Sadly, that's true. Not many people remember that Alex Haley was taken to court in 1978 and charged that Roots was substantially plagiarized from Harold Courlander's book, The African.
|
Courlander's witnesses included Michael Wood an English professor at Columbia University and an expert on plagiarism. Wood opined in a report that the evidence of plagiarism in Roots was 'clear and irrefutable' and that the copying of passages was 'significant and extensive.' After a five-week trial in federal district court, Courlander and Haley settled the case, with Haley making a financial settlement of $650,000 and a statement that 'Alex Haley acknowledges and regrets that various materials from The African by Harold Courlander found their way into his book Roots.' Haley claimed the appropriation of Courlander's passages had been unintentional. Shortly after the trial, however, Joseph Bruchac, an instructor of black literature at Skidmore College, came forward to swear in an affidavit that in 1970 or 1971--five or six years before the publication of Roots--he had discussed The African with Haley and had given his 'own personal copy of The African to Haley.' In a later interview with BBC Television, Judge Ward stated, 'Alex Haley perpetrated a hoax on the public.' |
Thank you for posting this. It is a story that needs to be told.
Roots was a difficult book to sell to a publisher. Haley was turned down by almost all literary agents, then Lois de la Haba. nice Jewish agent in NY, decided to take a chance...and made a ton of money on it, as good agents deserve to do.