STILL NEEDS A >>> SIX MONTHS AFTER MARCHING IN
THE DEADLY UNITE THE RIGHT RALLY
I ASKED GABE TO RETURN TO
CHARLOTTESVILLE.
CHARLOTTESVILLE. IT’S TIME FOR HIM TO CONFRONT
THE PAINFUL TRUTH ABOUT WHAT
REALLY HAPPENED HERE.
MOST OF THE PEOPLE I WORK WITH
HAVE NEVER HAD A MEANINGFUL
INTERACTION WITH THE PEOPLE THEY
CLAIM TO HATE.
JEWS, AFRICAN-AMERICANS, OR THE
COUNTER PROTESTERS AT THE
CHARLOTTESVILLE RALLY.
CHARLOTTESVILLE RALLY. WHAT SAVED ME WAS INTERACTING
WITH THE PEOPLE I THOUGHT WERE
MY ENEMIES.
MY ENEMIES. >> EVERY TIME YOU MEET SOMEONE
FROM THE OTHER SIDE IS WHEN
YOU’RE LIKE AT A RALLY AND
YOU’RE BOTH SCREAMING AT EACH
OTHER, ABOUT READY TO FIGHT OR
SOMETHING.
SOMETHING. >> THAT WAS A LOOK AT THE NEW
MSNBC SPECIAL BREAKING HATE
WHICH PREMIERS THIS SUNDAY ON
THE ONE YEAR MARK OF THE DEADLY
CLASH BETWEEN PROTESTERS AND
WHITE NATIONALISTS IN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA. IT SHARES THE STORY OF A WHITE
ACTIVIST WHO DEDICATED HIS LIFE
TO REFORMING OTHERS.
CHRISTIAN JOINS US NOW.
HE’S THE AUTHOR OF BOOK "WHITE
AMERICAN YOUTH."
AMERICAN YOUTH." ALSO WITH US IN WASHINGTON,
CONTRIBUTOR TO MEMBERS NEWS.COM
EDITORIAL PAGE THINK, SOFIA
NELSON.
NELSON. AUTHOR OF THE BOOK "EPLURIBUS
ONE."
ONE." THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
CHRISTIAN, TELL ME ABOUT GABE
THE YOUNG MAN YOU WERE SITTING
THERE WITH.
THERE WITH. WHY DID HE SHOW UP IN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, WHAT IS HE SO
ANGRY ABOUT?
ANGRY ABOUT? >> I STARTED WORKING WITH GABE
ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO
AFTER HIS MOTHER CONTACTED ME.
IT TOOK HIM A WHILE TO ACTUALLY
TALK TO ME.
I WORKED WITH HIS MOTHER AND
COUNSELLED HER.
COUNSELLED HER. WE MADE PROGRESS.
AT ONE POINT HE DECIDED HE
WANTED TO GO TO CHARLOTTESVILLE.
HE WAS MISSING THE BROTHERHOOD
OF IT.
OF IT. BUT AFTER HE WENT THERE HE
REALLY HAD THE REVELATION THAT
THAT WASN’T SOMETHING THAT HE
WANTED TO BE A PART OF ANY MORE.
SO HE FINALLY REACHED OUT TO ME.
HE MADE THAT INITIATIVE TO
REALLY TALK ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING
THROUGH HIS HEART AND I BROUGHT
HIM BACK THERE TO FACE HIS
DEMONS.
DEMONS. >> WHERE DOES THAT HATE COME
FROM?
FROM? WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT GABE.
WHERE DID IT COME FROM YOU?
WHERE IS THE HATE COMING FROM?
>> I DON’T THINK THAT IDEOLOGY
IS WHAT CAUSES THESE PEOPLE TO
HATE.
HATE. I THINK IT’S SEARCH FOR
IDENTITY, COMMUNITY AND PURPOSE
GROWING UP AND THEY HIT WHAT I
CALL POTHOLES IN THE ROAD THAT
DEVIATE THEIR PATH.
IF WE DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES
TO FILL IN THOSE POTHOLES AND
GET US BACK ON TRACK WE GET
DANGEROUSLY LOST.
DANGEROUSLY LOST. FOR GABE HE GREW UP IN POVERTY.
HE GREW UP WHERE HIS FATHER DIED
WHEN HE WAS YOUNG.
AND HE REALLY JUST NEVER HAD THE
RESOURCES AND NEVER HAD THE
INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE TO BUILD
THAT HUMANIZATION.
THAT HUMANIZATION. >> LIKE A LOT OF GANGS THEY FILL
A VOID THAT SOME YOUNG PEOPLE
DON’T HAVE IN THEIR LIVES.
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
THEY BECOME THE FAMILY THEY
DON’T HAVE.
DON’T HAVE. BECOMES A LOT OF OTHER THINGS.
THE DANGER IS, THOUGH, WHEN YOU
GET PEOPLE SEEKING POWER OR
ACHIEVING POWER THAT PLAYS INTO
THE ELEMENT WHICH IS WHAT
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAID MAKING
MORAL EQUESTIONKWI VAEQUIVALENCE
GIVES LEGITIMACY TO PEOPLE LIKE
GABE WHO HAS A MORE DIFFICULT
TASK OF TAKING THEM OUT OF THAT.
THEY FEEL LEGITIMATE.
THEY FEEL THIS IS THE AMERICAN
WAY TO HATE.
THAT’S WHY PEOPLE IN POWER OUGHT
NOT TO PLAY ON THIS AND PUMP
THESE EMOTIONS THAT OUGHT TO BE
TURNED AROUND.
TURNED AROUND. >> THERE’S A DOCUMENTARY COMING
OUT ABOUT JIHADISTS, THIS
FOOTAGE THAT SHOWS WE’VE NEVER
SEEN BEFORE, SAME THING.
LOST YOUNG PEOPLE AND GIVEN THE
SENSE OF IDENTITY, GIVE THEM A
SENSE OF BROTHERHOOD TO THE
POINT WHERE THEY WILL LOSE ANY
SENSE OF HUMANITY.
WHERE IT’S GANGS, WHITE
NATIONALISTS, JIHADISTS, SAME
IDEOLOGY.
IDEOLOGY. >> SOFIA, WE TALK A LOT ABOUT
HEARING THESE IMPORTANT
DOCUMENTARIES AND THING BUT WHAT
IS THE REAL WAKE UP CALL THAT
YOU THINK WE NEED TO SEE AS
NATION TO START COMING TOGETHER?
EVEN BEYOND PARTIES BUT JUST AS
A NATION.
A NATION. >> WELL, YOU KNOW, A YEAR AGO WE
TALKED ABOUT THIS AND WILLIE
ASKED ME A QUESTION, SOFIA
WHAT’S THE BEST OUTCOME IN THE
AFTERMATH OF CHARLOTTESVILLE.
ONE I HOPE WE START LISTENING TO
EACH OTHER AND HEARING EACH
OTHER.
OTHER. THE SECOND THING IS THAT I THINK
WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT
THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT
AMERICAS.
AMERICAS. I THINK FOR ME AS AN
AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN IN THE
PAST YEAR PLUS, IT’S REALLY
BECOME ACUTE TO ME THAT I LIVE A
VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE AS A
BLACK WOMAN IN THIS COUNTRY THAN
DOES SOMEONE WHITE.
IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT CLASS
WE’RE FROM WHAT EDUCATION LEVELS
WE HAVE WE’RE LIVING IN TWO
DIFFERENT AMERICAS.
DIFFERENT AMERICAS. YOU SEE THAT NARRATIVE PLAY
EVERY DAY WHETHER 911 CALLS ON
BLACK PEOPLE IN STARBUCKS OR
EATING LUFRMG AT SMITH COLLEGE
OR THE WAY WE’RE TREATED IN
PREDATORY LENDING OR THE WAY
POLICE STOPS AND ALTERCATIONS
WITH THE POLICE.
IT IS A VERY DIFFERENT
EXPERIENCE AND I THINK THAT WHAT
WE HAVE TO DO IF WE’RE GOING TO
FIX THIS IS HAVE THE
CONVERSATION ABOUT RACE THAT WE
STILL HAVE YET TO HAVE AS A
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. YES, WE’VE HAD LEGISLATION.
YES, WE’VE PASSED LAWS.
YOU CAN’T LEGISLATE PEOPLE’S
HEARTS AND YOUR GUEST SAID
SOMETHING PROFOUND WHEN THE
YOUNG MAN SAID IT’S WHEN I HAD
TO TALK TO MY ENEMIES, LISTEN TO
WHAT HE SAID.
WHEN HE HAD TO ENGAGE WITH THOSE
WHOM HE HAD FEAR OR ANGER OR
IGNORANCE ABOUT THAT’S WHEN HE
UNDERSTOOD THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT
WAY.
WAY. THAT’S THE WAY FORWARD FOR US.
TALKING AND ENGAGING AND
LISTENING AND NOT DISMISSING
EACH OTHER BUT ACTUALLY HEARING
EACH OTHER.
EACH OTHER. >> WELL SAID.
TO SHARPTON’S PREVIOUS POINT
ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP, WHEN YOU
TALK TO PEOPLE LIKE GABE, YOU
TALK TO OTHER WHITE SUPREMACISTS
WILLING TO TALK TO YOU AND REACH
OUT TO YOU DO THEY BRING UP
PRESIDENT TRUMP?
PRESIDENT TRUMP? DO THEY FEEL HE’S GIVEN THEM
SOME COVER TO COME OUT FROM
UNDER THEIR ROCKS?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
>> ABSOLUTELY. WHAT HE’S DOING IS HE’S
NORMALIZING THE LANGUAGE THAT
THEY USE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
THAT’S EDGIER.
THAT’S EDGIER. BUT THEY FEEL SO EMPOWERED BY
THIS BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE THEY
HAVE A PERSON WHO HAS THEIR
BACK.
BACK. BECAUSE HE’S USING MORE
PALATABLE LANGUAGE THAN THEY
USE.
USE. HE’S SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE.
>> WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> IT BREAKS MY HEART TO HEAR
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS.
YOU HAD SOME GREAT CLIPS IN THE
LEAD IN.
LEAD IN. RONALD REAGAN AND OTHERS.
NO REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT IN MY
LIFETIME HAS TALKED LIKE THIS.
NO PRESIDENT HAS TALKED LIKE
THIS.
THIS. DONALD TRUMP, IT’S NOT A DOG
WHISTLE IT’S A BULL HORN.
IT’S A CALLING THE BLACK PLAYERS
IN NFL SONS OF Bs.
IT’S THE LANGUAGE.
I GREW UP IN WORKING CLASS
AMERICAN.
AMERICAN. I KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO GROUP
IN THAT ENVIRONMENT.
TRUMP STOKES THAT KIND OF THING
THAT PEOPLE ARE ALREADY AFRAID
OF LOSING THEIR JOBS, LOSING
THEIR WEALTH, LOSING THEIR
ABILITY TO SEND THEIR KIDS TO
SCHOOL.
SCHOOL. THEY ARE FEARFUL.
HE STOKES IT.
THIS GENTLEMAN IS RIGHT.
IT MAKES ME SAD.
THAT’S NOT WHAT THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
OUGHT OVER TO DO.
THAT’S NOT HIS JOB.
>> YET HE COSMOPOLITANS TO DO
IT.
IT. THE DOCUMENTARY WILL BE
FASCINATING.
FASCINATING. BREAKING HATE IS ON MSNBC ON
SUNDAY AT 9:00 P.M. EASTERN.
SOFIA NELSON GREAT TO HAVE YOUR
PERSPECTIVE.
PERSPECTIVE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THIS MORNING WE PLAYED FOUR
MOMENT FROM RONALD REAGAN IN
1989 DISCUSSING IMMIGRATION’S
ROLE IN STRENGTHENING AMERICA.
AS WE GO TO BREAK ANOTHER MOMENT
FROM THAT ADDRESS.
>> THIS I BELIEVE IS ONE OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT SOURCES OF
AMERICA’S GREATNESS.
AMERICA’S GREATNESS. WE LEAD THE WORLD BECAUSE UNIQUE
AMONG NATION WE DRAW OUR PEOPLE
OUR STRENGTH FROM EVERY COUNTRY
AND EVERY CORNER OF THE WORLD.
BY DOING SO WE CONTINUOUSLY
RENEW AND ENRICH OUR NATION.
WHILE OTHER COUNTRIES CLING TO
THE STEAL PAST HERE IN AMERICA
WE BREATHE LIFE INTO DREAMS WE
CREATE THE FUTURE AND THE WORLD
FOLLOWS US INTO TOMORROW.
THANKS TO EACH WAVE OF NEW
ARRIVALS TO THIS LAND OF
OPPORTUNITY, WE’RE A NATION
FOREVER YOUNG, FOREVER BURSTING
WITH ENERGY AND NEW IDEAS, AND
ALWAYS ON THE CUTTING-EDGE,
ALWAYS LEADING THE WORLD TO THE
NEXT FRONTIER.