Did, a family with very conservative values but very liberal political allegiances, and then end up becoming politically conservative. It also became a perspective of how i viewed issues through that political lens. So coming into our Current Situation here in lynchburg at liberty university, number one, its an academic perspective. Number two, since its a private christian institution, the theological perspective came into play as well. And i think a lot of the issues that i talked about in the book where i had Political Solutions, i think i now look to more Spiritual Solutions particularly since the community that ive dealt with here not just at liberty university, but in lynchburg has really given me a different perspective, maybe even a little more empathy about issues and challenges that people are facing and what they need to do to overcome them. Can we talk about initially in the book what were some of the topics that you were tackling, and why did you name the book the title that you gave it . [laughter] well, this title is probably the one very provocative thing that makes the book stand out. I called it sellout. Part of it was because there tends to be a reaction on the part of some people when, as a black man, you say that you are a conservative. Or a black woman, for that matter. And some people react poorly to it, and those kind of names come out. So i used to joke that when you say youre a conservative, you inherit names that your mother never gave you. And i just decided to own the name and use it as a way to start a conversation. Particularly about the phrase uncle tom, which has come to mean one thing in modern discourse, but if you actually read the novel, it means something totally different. And, in fact, the author, Harriet Beecher stowe, intended for uncle tom to be a noble, christlike archetype. And so i just found it fascinating that its evolved into what it has. So i said im going to reclaim it. And so that was the purpose of using that, to get a few eyeballs on the cover and maybe go further than that. So you mentioned that there were what were some of the issues that you were talking about in the book, and what was your perspective on the wellbeing in d. C. , and then how do they change moving here. Okay. Well, like i say, the book is largely a memoir. Its talking about how i arrived personally at the temperament, the position, the ideas that i did. And i kind of give you stories and things that will kind of lead into each of those areas. But i really talk about the areas that seem to be really troublesome when we talk about the black experience in america. I talk about education, i talk about the economic wellbeing of the black community, i talk about the Family Structure and all of those things and what with my view was and what i thought these solutions were from a political perspective. What has changed mainly is that i acknowledge that because of my upbringing, a lot of the things that i experience are not the experiences of a lot of black people in these communities. I was raised in a military family, a twoparent family. My parents are still married, celebrated their 58th wedding anniversary. Always was in integrated neighborhoods, integrated schools. Gated communities, for all intents and purposes. Come from an air base, theres a gate you have to get through. So there was always safety and security. And so i grew up in a very protected environment. And i think over time as my focus has become less political and more spiritual, i thought to myself, well, what would my life have been like if i had been born in west baltimore, maryland, to a single mother . Or in ferguson, missouri, or any one of these flashpoints that weve seen in the news . What if the only thing i ever saw every day was risk and threat . What if the only father figures i had were the teenagers down the street who gathered together as a gang . What if my time in school was spent just trying to survive, much less learn anything . So i started to say i cant discount experiences that are not my own. Experiences are a very personal thing. In fact, even in the book i say you may disagree with what i say, but these are my experiences. And i think that applies both ways. So from my perspective, i started saying, okay, while i still believe in the power of these solutions and i still believe in our moral agency, our ability to take charge and overcome the circumstances in which we find ourselves, i understand thats not as easy to do when you start off at a deficit. And i also understand too that all of the laws and all of the Political Solutions in the world tonight mean anything theres not heart change, if theres not life change. And i even mention that in the book. I kind of conclude with that idea. But i feel like i didnt go far enough with it, and some things in writings ive done since then ive really emphasized the idea of talking it out of the rl m of the of the realm of the political. Particularly in todays era where politics has become so fractious and were so polarized, i dont think its a place where solutions can be found. Particularly when youre talking about something as longstanding as the relationship between blacks and whites in america. I mean, were approaching almost 500 years since the first slaves were brought to the shores of what is now the United States of america. People think jamestown but, in fact, there were slaves that landed from a spanish galleon in the carolinas in the 151500s 1500s. That was the first time that they were on the american continent. So weve been dealing with this for a very long time, and we have the laws on the books. Ever since the emancipation proclamation weve had laws, we have had amendments to the constitutions, weve had guidelines, executive order, you name it. Yet were still struggling with this all these years later. And i really believe that its going to take a spiritual solution and, from my perspective, its going to take a spiritual community, the Christian Community leading by example. I believe the church can do it, but theyve done a poor job of it to this point. And i think that thats where ive put all of my emphasis now. A lot less on the statehouse or the white house and a lot more on the church house. If politics has done one thing to harm discourse, its created this concept of the other. And whenever theres an other, that other becomes the enemy. Its easy to demean them, dehumanize them, to set them apart. Unless we start relating to the fact that there is an inherent godlikeness in all of us, that he didnt distinguish between you or me or anyone else when he put image of god in us, it breaks down our ability to put people on the other side and to demonize them. Ill tell you an interesting story, and its one of the stories that kind of lended itself to this change that ive had about things. There was an article about the gun laws in the state of illinois and the city of chicago. Andin the wake of the Supreme Court and this was in the wake of the Supreme Court decision that the ban on handguns in chicago was unconstitutional. Well, the state and the city decided, well, were going to make it as challenging as possible for anyone to get one. And so they instituted all of these rules and restrictions. And the outcome of these rules and restrictions was that people who lived in the suburbs could more easily get concealedcarry permits than people who lived in the south side chicago who were looking for them to protect themselves from crime in their neighborhoods. And so im thinking to myself, you know, oh, this is a Second Amendment issue. Im going to publish this article about this, and all of my conservative friends are going to be up in arms about these people who are trying to protect themselves and cant get access to what they need. But what i got was a lot of very disappointing comment tower from conservative commentary from conservative friends about black people with criminal records not being able to get concealedcarry permits. Or if they didnt spend their money on iphones and sneakers, maybe theyd have the money for the permits. And im not saying everyone commented that way, but enough did to where it, it was almost like it slapped me in the face. And i said to myself, wow, you know . I have defended this Political Community for whatever you want to call it, and i never expected that. And i dont want anyone to read into that that i think all conservatives are racist. I dont. But that response surprise me because if it had been a White Working Class community, i wondered if they would have responded the same way with those kinds of comments and stereotypes. So that made me step back and start to think, okay, maybe i need to reflect on where we are in america right now as a nation, where these attitudes are. Because clearly there are some things out there that still havent changed. And so those colleagues who responded that way, did you ever bring up to them how you were kind of taken aback by their response . And what did they say . The ones that responded and, like i said, they werent the majority, but there was enough of them that it concerned me they shrugged their shoulders. It seems that if you, if you show empathy toward the other, whoever they consider the other to be, you become one of them. [laughter] and so i cant tell you how many times i put something out there, and somebody will push back. And if you, if you dont yield or you dont acknowledge that their point of view is the one thats correct, all of a sudden your credentials get taken away, you know . You lose your card. And so ive kind of learned to brush that off. Im learning that social medias a little bit of a wasteland when it comes to intellectual dialogue or any kind of civilized dialogue. And so again, i talk about communication being there to inform, inspire, enflame. I try not to enflame, but sometimes its going to happen, and i just accept it. I never respond in kind, and i just move on. So if you could say anything to the Current Congress going on right now in washington, d. C. , what would your message be to them . Examine your heart or and determine why you went there in the first place. And if your purpose was to serve, then serve and become othercentered. If your purpose was otherwise, then consider whether or not you need to be there. Twice a month cspans cities tours take booktv and American History tv on the road to explore the literary life and history of a selected city. Working with our cable partners, we visit various literary and Historic Sites as we interview local historians, authors and civic leaders. You can watch any of our past interview ises and tours online by going to booktv. Org and selecting cspan cities tour from the serious dropdown at the top of the page. Or by visiting cspan. Org citiestour. You can also follow the cspan cities tour on twitter for behind the scene ises images and video from our visits. The handle the cspancitys. Heres a lack at some heres a look at some upcoming book fairs and festivals happening around the country. On march 10th and 11, well be live from the university of arizona for the tucson festival of books with author talks and callins. This years festival features katie tur or and charles sykes. Military historian max boot, investigative journalist David Cay Johnston and many other authors. Later in the march its the virginia festival of book in charlottesville and National Black writers conference in brook run, new york. In april brooklyn, new york. In april were headed to texas for the san antonio book festival, and well be live once again at the Los Angeles Times festival of books. For more information about upcoming book fairses and festivals and to watch previous festival coverage, click the book fairs tab on our web site, booktv. Org