Race is a myth; racism is not. I'm stealing this line from Gene Seymour, one of our guests on our show today. 

We're reairing a show with three people who discuss what it's like to be Black in America. The show was originally in 2017.

We chose to reair it today to coincide with the memorials this week for Congressman John Lewis, who will be the first Black congressman to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, after fighting his entire life for social justice. And because the recent police brutality, along with a pandemic that disproportionately affected minority communities, exposed how little has changed for Black Americans since we first aired this show in 2017.

Many of us hoped the election of Barack Obama in 2008 was a sign that we were finally entering a time when America was ready to recognize that racial inequality is the direct result of systemic discrimination going back to the founding of this country.  That did not happen. 

Congressman Lewis fought for civil rights and dignity for all black Americans. We should all think about that as we honor his legacy this week.  

This show originally aired on July 12, 2017 and was reaired on January 15, 2018. 

GUESTS: 

• Gene Seymour - Cultural critic, writer, jazz aficionado, and contributor for CNN Opinion, The Baffler, Book Forum and The Nation
• Bruce Haynes - Professor of sociology at U.C. Davis and co-author of Down the Up Staircase 
• Kris Marsh - Demographer and associate professor of sociology at the University of Maryland and a 2017 Fulbright Scholar in South Africa

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. 

Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.