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9.   Findings Relevant to the Mass Media      |
In   1977,  when more than   130 million people watched the   12-hour TV adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots, it was proved beyond a doubt that mass media can greatly impact the way the general public understands the history and legacy of slavery, and the way it uses that  information  to  interpret  itself individually  and  socially. Another milestone  was  reached  in  October, 1998  when PBS  presented the   four-part  documentary,   "Africans   in  America:   America's   Journey through   Slavery."
Still, the Task Force perceives that overall mass media in Maryland are not sufficiently proactive in helping the general public to understand the history and legacy of slavery in the State.    Many overgeneralizations   and  stereotypes  continue  to  exist.     For  example, it is not well understood that at no time in Maryland's past were all its citizens of African heritage enslaved and that at almost no time during  the  long period that  slavery  and  indenture  service overlappped    were all citizens of European heritage free.     Although works   such  as  To  Maryland   from   Overseas   (1986)   and  "Almost Chattel:  The  Lives   of Indentured  Servants   at  Hampton-Northampton, Baltimore County"   (1999)  make  it clear that  freedom was  never