How Heather McGhee Responded to Someone Admitting Prejudice

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, one of the stories you tell is about a guy called Gary. And this happened on C-SPAN. And, of course, Gary, basically is white. And he phoned in with a question. And this then went viral. Like, eight million people saw this. Let’s just play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I was hoping that your guest could help me change my mind about some things. I’m a white male, and I am prejudiced. What can I do to change, to be a better American?

QUESTION: Heather McGhee.

MCGHEE: Thank you so much for being honest and for opening up this conversation, because it’s simply one of the most important ones we have to have in this country. And so your ability to just say, this is what I have, I have these fears and prejudices, and I want to get over them is one of the most powerful things that we can do right now at this moment in our history. So, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: You can see there — obviously, this was, I think, about five years ago. You can see you’re shocked. I mean, you did not expect this man to admit that he was prejudiced and, on top of that, ask you what he could do about it. And you said, thank you. What was the reaction to you saying thank you? And what has been the follow-on between you and him, or how have you used this encounter in your research?

MCGHEE: I think a lot of people were moved by that exchange because they were expecting a conflict, right. When you race on cable news, you see conflict. And yet, I was frankly touched by the fact that he identified that overcoming his prejudice would make him a better American. Because our diversity in the United States could be our super power, and yet, racism has been used as a divide and conquer weapon that impoverishes us all. And so, there was something about Gary’s question that touched me. He then went on to get in contact with me. We became friends. He has been on this journey of really unlearning a lot of the received stereotypes that are marketed so aggressively, particularly to sort of white men at a certain age, the right-wing media infrastructure really targets them with the sort of zero-sum idea that progress for people of color is coming at the white man’s expense. And we’ve become friends. It’s helping me see that there is the possibility of the human transformation. We’ve got to bet on that possibility or else we are all going to be sitting in the bottom of the drained pool, and not address the urgent public problems that are holding America back.