Mexican Roots

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the deep Mexican roots of talk show host Mario Lopez and comedian Melissa Villaseñor, uncovering ancestors stretching back to the 1500s. Weaving together stories of migratory farmers, Spanish Conquistadors and Native Americans, Gates conjures up personal histories of diverse, sometimes conflicting, elements.

“Why didn’t he stay?” Mario Lopez discovers that his great-grandfather once visited America long before his family immigrated here.

"It makes you kind of proud." Mario Lopez learns about his grandfather's plan to become a U.S. citizen.

Melissa Villaseñor reads about the shooting death of her great-grandfather, who was killed while defending a friend at a party.

Melissa Villaseñor gets emotional reading the 1908 birth record of her great-grandmother, who’s story she knew very little about.