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Gates: Race discussion must be deep, inclusive, fearless


Last updated October 2, 2017

By Tina Underwood

Among the 600 who gathered to hear Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at Furman’s Younts Conference Center Sept. 18 was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Leroy Chapman who wrote an opinion piece for the AJC about Gates’ remarks. Chapman agrees with Gates that the country should spend more time talking about the “economic underpinnings that might be fanning racial hostility and feeding persistent gaps in wealth and wellness between white America and racial minorities …” Says Chapman, “Fruitful conversation about something as complicated as race requires that we in the media go beyond business as usual.” Chapman explains how the AJC takes that challenge on.

Gates’ talk, “Black America Since MLK,” was hosted by Furman’s Riley Institute and the Department of Politics and International Affairs, with support from South Carolina ETV and Furman’s Tocqueville Program and Task Force on Slavery and Justice.

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