That was moved in with heads of grace and love Public Policy at college and nieman fellow at Harvard University his awardwinning work has been published in the new york times, the Washington Post among many other periodicals and he has appeared in tonight he is here with his new book why didnt we write a . Addressing such topics and is confederate iconography and Police Brutality. This collection explores what it means to be black and trump america. It is called a powerful weapon in history and truth that is present and surprisingly vulnerable. To main conversation from the library. And the screen is all yours. Thank you so much for here in the area and then to underscore about the q a. And then we will get to as many of them as we can. So you start off the book we do a deep dive early on he make a prediction about the president ial election. Donald trump would receive 60 percent of the way vote even more than the last time and the exit polls are correct and you are spot on looking at 57 percent so let me ask your reaction to the results. And so that trump is on his way out and with that listing the doesnt mean i want things to go back to normal i just want things to get better. So when it comes to the way vote like it is still with any type of racial group and looking at the past four years. And actually said give me more. So that part of it. Interestingly i wonder how you have the increase of minority votes for stroke this time as well a percent of black women voted for him which is double last time and 18 percent black men and 13 percent. So what do you make of that of the latino vote as well im thinking black voters in particular. Yes. Especially with the exit polls we have to be very careful with them because they are not exact. And it also may be like the mailin votes. But even if those numbers were accurate all that it shows that they actually have gone back to the george w. Bush era. Just like 11 or 13 percent of the black vote and also the hispanic vote. In the first black president but that also means if you take out his number so this is the norm. So those numbers in that respect to be so surprising because thats my what you would normally see. We think about the president s refusal to acknowledge the results of the election . [laughter] as a journalist it has been a struggle and actually he will be gone on january 20th. Yes i am having doubts about that. And yes he can still cause damage right now and also there are a lot of trump fans like who actually believes on conspiracy theories. But on this to go on so long and then to deepen that. So this is unfortunate. So before we do a deep dive into the book i have one other question regarding the election. And the conventional wisdom has been so Many Americans voted because of economic angst. And you dismantle that theory. Why do you think thats not the case . And that the economy at the time was rolling and also the fact and we can work on that history like in 2015 with the highest increase the like middleclass. And the cookbook et cetera and all of that stuff but but when he got elected he and his supporters which was not accurate. But with the black and brown people so that was more than white people. That they did not over donald trump. Exactly. So i want to talk to about the title of your book why didnt we riot a black man in trump land. Where it is the significance and tell us how you would describe trump land. And to express my anger and frustration. And because over the past four years i saw the media and the focus that they sensually ignored so all of the places like this. So the question is the socalled trump land. And everywhere and that schools and the church then more baseball games and then also the men cannot deal with the racism. So trump land really could be anywhere in the usa. I was interested as a journalist especially were keying in print not only writing about race but talking with your colleagues in the newsroom about race. And then to write honestly about race. And protecting the feelings of your white readers even at risk of losing her job. Talk about your experience and how you navigated that tight rope. That tight rope was exhausting. But not that and its more difficult simply because it was actually coming from the way colleagues who actually felt they were doing me a favor and through the race et cetera. And what was frustrating about that and for all of the research and then trying to guide me on something. And that you will do my homework. Yes. And yes even as i was telling them in those portions of who word always see me as the black dude. And then to hear me say that and then to pressure me. I would like to share the audience a little passage from your book just to give people a flavor of your writing and the sampling for those who have not you read the book. It is not happenstance to be racial equality in america. With the racebased with justice so what makes the black story unique and what if you like to be american in a country from the beginning despises us for being black and now despises us for refusing to relinquish that blackness. And here we are still rising. But then they hide behind the shiny badges to absolve themselves of all responsibility and refused to back down. And with those on the developing child spray marketed at Harvard University. I cannot not feel it. Everything i think and feel is what many dont want to hear they have moons that will not heal. That is not a cry for help its a scream for recognition. Not just those on the road but still making their way up the website of the mountain. That is just a sampling of the beautifully written book for those of you who have not yet read it. That is what is in store. And this is some good flavor for that. Talk about your childhood in the many difficulties he faced in your family. Talk about that and how much that influenced your life and work now. Like one of the open wounds like my voice or my stutter for instance is that one of the manifestations and if that was included in ashley from like when i was nine years old and also that this is happening and like jim crow with so many different kinds of weight. But one of the toughest things about it they tried to make you hate your skin and make you doubt your selfworth. And on top of that it when you make it out anyway and then they tried to use your story anyway and then they tried to use your story of the time when you told your story differently pull yourself up by the bootstraps version but that was actually harmful to other people who are still struggling because they would say you made it, whats wrong with everybody else . And that change the way you now tell your story. Yes. Absolutely. So i try to tell people time and time again i am not a selfmade man. Only because i was tougher than everybody else and smarter than everybody else because thats not true. So this is what actually need to survive and what we actually needed was for free lunches like cheese from the government and the powdered milk and programs and so many other things. Like i needed all of those things. And also that i got. And also so many different kinds of people and that made me possible. So i try to emphasize because i dont want anybody to be let off the hook that their little piece can make a difference for struggling with that child as well. Lets talk about that racial reckoning we have seen this here in america and those civil cases in the book of Police Brutality and criminal justice gone awry and certainly it seems that reckoning we have seen in america started in earnest with the murder of george floyd and then a Police Shooting recently in West Philadelphia and plenty of protest following that as well. What have you made of all that and what you were thinking as you watch the protest unfold all through the summer and how you were thinking about that quick. Because on the one hand i was trying to be optimistic we have never seen that level of protest that widespread for that long which is a good thing. And to know how hard it is to make long lasting change. So my fear about it was to have this energy and that it word die out. So one of the conversations i was hearing that the protesting is important and critical and needs to keep happening and we need to draw attention to things that are going on 400 years and now we have that. s may be call a halt to the protesting and to try some other avenues to strategized so what we do to have that long lasting change you are just describing . Yes i can. One of the good trends i have seen recently with these kinds of prosecutors who actually seem to understand that if we start their and i feel that is happening more and more. When you say justice isnt about punishment what do you mean . And for a very long time in this country like if you were tough on crime and even trying to prosecute kids as adults it was bipartisan for a very long time and it caused a lot of problems i am actually seeing that is changing somewhat. If we could just keep pushing on that by itself. And over the long haul. You write to be one why evangelical christianity is not compatible with white supremacy. You are a christian yourself for many years worshiping at a why evangelical church. I have noticed that since 2016 a number of stories are popping up in the media about black christians who worship the why evangelical churches and found themselves spiritually homeless trying to figure out the next step. And the support they saw and those churches. It with your why evangelical support . One of the most painful parts of this because of the betrayal honestly and all of those things that they could witness for them and with all of those years in all of those things together and it had been actually making a difference as the golden insulator and even as he was saying those ugly and racist things about black people and yet and those that were embracing him. And that is one of the toughest things as a christian that its my faith and can be used like a man like donald trump. That is the question i am still struggling. It sounds like you are still wrestling through where am i and all of this and what is my faith land in the midst of all of thi this. Yes. Talk about confederate monuments you read about those as well and Brian Stephenson said living in alabama its a land littered with monuments to sworn enemies of the United States at one point some have calmed down in the wake of George Floyds murder but then there are plenty of people who have determined to continue to fly the confederate flag. So as a black man in the south you are no stranger to these markers, how are you thinking about those monuments these days . For me, and what i try to equate with is that you can actually think about being a jewish person on the Capital Building so in terms of this i can and that how is how it has spell here as a black person in a place like this and on top of that what we have had and that kind of admonishment were to exploit and we tried to sympathize so who are waving those flags and what it is like for me and my summer of 2015 and the effort of the massacre. At the church during the bible study. Yes. Exactly and then and how that flag never should have been there in the first place it was like what is happening we were trying to get back to zero and with those emotional scars is monuments and statutes through where they were slaves and in addition to all of those so every single day spent the president has defended those monuments and with our heritage and wants to keep them there. As darren wants to know do you feel there should be reparations for previous crimes against humanity in the form of slavery . Yes. Yes and i have been wrestling with this question for a long time. And ive always had this kind of feeling that it should not be necessary but yet now like my view on that has changed. But yes i can because i think one of the things that is holding the country back is our refusal to be honest about ourselves. And event talking about these reparations is an important step to get to the truth. So yes i think that is so vital so yes i am much more in favor of it now. More than i was a year or five years ago. Teresa says your essay on black men and violence captured a deep personal vulnerability how can black people overcome the unsubstantiated fear we have toward each other . Yes. But its one thing to have that but but it is another thing to actually be afraid of ourselves. And that is something i know that i had to overcome then we try to find the ways to uplift black people in particular and then to remind us of and our beauty just keep on pushing forward no matter what it. And we have been told with so many lies about ourselves that it is almost impossible so yes, yes, that to his why will my first book in particular where i can actually feel less shame and also explain those systems and structures that got us to this place and all about value. Its also interesting where you said violence has a way of clarifying things and you talk about the infamous submission that he fantasized murdering random black man because he was assaulted by a black man you had a tragedy in your family the first person you pictured was an africanamerican and i was so struck by your honesty and vulnerability in writing that to say this is the thing i have to wrestle with being a black man. Yes. Yes and my son was born 18 years ago and my wife was pregnant so that my first fear was that it would be a boy with this idea of islands and it was that deep and with the a lot of prayer in order for me to stop the violence in them together i was trying to be honest that way so i can make space for others as well so we will actually pull each other out of that dark place. I appreciate your honesty writing about that and giving people space for that. And barack obama talk about those angry white people and they would become the trump base so what did you see back then to project with the country would look like today . Yes. I saw the ground for someone like trump on the back in 2008 simply because in this place to have this largely white readership so it was almost like overnight that once obama wanted that in the kind of attitude changed just like that. And god extremely angry and extremely racist almost overnight is for so many years before that and then once they change like that that it will never stop. So for me to actually make it possible for donald trump to come in and use that anger. You saw this coming. There is a message here for you that says your isaac , dont give up keep up the protest and speaking the truth you have many supporters here in south carolina. This is your home and we are your people. Thank you for your writing professor maggie moorhouse. Nice. A word of encouragement for you since on from moorhouse why should we protest more . Yes. Coming up with the title of the book that at least for me it was about how even though that was going on in our area or even protests or even as the cops show people and then lie about it that we should just let it go again and again. And then i actually use the term riot. I am not talking about looting. But what i talk about is a clean for an loud effort to make sure that power cannot ignore her will be made to be so uncomfortable that they absolutely have to act. The people like me that so i want to see people doing. So what you talk about in the book . Stephen asks what suggestions would you offer for the Christian Communities seeking to address the work of Racial Justice to cultivate antiracist work . Yes. First frankly to start being honest with myself on the issue of race and we have to start there as well. Actually when you look at christianity across the countr country, i am convinced that actually decided tomorrow that there would be no more Structural Racism with that kind of thing then it absolutely would change in order to change Something Like that but for our entire history that has never happened. And that is why essay in the book and i have never been incompatible so therefore to own up to that and then also say why that is. Those are hard conversations i need to be added. I want to ask you something i have been asking people weve been watching this unfold in the election the matter what side of the political aisle you fall on in the midst of all of tha that, what gives you hope it keeps you going in the midst of everything 2020 . And to know what we do with and forced progress on this country so that example alone always gives me hope because saying that it is my turn and then lastly what i try to do and not to feel so helpless and balanced. Is that actually try to remember that we should also feel joy as well. So for me i always try to tell people that we want but because if we lose sight of that kind of balance that is a sense of hopelessness and also for the country overall. Will said great advice thank you so much for putting this wonderful book into the world, why didnt we riot a black man in trump land i encourage you to pick up a copy and appreciate the wisdom contained in this book, thank you so very much for writing the book and spending some time with us tonight and thank you to all of you who have joined us tonight and spent some time exploring these very important issues and thank you to the whole author evens team and all of you for joining us. Be well and stay safe and we will see you next time. Good night. The eisenhowers very conscience to be a diminished president we have to remember president wilson that people in the country didnt know so i was determined not to find himself in that situation for the good of the country after he had three illnesses during his presidency he would give himself a very arduous test that required a lot of market readings and stress it would tell his advisers if i dont perform at top level tell me because then i will resign. In any case, that never happened he became adroit at managing his time and his stress and generally positioning himself to get through his second term. Thank you for your attendance this evening to pending where you may be joining us so i will introduce our author and moderator group as a multicultural solicited norway United States france and switzerland