It struck me as ironic that one woman let it slide off her tongue that black people didn't have souls as if she was saying good morning. Most of the white characters are treated in a fair manner, with some more racist than the others. It is ironic that during the war while the men are away, it is Queen who holds the two women together, but as soon as the war is over, things are back as they were before, at least as far as how the white women treat her. Ann-Margret, as the plantation matriarch, expresses sympathy towards Queen, but never refers to her once as her granddaughter, only acknowledging that she cares for her like she would for any other slave that they nurse through illness, feed when they are hungry and bury when they die, just like their Christian duty says they should. Clarkson swings back and forth between resentment and gratitude, showing her anger towards both Easter and Queen, yet relying on Queen during moments of crisis.

The men go off to war, tragedy strikes for the women remaining behind, and when the war is over, Queen must find her way as a free woman without a home. Queen grows up, becomes the companion to her half sister Jane (Jane Krakowski) who never finds out the truth. Daly marries the beautiful belle Lizzie (Patricia Clarkson) but continues to love Easter, which brings out Lizzie's resentments. Unlike 'Roots', the story does not open in Africa It starts before Queen's birth, exploring the hidden romance of her mother Easter (Jasmine Guy) and the son, Col. The horrors of being a 'half breed' are shown through humiliation by both the darker blacks and the whites who still think of her as a black girl regardless of the truth. This time, it is his father's side, as seen through the eyes of the half-white Queen (Halle Beery), a dainty but strong young woman, daughter of a slave and the white man she loved. Almost 20 years after the initial chapters of Alex Haley's 'Roots', TV audiences got the opportunity to see another side of his family.

The real queen alex haley