It turns out that LeVar Burton’s passion for literacy comes from a long familial legacy. During a recent appearance on PBS’ “Finding Your Roots,” the actor discovered information about his estranged father. At 11 years old, Burton’s parents divorced, and in the years since, the star has learned little to no new information about his father — until now.
“You inherited from this invisible presence in your life — a guy who disappears when you’re 11 — but all of that educational heritage came with him,” the show’s host, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., told Burton, per People magazine.
In the episode, Gates revealed how far back Burton’s ties to education go. According to the genealogical findings, the actor’s grandfather, Aaron C. Burton, and great-grandfather, Pearl B. Burton, worked as school superintendents. His great-grandfather spent the majority of his life working in education and ultimately played a role in opening a public school for Black children in Osceola, Arkansas. At the time, Burton’s great-grandfather’s efforts in education were fundamental, as nearly 20% of Arkansas’ Black population was illiterate. Pearl eventually moved on to become a representative in the Arkansas General Assembly following the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which gave Black men in former confederate states voting rights.
As a long-time literacy advocate, Burton was “ecstatic” to learn this information.
“I can’t even explain how it feels to get this information,” he added. “It’s like there have been pieces of me that have been missing. They’ve always been out there somewhere… Black people. We don’t share family stories, you know? We’re really hesitant.”
Prior to this discovery, Burton credited his late mother, Erma Gene Christian, as the inspiration to host the much-beloved PBS educational children’s television series “Reading Rainbow.” Christian, who worked as a high school English teacher, was apparently “insistent that [her children] not know about the trials and tribulations that she went through,” according to Burton.
“She was trying to protect us, but it leaves us in the dark about who we are,” LeVar explained. “This information is stuff that we need in order to feel whole.”
Burton is among several celebrities to experience eye-opening revelations through “Finding Your Roots.” As previously reported by theGrio, this season, the show also revealed that singer Ciara and baseball star Derek Jeter are cousins. Similarly, Gates helped Kerry Washington discover the truth about her biological parents. For Burton, this newfound connection to his father is “overwhelming.”
“Never in a million years would I ever have imagined that you would find information like this for my family,” he concluded. “This is gonna reverberate for a while…So powerful.”
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