The scene from ROOTS that he expressed disgust over was in the final act of the final episode. If you remember the episode, Tom and his father Chicken George manage to get the drop on the dastardly Klanleader played by Lloyd Bridges. Bridges’ character has whipped Tom with a bullwhip, publicly humiliated him, and gotten away with all sorts of crimes and outrages against the black community before and after emancipation*. Now he’s powerless and tied to a tree and crying and pleading as Tom brandishes the same bullwhip that Bridges had previously used on him. Tom jerks back the whip, but he can’t go through with it, especially in front of his wife and kids, because that would make him no better than Bridges.
The scene is not in the novel** but was totally cooked up by some '70s screenwriter. Tarantino hated the scene, and understandably: for many reasons it’s a big mess. Tarantino’s biggest problem was that Tom would absolutely have whipped the guy, probably to death, and that’s one thing he wanted to show in Django- an abused slave who has the opportunity for revenge (Django and the overseer brothers especially- he didn’t need to kill them, but couldn’t not kill them, just as Schulz “could not resist” killing Candie even though he had not been through anything remotely as degrading as slavery).
My biggest problem with the scene from ROOTS was that I agree Bridges and crew needed to die, but for practical rather than revenge reasons; it’s strictly business. (Again, nothing like this happened in real life or the novel, only in the miniseries.)
After deciding not to whip Lloyd Bridges, Tom and his family leave him and his henchman tied up and set off in their wagons for Tennessee. Screenwriter hack dude apparently has no idea just how fast wagons filled with women and children and household goods don’t move; Bridges and his henchmen are going to get free at some point, and when they do they’ll be able to catch up with Tom’s caravan on a blind arthritic mule if they want- they could probably do it walking. If the pursuers are on horseback, Tom and tribe could have a five day headstart and Team Klan could easily catch up with them in under a day, and he’s going to be about 8 counties beyond pissed when he catches up with them.
Tom and Chicken George and crew have absolutely no choice but to kill not only Bridges but every other white man they’ve captured and dispose of their bodies and their horses and anything that can be traced to them. They will never be safe while any of these men lives, so they need to do bypass decency, haul ass past Madea, and go full on Dexter with these crackers.
Anyway, though, I agree that the scene Tarantino took such umbrage with is stupid, but he’s pushing it to say this is more realistic.
*He particularly hates Tom because he thinks Tom knows more about his brother’s death than he’s telling [which Tom does {namely that Tom killed him for trying to rape his wife}].
**If you’ve read the novel you know that Haley spent about 4/5 of the book on the story of Kunta Kinte/Kizzy/Chicken George’s early life, then took the next century of the family (basically from the 1840s through his own birth and early life) at a mad gallop, so the Civil War and Reconstruction goes by way too fast to have any really developed heroes or villains; it’s more a begatting. (Basically, after numerous extensions Haley’s publishers wouldn’t wait any longer for the manuscript so he had to wrap it up quick.)
