DAVE ROSS

Finally a teachable moment during useless game of ‘bigot pong’

Aug 29, 2016, 6:25 AM | Updated: Aug 31, 2016, 7:22 am

So just to review, Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a bigot. Clinton then declared Trump’s campaign to be a bigot magnet. Then Trump forwarded a red-hot tweet charging that Clinton was mentored by a KKK member.

And what we have learned from this game of bigot pong is precisely nothing.

Related: What would be on Trump’s American religion test?

But on the positive side, this man also got some coverage last week.

“I’m a white male and I am prejudice,” a man admitted on C-SPAN.

The viewer from North Carolina called up C-SPAN during a discussion of race and admitted that reading the newspaper had left him fearful of young black men.

“[And] I come off as being prejudiced, but I just have fears,” he said. “I don’t like to be forced to like people. I like to be led to like people through example.”

The guest, Heather McGhee, who is African-American, was momentarily speechless. But then began with this advice: get to know black families.

She also suggested going to a black church, turning off the news once in a while. But, mainly, she just seemed grateful that he was courageous enough to call.

“And I will say people of all races and ethnicities and backgrounds hold these fears and prejudices,” McGhee said. “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 we can do right now in this moment in history.”

That you can learn something from.

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Finally a teachable moment during useless game of ‘bigot pong’