, but still not as much. Now days, The Man is not always White anymore because a lot of rich people are not white, but they still abuse the poor for their greed profits.

Slaves could be killed legally, raped, and much more. Whites never suffered this kind of abuse and NO ONE IN THE WORLD SHOULD HAVE. If I were a young black man listening to the awful stories my family suffered over the years , I WOULD BE ANGRY TOO, I am sure.

[Lechiffre]

01:00 PM on 05/21/2012

The show is not about you !

[Royce09]

01:48 PM on 05/21/2012

the show is about all of us , we have the same history , just different roles.

[zatoichiblack]

08:43 AM on 05/21/2012

This is great he is helping but cant this guy afford to find this on his own. I wish someone would help me find my roots. If i sent a letter to Skip he would skip over it cause im not a celebrity and don't believe that ancestry.com site is real.

[BlairCase]

09:50 AM on 05/21/2012

Ancestry.com produces good results for most people. It gives you oneline access to census forms, birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, city directories,and other important records. It also connects you to other family trees that connect with your family. I was able to trace my family back to 300 without leaving home to do original research.

[wyndchas78]

02:18 PM on 05/21/2012

I've been able to research my family's history back pretty far on that site too. I really like that they have documents to back all these "hints".

[erl92]

02:35 AM on 05/22/2012

They seem a little too expensive to me.

[ms.understood]

07:24 AM on 05/21/2012

Adrian is sooooooo fine! i just knew he had African and/or Latino blood somewhere because of his hair and other dark features.

[fourracewoman]

10:36 PM on 05/29/2012

Speaking of, Adrian is not only European and Native American as someone stated above. I am sure he is also African for he did not share his chart with the public. He only shared the native american part. Also recall that Dr gates said they all had similar backgrounds. Adrian is very sensitive to this issue because he was brought through his mom, to be of that culture. This is now a whole new view and change of of perception for him.

[JohnnyAce Okeke]

05:33 AM on 05/21/2012

Skip Gates helps everybody but us. {{-_-}}

[ms.understood]

07:22 AM on 05/21/2012

what? expand on this please. it seems like since that "beer summit," he's been all over the news.

[hjo4]

08:13 AM on 05/21/2012

That's why I no longer watch his series. I believe that people like Professor Gates main focus should be helping American Blacks FIRST and foremost discover our ROOTS before he help those who always had the means,access and opportunity to discover their own Roots. Or they invent their own Roots and call that fact. I agree with you totally.

[Karen1]

04:11 PM on 05/21/2012

PBS is publicly funded, so the show it should not be limited to one race.