APRIL. >> ALL RIGHT. CHELSEA CHANDLER, THANK YOU VERY
MUCH. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH. >> ALSO AT THE CAPITOL THIS
WEEK, HUNDREDS GATHERED TO COMMEMORATE THE LIFE AND LESSONS
OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. >> AND LET ME COMMEND THE STATE
OF WISCONSIN FOR BEING ONE OF THE FIRST TO HONOR THIS GIANT OF
A MAN, THE LIBERATOR OF OUR PEOPLE, THE DRUM MAJOR FOR
JUSTICE, THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AND HAS
CONTINUED TO HONOR THIS HERO FOR 43 YEARS NO MATTER WHO HAS BEEN
THE GOVERNOR OF THIS STATE. >> DR. ALLEN'S SPEECH IMPRESSED
UPON THE DANGERS OF APATHY WHEN IT COMES TO RACIAL INJUSTICE,
EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, FAIR HOUSING, WEALTH INEQUALITY AND
BLACK HISTORY AND HE HIGHLIGHTED THE WORK OF DR. ALEX IF WE, WHO
CREATED A COURTROOM TO TEACH THE HISTORY THAT BLACK HISTORY IS
AMERICAN HISTORY. GEE FOUNDED THE PROGRAM,
JUSTIFIED ANGER, BLACK HISTORY FOR A NEW DAY.
"HERE AND NOW" SPECIAL PROJECTS JOURNALIST, MUST H MURV SEYMOREE
WITH HIM ABOUT THE LAST DECADE OF THIS WEEK.
>> 10 YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH TIME TO FIX ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS IN
THE BLACK COMMUNITY, BUT IT'S ENOUGH TIME TO MOVE THE NEEDLE.
HOW MUCH HAS THE NEEDLE MOVED SINCE YOU BEGAN THIS EFFORT?
>> THE ISSUE WITH THE BLACK COMMUNITY IS NOT THE BLACK
COMMUNITY. THE ISSUE WITH THE BLACK
COMMUNITY IS SYSTEMIC RACISM. IT'S THE STRUCTURES THAT ARE IN
PLACE AND PEOPLE THAT ARE LEADING THEM AND BENEFITING FROM
THEM. THAT'S GOT TO BE CHANG ED.
THAT'S GOT TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE IF WE'RE
GOING TO SEE REALLY TRUE THRIVING.
SO WHEN PEOPLE ASK ME ARE THINGS BETTER, I WANT TO ASK THEM,
WELL, HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED? HOW HAVE YOUR FRIENDSHIPS
CHANGED? YOUR OFFICE CHANGED, YOUR BOARD
CHANGED, YOUR LEADERS CHANGED? THAT'S A TRUE INDICATION OF
THIS. I'M NOT FIXING BLACK PEOPLE SO
THAT WHITE PEOPLE CONFIDENTIAL MORE COMFORTABLE.
BY ADDRESSING THE ISSUES OF BLACK PEOPLE, I'M HELPING THIS
COMMUNITY TO BECOME REALLY WHAT I CAN BE, WHO IT REALLY CAN BE,
AND THE PLACE WHERE EVERYONE CAN THRIVE.
BUT UNTIL THEN, I WOULD TRAIN WOULD BE WHITE ALLIES TO
UNDERSTAND THE BENEFIT OF WORK THAT THEY DO IN THEIR
COMMUNITIES TO HELP THEM DISMANTLE THESE IMPEDIMENTS TO
BLACKWELLNESS AND BLACK HEALTH. WHEN THAT BEGINS TO HAPPEN ON A
LARGE SCALE, WE WILL SEE HUGE CHANGE. SO THE WHITE COMMUNI
TY IS NOT WAITING FOR US.
WE'RE WAITING FOR THE WHITE COMMUNITY. >> THE AIM IS TO N
OT JUST EDUCATE ABOUT BLACK HISTORY,
IT'S ALSO ABOUT LETTING WHITE RESIDENTS LEARN ABOUT
THEMSELVES. >> OH, OH, DEFINITELY.
BECAUSE LEARNING ABOUT BLACK HISTORY WON'T CHANGE ANYTHING.
LEARNING ABOUT THEMSELVES WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING.
>> WHAT DO THEY LEARN? >> THEY LEARN WHAT'S REALLY
MEANT BY THE TERM WHITE PRIVILEGE, THAT THAT'S NOT JUST
A MONIKER, IT'S NOT JUST THROWN OFF ON PEOPLE.
BECAUSE YOU'RE GIVEN THE OPTION TO NOT ONLY TO BE WHITE, WHICH
IS TO BE AMERICAN, BUT TO NOT BE BLACK.
O THAT NO MATTER WHAT DAY TE COUNTRY PUT ON YOU AS A WHITE
PERSON, THEY COULD ALWAYS SAY, AT LEAST I'M NOT BLACK, AND SO
THEN THAT COMPLETELY POLARIZED THE COUNTRY BETWEEN BLACK AND
WHITE OR WHITE AND OTHER. AND WHEN PEOPLE LEARN THAT, THEY
REALIZE THAT ONCE YOU DICHOTOMIZE PEOPLE THAT WAY,
ONCE YOU POLARIZE THEM THAT WAY, YOU CAN PUT THEM AT ODDS AROUND
ANYTHING. SEPARATE THEM HOW THEY LIVE AND
THEY NEVER COME TOGETHER SO THAT WE NEVER WORK TOGETHER.
WE DON'T CREATE SOLUTIONS TOGETHER WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING
IT, WE'VE BEEN MADE TO BE THE ENEMIES OF EACH OTHER AND
FEARFUL OF EACH OTHER. >> HOW DOES THE PROGRAM WORK?
>> I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT IF PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD HOW WE GOT TO WHERE
WE ARE IN TERMS OF RACE RELATIONS, LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT
THE WAY THE COUNTRY WAS BUILT, LET'S LOOK AT OUR HISTORY AT A
NONPOLITICAL ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVE. I FELT THAT PEOP
LE, NONBLACK PEOPLE WOULD SAY, WOW, I DIDN'T
KNOW THAT. REALLY.
HMM. I UNDERSTAND THINGS A LOT
DIFFERENTLY NOW. NOW I KNOW HOW STRATEGIC WE MUST
BE IN DISMANTLING THIS IF PEOPLE ARE STRATEGIC IN MILITANTLING MS
AND IT'S BEEN A VERY POWERFUL TOOL FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND
HOW WE ARRIVED AT THIS PLACE OF A RACIALIZED AMERICA.
>> FOR MORE ON THIS AND OTHER ISSUES FACING WISCONSIN, VISIT
OUR WEBSITE AT PBSWISCONSIN.ORG OUR WEBSITE AT PBSWISCONSIN.ORG