An African American Cedar Rapids man kidnapped a white woman and made her watch Roots.
What We Know:
- In brief, Robert Lee Noye, 52, allegedly held the unnamed woman captive at a residence in the 700 block of Second Avenue SW. He then forced her to watch the historic 1977 9-hour series Roots.
- Daily Mail reports the two were in an on-off relationship for years. Noye expressed he forced the unnamed woman to watch the film so, “she understands her racism,” according to a criminal complaint.
- The complaint added, Noye ordered the woman to “remain seated and watch the movie with him or he would kill her and spread her body parts across Interstate 380 on the way to Chicago”.
- The TV adaptation of Roots follows the acclaimed book by author Alex Haley. Furthermore, the film chronicles Haley’s ancestry beginning with Kunta Kinte. Kinte is an abducted Gambian warrior enslaved in the Americas in the 1700s.
- The historic film Roots (1977) broke records, obtaining 37 Emmy nominations. The film documents the cruel sufferings of the character Kunta Kinte and the impressions of enslavement on his post-generational timeline.
Authorities arrested Noye Monday and he currently faces charges of first-degree harassment and false imprisonment.
