you know, we have 400 years of whites and blacks not being able to have shared experiences because of slavery and segregation and so forth. but even within, let s say, the white community, right, the stories of kids who are growing up in manhattan and the stories of kids who are growing up in abilene, texas, and the stories of kids growing up in montana those stories no longer meet, partly because of the segment you know, the siloing of the media, the internet entertainment. we occupy different worlds, and it becomes that much more difficult for us to hear each other, see each other. the thing i learned first as an organizer and then as an elected official, as a politician, was when you start hearing people s stories, you always find a
there has always been a division along the lines of race. we have 400 years of whites and blacks not being able to have shared experiences because of slavery and segregation and so forth but within the white community, the stories of kids growing up in manhattan and the stories of kidding grows up in abilene, texas and the stories of the kid who is growing up in montana, those stories no longer meet, partly because of the segment, the siloing of the media, the internet, entertainment. we occupy different worlds and it becomes that much more difficult for us to hear each other, see each other. the thing i learned first as an
structure of our economy and our communities. look, it used to be that a high school the average high school in america, the average public high school, you would have the banker s kid and the janitor s kid in the same school, and they d interact, and their parents would be both going to the same football game and would have to know each other. and if it turned out that there was a talented kid of a janitor who also happened to be on the football team, the banker president might say, hey, why don t you come work at the bank here because he knew that person. now we have more economic stratification and segregation. you combine that with racial stratification and the siloing of the media so you don t have just walter cronkite delivering the news, but you have 1,000 different venues. all that has contributed to that sense that we don t have anything in common. and so, so much of our work is
th there s always a division along the lines of race. you know, we have 400 years of whites and blacks not being able to have shared experiences because of slavery and segregation and so forth. but even within let s say the white community, right? the stories of kids growing up in manhattan and the stories of kids who are growing up in abilene, texas and the stories of kids who are growing up in montana, those stories no longer meet. partly because of the segment, the siloing of the media, the internet, entertainment. we occupy different worlds and it becomes that much more difficult for us to hear each other, see each other. the thing i learned first as an
partly, because of the segment you know, the siloing of the media. the internet, entertainment. we occupy different worlds and it becomes that much more difficult for us to hear each other, see each other. the thing i learned, first, as an organizer, and then as an elected official, as a politician. was when you start hearing people s stories, you always find a thread of your own story, in somebody else. and the minute that recognition happens, that becomes the basis for our community. so, reggie, you know, you were with the former president for so many of those conversations. when he heard those different stories. and i wonder, how important you think it was? to be able to to share. to try to find that common thread. look, john. i think that this is such an important conversation. and and i do believe that the