It's very painful to have something that's not true written about you.

I don't know how one would define an affirmative-action hire. I ultimately do not know what role race played in my hiring.

I think people can learn from my experience - you know, any young people who are under pressure, whether you work on Wall Street or you work in a factory in Alabama, and young journalists.

If they're all so brilliant and I'm such an affirmative-action hire, how come they didn't catch me?

I used to walk around saying that I'm just another black man without a college degree.

Well the first thing I'd say is that I'm not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do to show my remorse other than to say that I'm remorseful.

It's hard to say what role race really played in my case.