In response to her response on the importance of the Black in America series for CNN, Soledad O’Brien let the cat out of the bag about a new documentary that will focus on White America.
Yes, White in America.
During her talk at Harvard’s Institute of Politics with Callie Crossley (video below), the award-winning journalist defended her decision to stick with BIA– despite her split from the network– and why she believed the topic of race needed to be an ongoing conversation.
“First of all, it’s only white people who ever said that — ‘if we could just see beyond race. If only people didn’t see race, it would be such a better place, and you are responsible for bringing up these icky race issues, Soledad, you should just let sleeping dogs lie,’” she explained.
“I was like, again, ‘OK, white person, this is a conversation that you’re clearly uncomfortable with, and I have no problem seeing race, and I think we should talk about race.’”
On Wednesday, O’Brien found herself on guard once again having to defend her remarks, stating:
“My comments on the importance of discussing who we are and where we come from are nothing new. What is new is our friends in the blogosphere taking the conversation out of context and ginning up headlines so we lose sight of the real issues. I would encourage those reporting on my work to listen to the conversation in its entirety, and this time, turn their mute buttons off. As a journalist, my job is to probe the uncomfortable topics to drive conversation. I’m happy to see that’s still happening as a result of ‘Black In America,’ and I look forward to continuing that conversation as we continue to tell the stories of who we are. We’re not just working on BIA, but also developing a ‘White in America.’ Stay tuned for that one.”
There has been no official announcement from CNN and there is no word on when the series will premiere.
O’Brien announced her departure from the network in February, but continues to work on documentaries on a nonexclusive basis. She is expected to host at least one documentary this year and three next year with the help of her new production company, Starfish Media Group.
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