Spike Lee Meets a Surprising Relative (VIDEO)

Director Spike Lee has spent his career creating movies that discuss race and politics in America. But now, on 'Who Do You Think You Are?' (Fri., 8PM ET on NBC), Lee learns some unusual secrets about his own family history. He discovers that he may have a white ancestor -- and that he may be related to slave owners.

Watch the video after the jump.Director Spike Lee has spent his career creating movies that discuss race and politics in America. But now, on 'Who Do You Think You Are?' (Fri., 8PM ET on NBC), Lee learns some unusual secrets about his own family history. He discovers that he may have a white ancestor -- and that he may be related to slave owners.

After researching his family's past in Georgia, Lee meets Guinevere Grier, who seems to be his third cousin, twice removed. It turns out that Grier's ancestors owned a plantation where Lee's relatives worked as slaves. The owner of the plantation may have been the father of Lee's ancestor, thus linking Lee and Grier. The two of them have a revealing conversation about slavery and its damaging effects.

Lee seems pleased by the encounter. "I've always known... who I am. But now I know more."