The WTOP podcast “COLORS — A Dialogue on Race in America” is an ongoing conversation.
For me, as a Black man, and my co-host Chris Core, who is white, our objective is to encourage people of all races to talk, respectfully, to one another about our differences, similarities and racial developments in America. As part of our discussion each week, we feature listeners who tell us their stories in their own words.
One such listener is D.C.-based journalist Michael Williams.
Days after the Capitol riot, he sent us a short sketch describing how the “lynch mob at the Capitol chilled me to the bone.”
Here is what stopped me cold.
Williams is the son of a Black couple from the South who moved to D.C. to escape the lynch mobs of the Jim Crow era.
Williams is married to a white woman from Austria.
“The thing that gives me hope is that my son is half African American and half Austrian, and on one side of his lineage, just two generations away, are Nazis, and on the other side are sharecroppers and slaves. That young man is one of the nicest, smartest, most heartfelt, loving intelligent people you ever want to meet. And I know if a descendant of Nazis and slaves can turn out that well, there must be hope for us all,” Williams shared in a recording.
Everyone has a story about race. Every race is an important part of the human mosaic. We’d like to know what your story is and why Black History Month is important to you.
Record your thoughts and email them to us at thecolorspodcast@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @podcastcolors.
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