An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future.

Never forget that we were enslaved in this country longer than we have been free. Never forget that for 250 years black people were born into chains-whole generations followed by more generations who knew nothing but chains.

It was a week after Donald Trump had won. And initially he was still optimistic. He felt that things would be OK ultimately. And I have to tell you, this is the area where, you know, I see, you know, some degree of contradiction. I mean, the president, you know, at one point when he was campaigning said I believe that Donald Trump was not qualified to run a 7-Eleven.

I think, as a writer, I'm in my own head.

That's not an accident that Donald Trump didn't begin with, say, trade or jobs or anything, that he actually began by otherizing the first African-American president of the United States.

An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future.

In particular in how [Barack Obama] has directed what you could describe as patronizing remarks to African-American communities.