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Deborah Levine

Patricia Mushim Ikeda

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Everyday Conversations on Race for Everyday People

Episode 7- Race, Racism and 3 Emmys Producing Oprah

Race, racism and racial bias are still challenges  that people of color  have to contend with in the pursuit of success. Engaging in everyday conversations on race, with people different than you is one way to reduce racism and racial bias.

It’s widely accepted that a Black person in America has to be at least twice, and even three or four times as good as a white person with similar qualifications.  Growing up in a lower-income Black neighborhood in North Carolina. my guest LeGrande Green heard his father tell him over and over,  “A Black person in America has to be at least twice as good as a white person with the same qualifications to be successful.” LeGrande used those words to  propel him  forward.  He graduated Princeton on a full academic scholarship, received four Emmy Awards as supervising producer of the Oprah Winfrey Show, and the NAACP Image Award.  Even at that level of success, he still had to confront racism,  and racial bias as a Black man in America.

In this podcast episode of Everyday Conversations on Race, LeGrande talks about his journey to the top, only to lose it all and find  himself as a Black, gay man in America.

Key points from Episode 7  Race, Racism and Producing Oprah

• Issues of safety as a Black man in America
• Intersectionality of race, sexual orientation (LGBTQ,) and age- “So to me aging is about wisdom and about acknowledging the past, present and how I want to live my life” (LeGrande Green)
• The reality of race and being called paranoid for calling racism
• Race is not a scientific reality, but it is a social construct and it’s about color
• No matter how successful you are as a person of color, you still have to confront racism and racial bias.
• Internalized racism, self-esteem and eliminting self-doubt that is self-destructive
• Racism, agism and invisibililty in the LGBTQ community
• Speaking out against racial profiling
• Why we need everday conversations on race to eliminate racism

Thanks for listening

Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of Everyday Conversations on Race podcast! If you enjoyed today’s episode, please head over to iTunes and leave us a rate and review to help us get our message about how to talk about race to more people. Remember to check out www.raceconvo.com and listen to other episodes.