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RACE IS STILL AN ISSUE
I just wasn’t expecting the avalanche of accusations we heard the moment we asked people what they wanted to talk about. I was expecting discontent but not fury, and certainly not racially-charged fury.

There were calls for black people to unite, people said they were proud of Harlem but not America, they accused the city of trying to exploit the area and deliberately hinder black American’s prosperity. Gentrification is exploitation they shouted with no mic in sight. We heard accusations that this is a country which is imprisoning black men for crimes they didn’t commit, which is taking black children into care in order to deliberately undermine their families, of healthcare and education systems designed to leave African Americans wanting.

One man said that there is a genocide being committed in America against black people. I asked if he really meant to use such a potent word – absolutely he replied and people applauded. Another urged the audience (almost all of whom were black) to stop giving their money to America’s large (and white-owned) companies. ‘Let’s keep what we’ve got to ourselves,’ he told them.

Then there was capitalism. That too is working against Harlemites, we heard. They’ve had it with the way this country is working and think those who they think are benefiting are maintaining the status quo. I could list plenty more grievances.

I used to live in South Africa in the 90s. ±õ’v±ð been back a fair few times and broadcast a number of shows there last year. ±õ’v±ð never ever heard black South Africans speak in such a racially-charged way.

The burning sense of injustice that brought segregation in the US to an end in the 60s, appears to have hardly dissipated for many people – their fight quite clearly continues. This may sound melodramatic, but it’s not. I heard a livid and radical voice I had no idea still existed in the States. And all this in the heart of the country’s most famous African American community.

I’m flying to Portland right now – and some of you who are coming to take part may be the white, affluent, well-educated Americans who many Harlemites are angry with. I’m ready to hear their reply. Judging by some of the comments that came in during the show, not all Americans were overly impressed what they heard.

Now let’s deal with some of the issues that were clearly raised for me and .

1. WE PAINTED A NEGATIVE PICTURE OF HARLEM AND ITS PEOPLE

A few people said this to me during and after the show. Here’s how the programme came together.

We invited as broad a range of people as possible. Anyone who asked to, came. Half an hour before the show started we asked people what they wanted to talk about. We made no attempt to control the topics they chose, nor did I try and swing it one way or another while we were on air.

I did try and hold us on one subject for a while once it’d been chosen, but if I hadn’t done that we’d have been jumping around all over the place and the show wouldn’t have made sense. But let’s be clear – the tone and the topics were not set by us.

2. THERE WAS TOO MUCH SHOUTING
There were times when it got very heated. I’m not going to dispute that. There were a couple of moments when I began to feel the situation could break down. But let’s be clear – there were two separate things going on here.

First, as ±õ’v±ð already said there was a passionate sense of grievance in the room and if people came over as angry, it’s because they were. ‘The American media never gives us this platform, they won’t come here,’ one guest told me afterwards. ‘You have to understand when a show like this comes along, people’s feelings are going to come rushing out’. It did feel like turning on a tap with some heavy pressure behind it.

The second issue is if we lost control and the programme became an incoherent shouting match. I can’t answer that as ±õ’v±ð not listened back to the broadcast but here are a few things to bear in mind.

Before the show, and during every news bulletin during the show I repeatedly asked guests to take their turn, to keep their points brief and relevant to what had gone before, to not talk over one another, and to wait for a microphone. I also asked them on air several times.

There were some guests who did not want to do that and that caused me problems. Several guests tried to grab the mic, another poked me. One particular guest from the council clearly felt he had the right to speak indefinitely. When I said that wouldn’t be possible, he lost his cool. He shouted at me, he then grabbed one of my colleagues and when he was asked to let go he replied ‘don’t you like a black man touching you?’. He then made several attempt to whip up other members of the audience, and threatened one guest that he’d see that her work received a funding cut.

We also had times where multiple arguments were breaking out in the audience.

These are difficult situations, and on occasions quite threatening ones it has to be said. In the middle of it, I can only do my best to bring the conversation back into a form that is informative and engaging. I appreciate it wasn’t always like that today – but we’re a programme committed to getting to what people really think and feel and sometimes those emotions are going to spill over. I’ll take the couple of moments when we had to cool things down, for the insight I got into how Harlemites feel. I hope you agree.

3. I INTERUPTED TOO MUCH
±õ’v±ð , and it’s an imprecise thing. WHYS is about conversations not speeches and a lot of people wanted to make the latter today. Some even had long pieces of text written out ready to go. That’s not going to work as this isn't World Have Your Speech. This is about a dialogue between the people at the venue and those listening around the world, and I am going to protect that at all times.

For what it’s worth lots of people came up to me at end and thanked for me interrupting when I did. I try to do it in a courteous way, but it’s always going to annoy some people. Today, some folks were very angry with how I hosted the show – that I didn’t give them enough time.

It’s not a nice feeling when you can feel a part of the audience bristling towards you – but there’s no hidden agenda here. I’d actually like to have to say very little.

One guy came up to me at the end and said ‘they’re not angry with you, they’re just angry’. I don’t know about that, but my interruptions, as always, were about keeping this a conversation.

And that’s it really. I always think WHYS is at its best when it leaves you unsure what you think about an issue or a country - when it really leaves you chewing things over. It was a real pleasure to hear what everyone in Harlem had to say today, and has given me genuine pause for thought about America – a country I thought I understood better than perhaps I do.

Now time for some kip – it’s a long flight, followed by a short sleep, followed by a show in front of 400 Portlanders. Never a dull moment….

Cheers,
Ros