LeVar Burton Makes Fierce Political Statement on ‘The View’

LeVar Burton was on hand for Tuesday’s (April 26) new episode of The View and fielded a series of questions about his lengthy screen history, from Star Trek to Reading Rainbow to the new Trivial Pursuit, as well as to discuss some “Hot Topics” with the cohosts.

While promoting his game show and upcoming — titled Take My Word for It: A Memoir and hitting shelves on November 10 — Burton spoke on a few current events that had him particularly fired up.

First, he spoke about his iconic miniseries Roots, which aired in 1977 and tracked the life of the enslaved African man Kunta Kinte, and revealed why he thinks it would not be as universally received as it was 50 years ago.

“If it aired today, I think Roots would have a very bumpy road to the airwaves,” Burton said. “There would be a lot of resistance. Just there is book banning going on and all kinds of nonsense in the public sphere… As important a story as it is, why do we have such a problem with the truth?”

However, Whoopi Goldberg changed his mind when she countered his suggestion that it wouldn’t have the same reach today as it did and said, “You know why it would? Because remember how it started. It started orally. And you can take down all the signs you want to. You can tear up every bus…. but you cannot take away the stories that we tell.”

“On second thought, you’re right,” he conceded. “I mean, that’s why I do what it is I do. That’s why I’m a storyteller, to preserve that part of who we are, not just for ourselves, but for the ensuing generations,” Burton agreed.

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After Sara Haines asked him to journey down memory lane to talk a bit about Reading Rainbow, his classic hit educational series, Joy Behar asked him what he thinks of the recent cuts, by Donald Trump‘s administration, to funding for PBS.

“Joy, do you really want to hear me say that?” he asked, perhaps rhetorically.

“Yes, I do,” she insisted.

After a sigh, he said, “Just like we have a problem with the truth in this nation, we are also addicted to spending money on war and weapons of war, and we have sacrificed generations of our kids and their education.”

The View, weekdays, 11a/10c, ABC