“Star Trek” actor LeVar Burton was shocked to discover that one of his ancestors was a white Confederate soldier.
The 66-year-old TV star was told the surprising fact about his lineage during an episode of the PBS series “Finding Your Roots.” The former “Reading Rainbow” star told show host Henry Louis Gates Jr. that he didn’t know much about his family tree as he was estranged from his father, Levardis Robert Martyn Burton, since he was 11. Burton also mentioned that his mother, Erma Gene Christian, wasn’t forthcoming about the family’s background, according to People.
“You grow up with just blanks, right? No information, no clue and no real way to overcome that blind spot,” Burton said of his family history, per the Los Angeles Times. “This information is stuff that we need in order to feel whole.”