>didnt really go into why...
>he thought of the roots movie being a
>false representation.

I mean, in fairness, Roots (the mini-series) added sympathetic white characters that weren't in the source material for the sole purpose of sugar-coating (and FALSELY REPRESENTING) reality so that it would be more palatable for less-enlightened white audiences.

According to the Museum of Broadcast Communications:

"Familiar television actors like American (sic) actor Lorne Greene were chosen for the white, secondary roles, to reassure audiences. The white actors were featured disproportionately in network previews. For the first episode, the writers created a conscience-stricken slave captain (Ed Asner), a figure who did not appear in Haley's novel but was intended to make white audiences feel better about their historical role in the slave trade."

Not sure why it's scandalous to point that out...