"One morning in August, when I was a guest on C-Span, I got a phone call that took my breath away. “I’m a white male,” said the caller, who identified himself as Garry from North Carolina. “And I’m prejudiced.” As a black leader often in the media, I have withstood my share of racist rants, so I braced myself. But what I heard was fear — of black people and the crime he sees on the news — not anger. “What can I do to change?” he asked. “To be a better American?” I thanked him for admitting his prejudice, and gave him some ideas — get to know black families, recognize the bias in news coverage of crime, join an interracial church, read black history. In a professional capacity, I typically speak about race in terms of law and policy. But with this man on the phone it felt right to speak to the basic human need I heard in his voice: to connect. The video of us went viral, surpassing eight million views. After a racially charged summer, a lot of people saw something they hungered for in our exchange. To white viewers, here was a black woman who was morally clear but not angry. To people of color, here was a white man admitting his racism — finally."
