The chains tear his flesh. Blood flows from where the iron eats into his flesh. He cannot lose sight of his dissatisfaction with his current situation. He is a slave and he is not free. The back injury caused by whipping is his constant companion. This situation is not unique. Countless black people were subjected to this kind of mistreatment at the hands of their white slave masters in the New World that became the United States of America. According to the film Roots, white Americans suppressed the right of free black people to create slaves for their plantations because the needs of white slave owners outweighed the freedom of people different from them. The 1976 film Roots, based on Alex Haley's novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, illustrates the issues surrounding the early formation of colonies in the Americas. Social stratification is the basis of the film Roots, and it appears through Kunta Kinte's own experiences with his Gambian tribe in Africa, through the relationships between the Africans, the white slave traders, the white slave crew and white plantation owners, through slavery fueling the emergence of colonialism, through the formation of social classes within the American colonies. Social stratification first appears in the film Roots through Kunta Kinte's involvement with the Gambian tribe. During his birth, Omoro, Kunta's father, waits outside while his mother, Binta, gives birth to him (Roots). The father waiting outside while the mother gives birth illustrates the social structure within Kunta's tribe. There is a clear separation between men and women. Men are the warriors, and women are the vehicle for producing new children, and neither side interacts with the...... middle of paper ......gh Kunta Kinte's own experiences with his Gambian tribe in Africa, through the relationships between Africans, white slave traders, white slaves and white plantation owners, through slavery fueling the emergence of colonialism, through the formation of classes social within the American colonies. Like this slave, the blood of many slaves nourished the literature of early America. The works of Olaudah Equaiano, Harriet Jacobs, and Fredrick Douglas brought to light the truth that people descended from former slaves, or slaves themselves, can create great works of literature to shape America. Without the works of black people, the symphony of American literature sounds like a song missing an important note.Works CitedRoots. 1976. Producer Stan Margulies. Perf. LeVar Burton, Edward Asner and Louis Gossett, Jr. Warner Home Video, 2001. DVD.