the smithsonian national museum of african american history and culture. it will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. president obama: my hope is that what folks watching the same images on television, and then seeing the history represented in this museum can say to themselves the struggles we are going through today are connected to the past, and yet all that progress we have made tells me i cannot and will not sink into despair. ♪ host: president obama at a white house reception yesterday marking the start of a weekend of events commemorating the opening of the smithsonian's 19th museum, the national museum

of african american history and culture. we will have live coverage during the course of the morning here on c-span. it is saturday, september 24. congress returns on monday with a looming deadline. lawmakers have until the end of the week to pass what is known as a continuing resolution or cr to keep the government-funded after october 1. democrats in both the house and senate demanding money for flint, michigan in the agreement. they deal with issues surrounding lead in their water. we will have live coverage on c-span, the senate on c-span 2. we begin on this saturday morning with the state of race relations in america. this has the nation prepares to open the african-american museum on the mall and washington, d.c. headlines in charlotte indicating another night of some unrest. what do you think as we look at this time lapse photography of the building of this museum? our lines are open at (202)

748-8000 for democrats. republicans, (202) 748-8001. if you are an independent, (202) 748-8002. coming up 10:00 eastern time dedication ceremony of the museum. the president will be among those commemorating this event. they want to begin with what's been happening in charlotte, north carolina, and race issues in general. your thoughts on the state of race relations. let's go to the headlines pointing out a night of unrest, but more calm after three days of some intense moments in charlotte, north carolina. staggered by protests, city regained its footing. it points out the city is trying to resume. people went to restaurants, walked their dogs in the streets, ratcheting down attention that came in the wave of a police shooting on tuesday.

even a recording released by the attorneys of the family of the dead man. he did not appear to race -- it did not appear to raise the level of anger in the city's urban core. national guard troops maintain a visible presence throughout the downtown area. in this morning, this piece in the new york times leaving black lives matter. he points out the museum today helps to restore the slavery, and with the opening of this museum and a speech by the president at the national museum another chapter in the state of race relations in america. here is more the president yesterday at the white house. [video clip] president obama: part of the reason i'm so happy the museum's becausethis weekend is it allows all of us as americans to put our current circumstances and in historical context.

we may set back and say i understand. i sympathize. i empathize. i can see why folks might feel angry, and i want to be part of the solution. as opposed to resisting change. that black folks

watching the same images on , and then seeing the history represented at this theum can say to themselves struggles we are going through today are connected to the past, and yet all that progress we have made tells me i cannot and will not sink into despair. hands and if join we do things right, if we maintain our dignity, and we continue to appeal to the better angels of this nation, progress will be made. [applause] host: the president yesterday at a ceremony at the white house commemorating the start of the weekend of celebrations for the african-american museum on the

mall in washington, d.c. let me go back to this piece proving lack lives matter, also available online at nytimes.com. " the museum can claim another equally important achievement helping resolve the protracted debate about the contributions of black people to american history and about whether they had a history with preserving at all. those questions for a heart of the nation's original debate about whether and how black lives matter. for years the issue was whether black people were fit to be more than slaves. and this from thomas jefferson, " never could i find a black cat uttered a above the level of play narration, never see an elementary trait of painting or sculpture," he went on to say i advance it, therefore, as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct racer made this ain't my time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowment about the mind and body." that is from tougher jefferson

-- thomas jefferson. it's available online at nytimes.com. " the real problem is black lives don't want racial equality, the believe they are entitled to racial favoritism." this from carol who says "the state of race relationships has not been this bad in decades. i blame much of the democratic leaders you still get to keep their black support." the state of race relations in the u.s.? how would you assess it, bob? caller: i'm glad we have any museum opening up an -- in d.c., but i think it's going to challenging to erase the eight years of wages driven between the races by our president.

it seems like every time there --a -- there is somebody there was a confrontation between police and someone who got shot, you have the president automatically taking one side before the facts come out. and all the other people are whipped up into a frenzy. we have to let things take its course. he doesn't help matters by throwing gasoline on the fire. we've been seeing that ever since trayvon martin.

host: so far saying they will not release the police video of the events unfolding on tuesday. the video that was shot by his wife has been available on a number of sites, including nbcnews.com. withdrew from california? -- woodrow from california? caller: i traced my race using national geographic's. dna.com,et a familytree you can trace her father or mother's lineage. host: carl in tuscaloosa, alabama on the democrats line. caller: good morning. a couple of things. hearing ia grand jury

would like the supreme court to the secrettopping grand jury hearing they have. and the other thing is when you give -- when you see a police a police officer is in fear of their life they can use deadly force, you are giving the police officer the power of god. telling the police officer that lifen take an individual fearr some reason he may because the person is black or because he has a mother phobia concerning the individual, that he can take the individual's life. ministers inof the the black community should speak

on that because nobody should have that absolute power. that has to be changed. those are my two comments. thank you. host: thank you for your call. another viewer says wonder why no protest in tulsa, oklahoma. the scene of another shooting by a white officer. the democrats need a north carolina vote. this is from sandy. " there is no doubt the black lives matter music -- movement is about decriminalizing criminalizing black crime and obama is the facilitator." washington post, more from that video released yesterday by the family's attorney. the first public look at the charlotte death in that recording. his wife pleading for his life, saying he suffered from traumatic brain industry -- injury. from the washington post, the majority of americans think

race relations are getting worse. pessimism is higher than it's been in nearly a generation according to this new washington post and abc news poll. in the aftermath of shootings in dallas and the high-profile shooting death of two baton rouge louisiana men and st. paul, minnesota. six in 10 say race relations are bad and the majority think it's getting worse. the full details available online. joins uss us -- omari on the independent line. caller: my belief is that race relationships are getting better. i have no problem with that. what i have a problem with his government race relationships and media race relationships. americans have no problem with race. white americans, which is

totally different from regular americans have a problem with race. what seemsing andous to the low standard, what i mean by that is it's obvious there is a problem with policemen shooting black people. that's been going on ever since we've had police departments set up in the united states. had before that when you fugitive slave acts, slave chasers, etc. we have always had a problem with so-called law enforcement and black people in the united states. a lot of us have fought for the flag. every race on this planet has fought for this flag because america is a melting pot. likeyou get athletes protesting during

the national anthem because a makef our blood has helped the sacrifice for this country. the flag is a representation of that sacrifice. host: let me ask you because you brought up kapernick. they are calling it the perilous fight. what is your reaction that he is on the cover? kapernick he is making a great attempt to not only call attention to the problem, but we mustn't forget if his money is not put into the problem, obviously there is going to have to be a change of heart. we know we are not going to have a change of heart because, like i said, it's the -- it's not the working people, it is certain

levels of people in government. a lot of the government was made up a slave owners for a long time. and then segregationists for a long time. , they haveolice always had a problem with black people because black people were the only ones underneath the irish people politically. when i first -- when the irish first came here, they had a problem. they looked at us and said we are not as bad as them. what kaepernick is doing is to let people that are hard-core know america is on our side. all that little small minority with a big mouth and the big money, just realize is going to happen and don't be violent about it. host: thanks for that call. a lot of tweets coming in.

anwj. them with us at csp black livestock matter to obama when he leaves office. he got his goldman sachs filling his pocket just like hillary." the front row seat to the ceremony on the mall and washington, d.c. extremely tight security. the washington monument. museumhe smithsonian's of african american history and culture. we will give you an inside look in the our leading up to the dedication ceremony. check out c-span.org as we take you behind the scenes for the work involved in the museum dating back to george w. bush signing the village rated the funding for it. a groundbreaking ceremony and a look inside the building of the museum, which is symbolizing a three-tiered crown. that is the outside symbol, and inside the auditorium.

jeff from pennsylvania. you are next. caller: can you hear me ok? host: welcome to the program. caller: thank you. i would like to say that minnesota shooting was a hispanic cop, a mexican cop. and the story goes away. maybe i'm wrong, but the charlotte shooting i believe was an african-american officer who shot another black person. it's funny how the -- every debate they won't talk about that. the media is the problem, not americans. most americans are civil to each other. we get along. the media stirs this up. could'veeat thing that been done with the mayor was have a press conference and have that block officer -- black officer talk to the people in say this is what happened. i am a black man and i shot one of my fellow black people. sorry but it had to be done,

people the gun on the. they didn't do that. the other thing is the media doesn't report about all the whites that were attacked during the so-called protests. there was a white cnn reporter thrown onto a fire. they try to burn him alive. they try to make it out to be some kind of protest when it was just an excuse for looting. the other point i wanted to make is we talked about the african-american museum. that is a good thing. -- am i stillair? on the air? host: we are listening. [laughter] caller: c-span doesn't talk about -- they talk about "generic white people." it would be wonderful if you can talk about october 6 -- i come from a pennsylvania dutch area. october 6 is national german-american day. there are 62 million americans of german descent. it would be wonderful if there was a german museum, if there

was an italian museum, or a talk on c-span about the experience of polish americans or hungarians who broke their backs in the coal mines and things like that. but there is only a generic white people, when every single person from your team through unbelievable struggles. my ancestors lived in caves until they built germantown from the ground up. they were fiercely anti-slave. the mennonites, the quakers, the brethren. they have the very first late protests, the mennonite germans in 1687. long before the king was quakers. and the germans across middle america were anti-slave because of their work ethic and their religious beliefs. if black people would know about this, which they don't. we are told we don't know about black people, but his black people that don't know anything about us. host: thank you for that call.

where are you in minnesota? he left us. this is from april. " they are not any protests in tulsa because the video was released and the officer has been charged." another tweet from another viewer says "race relations never been fair or balanced in this country. stop acting like the problem is brand-new in 2016." a shooting took place in washington state at a macy's in a mall. this is the story from nbc news. the cascade goal shooting. death toll has increased from four to five. at this hour the police are looking for a suspect, although there are pictures of him inside. a hispanic individual. five people killed in a mall overnight in washington state. let's go to beth in illinois. the state of race relations in the u.s. what is it like today? caller: i just wanted to

comment. watched yesterday the tolls a video that was released. --tulsa video that was released. i don't know anybody who could watch that and not be upset by it. police -- they were four officers approaching this person. helicopter, the comments from the helicopter pilot were biased and me, without any knowledge of who this person was. i never heard an ambulance being called after this person was shot. -- my heart broke for this whole situation. it breaks every time this happens. although this officer is being charged, the problem is that,

yes, these officers are being charged but then they are acquitted or there is no trial at all. i would also advise people to watch dr. gates who did a six part series on pbs with a history of african-americans in this country. we as white people do not have a knowledge. that former caller, there is plenty of history about white people in america. there is not enough attention paid to african-american history. if they watch this six part series, maybe they will understand the terrible things that happened to the african-american race. and this current stuff, i support the protesters. i support this being discussed in america because it is chilling -- killing.

it is not good, it is not justified. those are my comments. host: mr. gates has a piece this morning in the new york times. is available online at nytimes.com. frank from west virginia, good morning. caller: good morning. how are you? to the question on race relations, i would say the fact we have a black president says that race relations have improved a lot over a long period of time. i think we h -- they have gotten worse since we had a black president in office. possibly the cops were acquitted because they are innocent. i have a question. who is paying the professional protesters that are down there in charlotte and all over the country, wherever there is a protest going on, who is paying them? who benefits from what they are doing?

getting the black people agitated and angry and more likely to come out and vote in november. thank you. host: thank you for your call. washington weekly series at huffingtonpost.com. president.he next here is what it looks like. [video clip] >> we are not really discussing the power and privileges afforded to nonblack bodies. you can't ignore the fact the criminal element within the black community and hispanic community is quite high. >> the african-american community has high rates of poverty. this is the senate -- systemic of the american culture. >> we will give you money to build prisons if you increase her sentencing laws to match the federal guidelines in these cases. the color green should not be part of the conversation of what is or is not just.

that web video in a memo to the next president. " in the final year of barack obama's presidency the urgency has been never hire to reform the criminal justice system, in relation to committees of color. found thatsa today criminal justice reform has now become as important to millennials under the age of 35 as jobs and the economy, student loan reform and foreign policy. nearly a quarter of the millennials believe the issue was -- should be a priority for the next president. they found a growing number of millennials believe police violence against african americans is a problem. 72% of millennials say it is a big problem. this tweet from elliott with regard to the african-american museum. "it's history of past injustices will only help divide whites and blacks further apart."

eric from california, good morning. caller: good morning, america. i would like to stress one problem. if you go read the liberty bell, there is a bible verse, leviticus 25:10. it requires for us to simply start over like it was 1776. peacefully. just by an act of god with mercy and compassion. it is the jubilee. jubilee requires us to start over. everybody knows history quake -- historically the united states is not done what they were supposed to do. that's why were having the problem. we didn't do the year of jubilee in 2000 correctly. we are seeing the same thing that's been going on since the

1900s, but because we have cameras and the media out here we can see it now. nothing new. thise also dealing with concept called the apple biters. we have this thing called the apple. apple tree off the of misinformation of good and evil. we all have the opportunity to make decisions, wise decisions. but misinformation, misunderstanding from your past. america is beautiful. we have an opportunity here to learn to live together as one people. but it takes time. this is where we are at now. by one word we can change this. the can bring equality, freedom and justice to america. host: eric from california. "although tulsa acted quickly with transparency, the officer was a woman."

independent line. race relations, what is it like today? caller: i agree with that last caller. is society. that society is given installation innocent white people are killed by police officers, too. you have black men, black people, all nationalities. host: what is that? caller: society was to keep everything in check. every time you hear about a black person getting killed, it's on the news. you can look it up.

it's on the internet. host: thank you very much for the call. if you're listening on c-span radio, carried live on c-span radio. check out our free radio app. you can check out our programming and our podcasts. we are focusing on the state of race relationships. most notably recently in andlotte, north carolina, on this day in which the president will lead up the ceremony for the african-american museum of history and culture. live coverage of 10:00 eastern time. also american history tv with a lot of programming around the significance of this 19th smithsonian museum opening up this morning. from the new york times, a congressman from north carolina saying the charlotte protesters hate white people. he apologized trying to explain

himself on twitter, saying his anguish prompted him to respond to a question in a way that i regret. part of that interview from thursday with congressman kittinger on the bbc network. [video clip] -- they hate white people because white people are successful and they are not. it is a welfare state. we've spent trillions of dollars on welfare, but we put people in bondage so they cannot be all the are capable of being. america is a country of opportunity and freedom and liberty. it is in that way because a great government provided everything for everyone. it is the destiny of america. the freedom to come to this country. it is because -- their work ethic and their hard efforts. they put of the capital and risks and build up their lives.

shot by a man get black police officer and people protest because they hate white people? >> that is what they say on tv. that is coming out of their mouths. they said in a folder way they hated all white people. there is nothing racial about what happened. it is tragic. you look at the educational system, 70% of all african-american children are born out of wedlock. this is tragic. it's a breakdown in our society. but african americans expect a different degree of treatment from american police. it is a part of this at all? >> i think they are treated fairly. thechief of police, african-american officer wants to degrade somebody because of their race? of course not. i ride shotgun with our police. i've done this a number of times.

these people are valiant, courageous people. there are issues in the streets every night. they are courageous people in our law enforcement and i value them. people are instigators who incite these riots. for thehat i'm calling agitators to not be allowed to come in and expect the situation. host: republican from north carolina. that was on thursday. and yesterday a series of tweets, including this from republican lawmaker. "my answer to bbc does not reflect to i am. i was quoting statements made by angry protesters last night on national tv. not my intent." part of this debate and discussion on race relations in my intent wasays to discuss the lack of economic mobility for african-americans because of failed policy.

a series ofatest in tweets from that republican lawmaker on the bbc network on thursday. this is from one viewer. the greaterons have to reconstruction era." "race relations have always been bad. technology is just bringing the reality to white america." good morning, republican line. caller: good morning. i have a couple of comments to make and i will be brief. and searcho out black and white versus white on black crime, there is a site that quotes the statistics from the department of justice. saying,k paragraphs using figures from the 2013 racial mix of population, 62% hispanic, 13.2%

black, we can calculate the average likelihood of a person for each race attacking the other. a black's 27 times more likely to attack a white, eight times were likely to attack a hispanic than the other way around. hispanic is eight times more likely to attack a white. and the second quick paragraph says we can calculate how many criminals of each group choose victims of other races. as indicated below, when whites commit violence they choose fellow whites 82.4% of the time, and almost never attacked blacks. blacks attack whites almost as often as they attack blacks. hispanics attack whites more than the attack their own group. what i'm getting to is the mathematics, there is a lot of emotion in the topic. but the mathematics spell out what is really going on. i don't discount at all the police shootings over the last couple of years. you see on film the police are executing people.

i think the body camera issue needs to be a federal mandate that every single officer has a body camera. if there is any lapse in the filming, they are immediately prosecuted for that. there are two sides to it. the last point i would like to make is with all the respect the c-span, i wonder why african-americans are about 50%-60% of the callers. thats this article states were 17.1% of the population. with all the respect to the black community, about 80% of the blacks that call, when the topic at hand, unlike today, has nothing to do with race they will make it race in the first five seconds. man,caller says as a black and the topic is nothing to do with race, they should be cut off as though they may lose remark.--made a lewd . thank you for taking my call host: we would not do that.

if i said i was irish-american or jewish or catholic or whatever, but this is really a dialogue. thank you for the comments. that is what makes our program works so well. all of your participation. this is from stevie says the remarks prove how jim crow raises up scared and angry white racists. if you're interested, the gallup organization looks at the state of race relations. it's available online at gallup.com. you can see the downward trend. a commentator in washington every saturday morning in the washington post. this morning, if you love washington, d.c. history, it is an interesting read and what he calls a d.c. sidewalk tour of slavery and struggle. "it will go down in a seminal moment, not only for its 100 year journey, but for the

achievement in architectural building design, collections and artful presentations. the story of slavery and freedom told so movingly inside the museum, however, is also a painful and shameful narrative heard beyond the buildings grounds. visitors don't have to enter the building to learn about slavery or see symbols of the black struggle to defend freedom during the long era of segregation that followed enslavement. venture no further than the streets of our nation's capital. two examples. faced north and constitution avenue, turn right towards the eastern horizon. on the east side of the river sits joint base and a castilla bowling. generations earlier the land was home to a tobacco plantation of george washington young, the largest slave holder in the district of columbia. the cap washington, d.c. in bondage until they were emancipated in 1862. 10 blocks east of the museum on fourth and g sits the space once

occupied by the now on washington jail where runaway slaves were held." king.s from colbert if being commemorated today with the opening of the national museum of african american history and culture. ellen joins us from kansas city. democrats line. welcome to the conversation. caller: good morning and thank you for me allowing -- allowing me to speak on the issue of race relations. i'm shaking right now. i am an african american woman. it pains me because i see how we have come so far and regressed so much. i think obama did the best job he could do with what he had. i think he represented african-americans and represented all americans. white religion israel. i am an educated black woman in the inner-city.

wedlock. out of hear the comments , and in thislers political climate race is real. i see older white german who give their comments in regards to how race is right now. it is hurtful. the last thing is about the protests. i'm sorry that white america does not like the way black america is protesting, but it is the way we protest. we have to come to a relation that -- realization that this is america. i'm here to say that race is real. the giant is awoken in the reality is we do have to address it. it would be so great if

caucasians, whites, i don't know the correct way to address it, you have to be open-minded. it is changing. i think that it's the old era that believes that make america great again. what year was america great? i think it's changing at a slow pace but we are going to get there and thank you for me allowing to speak my opinion. host: let's go to jeff in oil city, pennsylvania. thank you for weighing in on this issue of race relations. caller: thank you for having me. i think the problem is that there is not enough opportunities out there with regards to education for african americans. a lot of the times the schools are so underfunded that they don't have the equipment or what they need to become more prosperous. resentment and

maybe even justifiably so. slavery notd of enough is been done to recognize our wrong. and we need to take steps to make that better. from this is the headline the washington post with relation to charlotte, north carolina. police have no plans to release the video recordings. on the larger issue of race in america, from the new york times, 69% of americans say race bad, one are genuinely of the highest levels of discord since the 1992 riots in los angeles. that's the latest from the new york times. it was conducted over the summer. this after the killings of five dallas police officers. six out of 10 say race relations are growing worse. piecew york times pointing out racial discontent is at its highest point in the obama presidency.

at the same level that resulted in the acquittal of rodney king in 1992. let's go to larry joining us on the line for independents from indianapolis. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. the thing ever like to express is that we need to change history, the name of history. it black community, we call history. one thing to bring attention to white america. there are two books out, old books. one is but an author's last name is griffin. he wrote a book, "black like me." andleached his skin black went south to experience what it was like to be black. a lot of whites need to read that book. also, a white lady did the same thing.

bleached her skin black and went south. this is back in the early 1960's. read those books. on theou had a guy on c-span book channel wrote a book on how white america feels about their entitlement and how it has been threatened and it scares them. if they truly want to see a theerence in this country, key thing is with the native americans always said. before you judge me walk in my moccasins for two moons. then you can understand the. -- understand me. the: the comments by congressman are so whack, even the bbc journalist was aghast. we are all americans, take the-away. -- hyphen away.

things were much caller overnight according to it and number of news accounts. the charlotte police protests expected to continue to the weekend. a local clergy group launching a strategy to eventually shift that energy to long-range action on racial disadvantage and discrimination. charlotte clergy coalition for justice, which has more than 70 members, place a hold october sessions on how race shapes education, law enforcement, health care and other opportunities. that will go towards the november commission with members chosen represent different parts of the community. that's this morning from the charlotte observer. charles in arkansas, republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i want to ask you a question. something about what you said. if you look back in history, it

appears the democrats have lived off this race relations since day one. soros, it was going around paying agitators to correct these problems. -- whatlarence thomas the democrats did to him was unbelievable. you take walter williams, larry elder, herman cain. i would've given my right arm if herman cain was elected, but the dems didn't want that. you look at the falls premise that black lives matter, that the democrats are using. .rayvon martin and brown this was not what was put in the papers. you when you

talked about the museum, every museum has security. but you said security is tight. why would you say security is tight? host: for today because it's the opening ceremony and the president will be there. caller: you didn't say the president was going to be there. host: i did at the very beginning. caller: ok, i missed that and i apologize. host: there is something going else. it is also the national book festival. if you're in the d.c. area, there will be a lot of motorcades and traffic tieups. this morning because of the ceremony you have the president, vice president, members of congress, dignitaries at the opening ceremony. i went for 25 years without hearing a bad statement in your way -- either way about relations.

like they used to be many years ago. i am 83. then obama got in and all of a sudden we have all these problems. this is predicated for a vote. i believe that and it's a shame. is the worst thing in the world. everybody was getting along. i was in the army when they first introduced the relations. it was the greatest thing that ever happened. it is just sad. i really believe the democrats vote and this to get a that is all their premise is. thank you for your time. have a good day. host: the last call is from north carolina. william from asheville, good morning. caller: good morning. the man from arkansas maybe me."d read "black like

isabel walker, "warmth of other sons." "fromope franklin's slavery to freedom." welch's history of the african-american church. history of african american psychology" and how we have been affected the racism. i am 71 years old. i carried picket signs in the 1960's. &tattended north carolina a state college in the 60's. x military. --ex-military. maybe you should ask people by age, especially white people, when were they told they have the right -- ride at the back of

the bus. when were they told they could not attend the college or university in their hometown because of segregation? and see what sort of answers you may get from them. and also, and on college-educated. i have a masters degree. host: that is all part of the museum, including the lunch counter to get people a sense of what it was like for the struggles in the 1940's, 1950's, and the 1960's. caller: and that will be great. they should visit the museum in greensboro. host: which one? caller: the international civil rights museum in greensboro, north carolina. it highlights a lot of what we did in greensboro during the 1960's. i arrived at college in 1963 as

a freshman. host: so you lived through all of this? caller: yes, i lived it. i carried picket signs as a 16-year-old teenager. i rode a bus in 1964 as a 19-year-old. host: can i ask you a question? we are about to move on to another topic. have you felt discrimination recently in the last couple of years, or had he sensed a change in the way people may treat you personally? caller: often times it depends on if i wear my traditional bow tie, as a lot of folk in nashville will tell you and i 6'3"into a meeting -- i am and weigh 240 pounds. when i walk into a room my voice will carry.

they say i'm very intimidating to people. understandyou will that number one item in the room. i am just as educated as some of you. and often times i will ask people do you have your phd, and i will say you are speaking to me the way you are and i have a masters degree. i expect you to talk to me is that you have a phd. since you don't have one, don't speak to me. that upsets a lot of white people often times. i have been called arrogant, conceited, and i wear it as a matter of pride. host: thank you for that call from asheville, north carolina. thank you so much. when we come back we will turn to the debates. monday at hofstra, university. james antle joins us from the

washington examiner. and howard university's african-american history professor greg carr will be here to talk about race in america and the opening of the african-american history museum in washington, d c -- d.c. our guests this week's congressman jim jordan, republican of ohio. he is the chair the house freedom caucus talking about what is next for when lawmakers return and what the agenda will be under any president. with nine folks and we are up to 40. we have a number of people retiring and leaving. new folks coming in around the number. our mission statement is simple. we think there are countless numbers of people who feel like this town is forgotten them. our job is to remember them. i think we may congress way too

complicated. having the right rules in place gives us a better chance to do what we told the voters we were going to do when they gave us the privilege to serve. factes this reflect the you put forward a lot of policies you would like to see but have yet to rack up a lot of wins? >> it is tough to win the policy debate when you are a 40 member body. you can have an impact on blocking bad things and we felt like we have been fairly successful doing that. to pass good policy, there are rules that need to be followed. you need to take the argument out there and bring people in. we are working on that. we put together some policy initiatives. we will continue to do that but there has to be a focus on the rules process. >> you consider your greatest wins to be the blocking and set of making affirmative policies? >> stopping bad policy is good

for taxpayers. the right kind of policy would be good for families and taxpayers as well. it is tough to do what you are freedom caucus or republican congress. you have harry reid with the filibuster and barack obama with the veto pen. that is tough in and of itself. there are lots of things you like it want tax policy and welfare reform and getting rid of obamacare and putting it a patient family-centered model of care. a host of things on border security. when you have harry reid and barack obama, it is difficult. >> washington journal continues. host: we want to welcome jim antle. his work is available online at washingtonexaminer.com. thank you for being with us. guest: thanks for having me. host: 48 hours before the debate everyone is talking about. a lot of hype. will it be the height? -- hype?

guest: you are looking at hillary clinton, a major public figure nationally for over 20 years, in arkansas for over 30 years. close to 40 years. and donald trump is a huge celebrity and a big tv personality. trump has managed to draw a lot of ratings to republican debates were you deal with a lot of people who were a lot less famous and hillary clinton -- than hillary clinton. i suspect you will have a lot of d people tuning in it with monday night football. host: a couple of excerpts from your piece. borish versus boring. nk versuse awkward wo the neophyte. last shot at the swinging the race in the direction before november. neither is a champion debater,

get both of done well in the format." the significance of the first debate versus the third debate? guest: there are major questions over both candidates. the first debate is one where a lot of people will tune and and make some decisions. hillary clinton, a lot of people don't trust her, a lot of people don't like her. rationhe 9/11 commission -- commemoration, i think there are questions about her health. being able to stand on that stage for 90 minutes and take questions, that can address a lot of concerns people have. with donald trump it's more fundamental. i think people have questions as to whether he can do the job, questions as to what his intentions are with the job, questions about his temperament. being able to be on stage with hillary clinton, take them all still questioning, be cross examined by the debate moderator.

those have the potential to address some questions and concerns voters have about him. host: on monday morning the washington journal will begin coverage and previewing the debate. than a one-hour preview at 730 -- 7:30 eastern time. at 8:30 eastern time we take you inside the marina on hofstra university for predebate remarks by commission members and university officials. is moderated by lester holt at 9:00 eastern time. then the phone lines will be open with your calls and social media. you say this is a rare debate where the voters do not like either candidate. clinton's mastery of policy detail is superior to trump's, that he is a reality star with a flair for the dramatic. trump failed to match hillary clinton's detailed knowledge, but spoke better on broad themes and pushed back skillfully against hostile questions."

guest: they bring in different strengths and weaknesses. hillary clinton knows a lot about the issues. she is much more experienced as both a debater and as somebody who has been in government and politics. donald trump is a political the a fight. however -- political neophyte. the person that scores the best on the debating points and wins a number of exchanges on factual basis is not necessarily the winner of the debate. it often comes down to the big moments, these memorable exchanges. that is where donald trump has an advantage. trump has a lot of television experience, a lot of media experience. he had a lot of media -- memorable moments in the republican primaries. this is a little different. you are one-on-one, whereas a lot of those debates there were as many as 11 people on the stage. this is one on one.

trump can't proceed into the background like he did in some of the republican debates when the subject matter was not favorable to him and come back in when he had a big point he wanted to make, or a big moment he wanted to have. still hillary clinton is very prepared, very issue oriented. trump is good at letting that one big one-liner. sometimes those highlight reel moments after a debate determine who the winner is more than what happened for most of the other 85 or so minutes of the exchange. host: we sat down with red o'donnell, longtime republican strategist advising former republican nominees including george w. bush and jed langham. they offer their different perspective on monday evening. lty.karen tumu you can watch that tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern time here

on c-span. this is from the hillary clinton campaign to try to preempt what they expect donald trump -- it may come across as much more calm and presidential, but the clinton campaign was to remind voters some of what he has said in the past. [video clip] i'm hillary: clinton and i approve this message. ♪ mr. trump: i will look in her fat, ugly face. she is a slaw. she ate like a pig. a person that is flat-chested, it's hard to be a 10. >> you treat women with respect? mr. trump: i can't say that either. ad, what look at that is the clinton campaign trying to do? guest: reinforce his image as being hostile to women. that is a message democrats have

pushed against a lot of republican nominees, but in his case there is so much material to work with. it's a reception of why that's why they shared by the electorate already. are mostadvertisements effective when they reinforce concerns of voters already have, not trying to create new perceptions, new negative perceptions about a candidate. that is something donald trump will have to watch for. in the context of the debates it is less significant that she is raising these concerns in the debate then how donald trump reacts to them. i think clinton has gotten good at getting under trump's skin. trump has been doing a better job of late now that he has a ofan as his campaign manager coming across in a more subdued and a more presidential manner. he clearly is a person that is used to doing things on his own terms, used to reacting to any

criticism he gets, often in a hostile manner. if she raises these points in the debate how is he going to react? can he keep his cool for a full 90 minutes? given that there are a lot of questions about his temperament, it's important for him to keep his cool. she is really going to test him. we don't really know how he's going to react. host: we are dividing up phone lines for those that support hillary clinton and those that support donald trump, and if you are undecided. (202) 748-8003. we have a line for third-party. those will be on the bottom of the screen. [video clip] >> it is a movement, not a campaign. its leader, donald trump. builder, businessman, success. doing what others called impossible. history already is you. building bigger.

united her family, jobs, country. defined by freedom. standing together, pushing ahead, leaving the past behind, changing our future together. we will make america great again. mr. trump: i'm donald trump and i approve this message. host: what is the message behind this ad? guest: is the first positive ad from the trump campaign. there are a lot of things that are good about that spot. one is a problem trump has had is the octopus a focus on himself. well there are a lot of advantages to doing that given his personal success in business and media, i think presidential candidates need to put the focus a little bit more on the voters and what they're are going to do for their constituents. this ad attempts to do that. theink it also captures feeling of a lot of the supporters that they are part of some bigger moment, some bigger movement.

trump has been most effective when he has said this isn't about him. he is spreading a message as part of a larger period of time in our national life. his message is really what is succeeding more than he is. the idea he is leading a movement i think has the ability to really resonate with a lot of voters. by bringing it back to some of his successes in his this and his ability to do things people said he could not do, reflects full on him perhaps with undecided voters. guest: you have written for the american conservative and the daily column. now politics editor for the washington examiner. he is also the book "devouring freedom:" can big government ever be stopped? gary from atlanta, supporter of hillary clinton. caller: good morning. how are you? i am a vietnam vet and i support clinton. i am someone -- i'm not on fire

for t -- mrs. clinton. but i can't believe republicans would want to replace barack obama with someone like donald trump. the birther issue to me was an ailing point. that was. racial. disappointed white america did rise of an expose him. i'm not really on fire. i support her. i hope she wins, but as a vietnam veteran i would be very disappointed if donald trump won. one ofid, i would be those who would not stand for the flag anymore. host: thank you. issue has birther been of a thing the clinton campaign is focused on even a week or so after donald trump disavowed his past advocacy for

the issue. raisingthat his questions about president obama's birthplace will be widely perceived. he is trying to reach out to minority voters for the first time. i think it will be widely perceived as him trying to delegitimize the first african-american president. case, she clinton's has a lot of strong support in the african-american community. it is not clear that these voters are quite as enthusiastic as they were in 2008 and 2012. in terms of trying to retrieve the obama coalition, which is very dependent on high turnout among minorities and among younger voters, both of whom have not traditionally turned out in the numbers they could. she is going to try to replicate that coalition with disdain for donald trump and fear of donald

trump. whereas obama was able to bring it together with enthusiasm for him. , andople turn out to vote enthusiastic vote and unenthusiastic vote count for just as much. traveling onsident one to two days per week on behalf of hillary clinton and senator tim kaine. emily in california, a supporter of donald trump. good morning. because asm calling a christian i feel that it is important to understand that the lord gives us our leaders. we have choices. we can pick someone who is a criminal, a we can pick someone who was a good family man. the reason i say criminal is because for black people i was very upset about the way clinton refused to help the tutsi in

rwanda and one million black people were murdered with me cleavers. other things that bothered me is the foundation. the people in haiti on the committee for the money to help haiti, they refused to have bill clinton on the committee and threw him out because they said he had no transparency. there are so many things that they have done over the period of time i disagree with. i hope people will take notice to have them again when we are in such dire straits. the woman is old and sick. i ask everyone to reconsider just on those facts. she doesn't have to be a criminal and be the first woman president. can you imagine what history will say about that? thank you. host: and there is this tweet

from another viewer saying hillary will be more knowledgeable about the topics being debated, but trump will try to turn the event into a wwf-stle clown show. your reaction? guest: hillary clinton's biggest liability is a lot of voters do not trust her or believe her. they may think she is on some level experienced and competent, but they don't trust her and they don't like her. it's difficult to vote for her that has been a problem that has plagued her throughout this entire campaign. in terms of their respective debating styles, i think that is true. is veryhillary clinton well prepared in terms of coming in and trying to argue with donald trump. but trump is a performer. he will attempt to use those advantages in terms of performance ability to try to

take control of the debate. he could have some success in areas doing that. that will help drive the narrative as to who won the debate. host: five minutes of apologies don't cancel out spreading ally, considering the birther movement. trump needs to understand we are not stupid. guest: the birther issue has not been as significant for trump are in the course of the primaries up to now as you might have thought it would be. this is clearly one of the issues establishing him as a political figure rather than just a businessman and a reality tv star. i think the clinton campaign views him reintroducing the to solve itattempt for himself and as an opening. they have continued to hammer

him on this for over a week after he attempted to sort of, and a lukewarm fashion, disavow the past advocacy. i think the clinton campaign understands this is an issue his recentt off focus on trying to win over minority voters. host: we are focusing on the campaign and the upcoming debate. the first debate taking place at hofstra university. our live coverage gets underway monday night at 7:30 eastern time here on the c-span network, also on c-span radio. from oceanside, new york, michael is next. katie support a bone -- among third-party candidates? caller: gary johnson and bill weld. i don't really have a choice that i could stomach. i am deeply disappointed they are not allowing third parties to be involved in the debate, especially in this particular

election. the republican nominee is deeply disappointing being what most middle america republicans would rhino from new york. and i have never liked the clintons or trusted her. it's a sad state of affairs that these are our two nominees for the highest office in the country. that we really don't have a choice. unfortunately, i'll be honest, it looks like donald trump is any shot at winning new york, i will probably vote for hillary clinton. he is deeply dangerous. i have listened to a lot of interviews, particularly his ghost writer for his book and equally disturbing that a man like this has been allowed to rise to such a position. yes, i'm hoping that maybe third parties will wake up and become

more serious about the future because we really can't keep going on like this and allowing our leaders to be so deeply flawed. host: we will get a response? guest: gary johnson is very well-positioned. won the highest number of roberts of any libertarian party nominee in history. he's really well positioned to break all the records for what percentage of the vote he gets. johnson seems to in a lot of respects be the default choice of a lot of voters who don't want either donald trump or hillary clinton. it will be interesting to see whether he actually performs at the level of his current polling. but because a lot of third-party candidates you see drop off when people decide they want a for someone who might win the election, but i think johnson is in a good position. it's been interesting that

johnson has focused a lot of his criticism on hillary clinton and seems to be taking some votes from hillary clinton. he is taking a lot of votes from hillary clinton but he has not been as critical of hillary clinton as he has been of donald trump. he seems to see a lot of these republicans who are disenchanted with trump as low hanging fruit. he has tried to stress is commonality with bernie sanders voters and other disaffected democrats. when you look at the four-way matchup, a lot of times he seems to be depressing hillary clinton's vote percentage. it's interesting because he is a former two-term republican governor and his running mate is a former two-term republican governor. it would be logical he be getting a lot of soft republican support for donald trump. i think he is but he's doing a

lot better with disaffected democrats, at least right now. host: on september 16 with the commission announced it would just be the two candidates and gary johnson did not meet the threshold of 15% and five national polls, the libertarian nominee issuing this statement. scoff at a take it that enjoys only 9% or 10% in their can select the polls, but even 9% represents 13 million voters, more than the total population of ohio and most other states. yet the republicans and democrats are choosing to silence the candidate with -- preferred by millions of americans. and a monopoly on debate created by the cpd is a prime and skillfully executed example." a couple of comments on the earlier caller with donald trump being called a family man. "trump, the good family man? having several makes you good.

it is to laugh." , april says "he's been divorced twice. wow." \ guest: get it interesting that trump has tried to reach out to a lot of social conservatives. of theobably the wing republican party he has made the most concessions. when you look at his personal his, when you look at obvious discomfort with a lot of religious issues, when you compare it to some of the criticisms that were leveled against bill clinton from socially conservative corners in the 1990's, trump is obviously not the neatest fit with those voters. on one hand he has done much better with evangelical voters than a lot of people were expecting. and certainly better than a lot of organized christian right thatrs who were hoping most were supportive of ted cruz and marco rubio.

on the other hand he does seem to have some problems with the heaviest churchgoing voters among evangelicals, catholics, mormons. these are some solid republican constituencies. trump will need to turn them out and the question will be does some of his personal history prevent her from doing so -- him from doing so? host: joe from greenfield, massachusetts? caller: is health care going to come up in the debates? i think donald trump maybe to the left of hillary clinton on the issue of national healthcare. it's one of the reasons i have reservations about him. i wouldn't call myself a supporter. i am going to vote for trump, but there are various issues that make me not want to actually put up a sign. will health care come up in the debate? guest: i suspect it will.

there have been a number of problems that have emerged with obamacare. a lot of insurers leaving the health care markets that were set up by obamacare. there are some cost and access issues, a lot of critics have raised them. will donald trump be able to effectively make a lot of these arguments? on one hand he has been, since running for president, steadfast supporter of repealing and replacing obamacare and most of the proposals to the limited degree he has laid out any details in this area have been sort of free-market alternatives to obamacare. on the other hand he does have a history of advocating for positions to the left of obamacare. he was a supporter of single payer. obamacare is not a single-payer approach to the health care although with the

public option and some other things that could be added to it they could move closer. medicaid expansion could move us closer in that direction. it is a fundamentally different approach to single-payer. trump, who is in general not established himself as a limited government guy and strong physical conservative -- fiscal conservative, it will be interesting to see how he handles these issues. he does not have a record of really being someone who has been adamantly opposed to more government involved in health care in the past. host: send us a tweet. bernie says hillary clinton should repeat that's released taxes for 90 minutes on a loop. good morning. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. say some of the american people have really lost their focus on what is good for our country. it is not about how enthusiastic

you are about a person, it is what that person as president will do to benefit everyone in our country. the differences. look at trump's character. what he has done in his past, his history, how he lived his life. that is a stark contrast from the very beginning. trump has done everything for himself, not for the people of new york when he have the buildings and not letting people live there. and look what hillary has done. she has tried to help children with health care, she has tried to help older people. it is a matter of character and what they have done before. enthusiasm in a debate goes far beyond that. it is not just about that.

it is how beneficial each person will be for this country. host: your last point? i didn't mean to cut you off. reiteratings just it is all about this country. it is not about the person themselves and how much enthusiasm we have. people can be deceived. donald trump has not told the truth. look at what he is saying about women and disable people, and even vets. that doesn't make us feel good about that person. host: thank you for the call. bonnie, a supporter of donald trump. good morning, from yukon, oklahoma. caller: yes. i have a thing to say about the video i saw on facebook. it is all over the facebook internet.

conference with a bunch of young men. he said i wasn't born in america. i wasn't born in hawaii. -- he said i was born in kenya. people, if you don't believe the birther thing, get on the internet and google for that video. host: we will get a response. guest: that's interesting that -- in the 1990's the character issue was raised against bill clinton. the response was it doesn't matter. it only matters what you do that is publicly relevant. now is being raised against donald trump. from hillary clinton's perspective, i think the first caller's argument is what she is going to want to reinforce. she will say i have done things for other people.

that is been the core of my public life. my public life is about trying to get health care for children, trying to get health care for the uninsured, trying to address poverty among low income americans, trying to fight for racial equality. donald trump has fought mainly for himself and for his own business interests. trump is going to try to counter that by saying, yes, i have ednefited from the rigg system in america. i will take what i have learned in profiting or myself and try to make the american people profit from mike variance. -- from my experience. how different these two visions -- there will be a clash of visions during the debate. trump will have to address the reality he has not been in public -- politics are very long.

as a businessman a lot of the things he has done have been for his own personal profit. trump will try to use his experience as a businessman and as a celebrity to his advantage. you will see that is kind of a back-and-forth. i think it has defined the campaign to this point and should be a major theme. host: front page above the fold of the washington post. why the first debate is the most hazardous. looking back at the first televised debate that took place 56 years ago monday evening. first debate between hillary clinton and donald trump commemorating the 56th anniversary when kennedy and nixon met in chicago. 60 million people tuned into that debate. how many will watch on monday? guest: a lot of people expect around 100 million. there is some expectation that perhaps it will set records.

the debate between kennedy and neck since raises -- nixon raises some points for this debate. a lot of people that listen on the radio thought richard nixon won. most you watched on television. john f. kennedy one. there was an aspect that comes down to do you pass the basic commander-in-chief test, which i think hillary clinton will focus on. there was also a showmanship aspect. that is the area where donald trump has the advantage over clinton. trump is going into this debate with much lower expectations, which is why clinton is trying to work the -- they are talking about lester holt. he needs to fact check trump. he needs to challenge trump on some of his exertions. -- assertions. clinton is mindful of the

possibility of trump coming in, getting some good soundbites and leaving. , she wants the focus to be on the area of her advantage which is mastery of details, experience with policy issues, knowledge of policy issues. host: the washington post -- what to ask hillary clinton and donald trump? that's available on the website. talk shows and some familiar faces from donald trump to john kennedy and richard nixon and her performances in previous debates. that's also available online at wsj.com. welcome to the conversation. caller: how are you? host: fine, thank you. caller: i am a hillary clinton supporter. what is the bar set so low for donald trump? he has insulted every race,

religion, gender. why are people still supporting him? the words that come out of his mouth are so demeaning and deaf ear cant a hear. why are people not taking heed to this and say this man does not belong in any type of public office? some of it is this your disillusionment that people have with the political class. the view is that the people who have been running the government, the people who are in elected office have so poorly served the american people that we shouldn't worry as much about whether people are polite and whether people are nice. and maybe it is refreshing to have somebody who says things testede not focus group

and willing to speak his mind even if it offends people. i think that is one you a lot of supporters have. secondly, might -- there are a lot of voters who find trump's rhetoric problematic. some have voted republican for quite a long time. trump in the general election campaign has had a really face the fact that a lot of voters are worried about having a man of his character and temperament as president. that is a big issue he is going to have to address during the debates. in the recent weeks, trump tried to strike a softer tone. the question is can anything he does in the closing weeks of the escape what he has done and said in the campaign? can he hold onto that persona three full 90 minutes of debate

when he is being pressured by a moderator and confronted directly by hillary clinton? host: we love all of our tweets. jan is a regular tweeter. "they don't care he will show his taxes. he is running at reality show campaign." hast: clearly donald trump taken the logic of the tabloids, which has been how he has established himself as a celebrity. he has applied at the politics. most political experts would've told you that would not work. in the tabloids there is no such thing as bad publicity. in politics there are lots of things that could be that publicity. i think for -- i think trump has shown some of that. that approach can be effective. trump has been able to dominate the conversation, dominate the media coverage, and therefore

get a lot of exposure without spending as much money as either his republican primary opponents or hillary clinton. opponents or hillary clinton. the price of that is that he is not appealing to quite a diverse as heet share of voters could be. but the bottom line is, depending on which polls you believe, even looking at the consensus, the polling average is, he is a couple battleground states potentially away from the presidency. there are all of the things that all of us would say you cannot do, and he has done them to some degree of success. he is at least going to be competitive. host: we will go to joanna from florida. supporter of donald trump. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm sitting here listening to the half of the americans that

call in, and the negative things that they say about trump. "trump is this," "trump is that." americans,, we, the voted him in. we must be a majority because we got rid of 16 other politicians that were running. but if every time the media would put in the word "americans" that voted for trump -- trump did not vote himself in. we did. trump was voted in by the people. hillary cheated herself to be where she is at. andre tired of the media the democrats and the control. people, want control --k, not the criminal district of criminals up there

in d.c. host: joanna, thanks for the call from florida. guest: that has been a big thing that donald trump has pushed, that he is the candidate of the people. during the primaries, he said when you have a lot of people voting, he said to win when there is a lower turnout, ted cruz and his opponents were somewhat more likely to win. against hillary clinton, he has pointed out the superdelegates that are involved in the process.' nominating he has tried to appeal to bernie sanders voters by saying that bernie was defeated by a rigged this intod he folded his broader point that the american system is rigged against the average person and that he, who has himself benefited from this rigged system, is the one candidate who

will be able to help them and be able to really fight back against this rigged system. host: i want to go back to two tweets and a final point of your essay. the bar has been set just as low for hillary clinton. she is just as bad of a candidate. kind ofcomment -- it is interesting to imagine what is going on in hillary's debate strategy meetings. how do you debate pt barnum? guest: my understanding is that hillary clinton has tried to prepare for two possibilities. one is that donald trump will come out swinging, he will be aggressive, he will be leveling a lot of attacks. and then there is another possibility that trump is going to come out in a very subdued fashion, that he is going to try to present himself as being very presidential, very mellow, very in control. is going toi think, try to prepare herself for both

possibilities because she has certainly adopted the persona. hillary clinton has got a lot of negatives, and donald trump is going to have to find a way to reinforce those negatives without reinforcing his own, to hotheaded, too aggressive, maybe does not have the temperament for the job. we conclude on this point -- host: we conclude on this point, "the washington examiner," what makes this consequential is beyond policy differences, they could answer questions about the electorate and the candidate. some concernslm about her health. trunk can soothe jitters by his temperament. hisrump consumed jitters by temperament. guest: the question that donald trump faces is -- can he do the job? does he have the right

temperament and frame of mind to deal with the pressures of the presidency, to handle the nuclear code? those are things in a debate setting that they will be able to address, and trump really faces the biggest test because he is still somewhat behind, and there are more western -- qu estion marks over his candidacy than overt hillary clinton's. trump has the advantage of strange, -- of change. again, his work available online at washingtonexaminer.com, serving as the politics editor. thank you very much. we are less than nine minutes away from the opening ceremony of the museum of african american history and culture. we will have live coverage here on c-span. the president among those

scheduled to speak, and in our next segment, we will take a issues african-american with greg carr of howard university. later, we will take you inside the building of this historic museum, adjacent to the white house and the washington monument. gloria is the library director for the library of congress and the national book festival that also gets underway today. we will have live coverage on c-span2. thank you very much for being with us. guest: it is a pleasure for being with you. the: let's talk about significance of this event. has been 15 years since the first one took place on the mall here in washington, d.c., put forth by then first lady laura bush. how has it changed and evolved? changed enormous the change has been mainly in size but also in its very nature. i mean, the first festival was

8, 2001, whicher you can imagine -- it was three days before symptom or 11. beforeanother era -- september 11. it was another era. everyone was free out in the open area. everything changed the following year of course. we continue to have it on the mall, and it continued to grow, but it came to a time when it had really had grown and needed the extra bells and whistles -- audiovisual -- that the convention center has been a wonderful home for it. -- it began at about 30,000 people showed up for the first one, and now the figure in excess ofl

150,000 people. it is the largest event that is held in the convention center in -- wear, so it means that do not actually know the numbers, but the festival is running for 12 hours, and the convention center holds 50,000 people. so it is a great festival. big, it is, it is very lively. the spirit of the thing is so wonderful because leaders -- there is no greater medium because you meet on the page. a book does not exist until somebody reads it, and then to actually have the author in front of you or to have, for the writer, a reader in front of you , it is quite a magical setting. host: it is a picture-perfect

day for those who conduct for the dedication ceremony of the african american museum or also be national book festival that laura bush organized. live coverage all day on c-span two. who are among the officers -- the authors that you are interested to hear from? guest: we have for the first time this year a mainstage, and the main stage has the superstars, who are stephen king, salman rushdie, bob kareem abdul-jabbar, who has written a book on race, which is really interesting and timely. shonda rimes, who is a tv person. but there are many more -- wonderful authors, joyce carol oates, marilyn burns is coming to do his children's book, tommy alexander, the newbery winner,

book.ing to do his teens colson whitehead -- just one after another. just a great cavalcade of writers of every sort. we have writers that we brought from sweden, spain, mexico, and uruguay. it is quite a combination. a little something for everybody. host: the library of congress beginning,ored the -- since the beginning, correct? absolutely. and it is the only host. the library of congress runs the national book festival. with the generous support of david rubenstein, who gives a lot of money to the festival every year. no, it is a library of

congress feature, and it is a wonderful way, especially now with a new library of congress, carla hayden, who just started a couple of weeks ago, to introduce her to the american public. teens library of congress, first woman, first african-american, first professional librarian that we have ever had. arana is the literary director of the national book festival taking place at the washington -- the convention center here in washington, d.c. thanks for joining us. we appreciate it. a reminder, live coverage on c-span2 and booktv. live coverage this morning on the opening ceremony of the african american museum and culture. this is what it looks like outside the historic location. it has been years in the making, and we will have video both inside and outside. we will take you there in about 80 minutes.

greg carr is the professor of african american history and culture at howard university in washington, d.c. guest: glad to be here, man. host: the president talked about the timing of this 19th museum by the mr. romney and -- by the smithsonian, and the events happening in north carolina recently. juxtapose them. guest: the more things change, the more things stay the same. president obama captured in some ways the deep ambiguity in the age of obama related to race. i think it really emphasized the need for a museum, for a place together where people can have these often difficult conversations. in charlotte, north carolina the state taking over an investigation of people bantering back and forth between local and state government, looking for justice. when we saw tulsa, oklahoma --

there was a race riot in 1920 one third of course, now they are saying they did not protest in tulsa like they did in charlotte p are then you have columbus, ohio, where a young boy, 100 pounds, was shot. preliminary reports say he was actually running away. what that demonstrates is these policing,of race and of race and the american spirit or as fundamental now as they were a century ago or close to a century ago when black veterans first maybe call for a museum on a national mall. host: one of the issues in north carolina, police say they will not release the police video, but the wife of the victim did release some video yesterday. why do you think the police department is saying no? guest: well, it is very interesting, because according to the state bureau of investigation, they want them to release the tape. and the mayor of charlotte, mayor roberts, she is urging for these to be released.

when you hear the police chief, a black man, saying we do not want to inflame tensions, we do not want to disrupt the investigation. i think what we have is a real question of whether or not the police can be trusted. do not mean i individual policeman, i mean the idea of law enforcement as an institutional arrangement. are we looking for somehow some ability to keep everybody calm? law and order are not the same words. i think people are more concerned with order than law. host: this is the headline of -- "don'tork times" shoot him." this video is getting a lot of attention. here is a portion. can is interesting is you see even as her husband is on the ground. times have changed. guest: they have changed, but some people are arguing that , to use aes a form of

phrase being bandied about, "trauma porn." are we just engaging in a spectacle of watching black death? has theral government idea of the attorney general. you can file a claim of racial discrimination or using federal legislation, but these cell phones, these smartphones enable everyone to engage in policing, and it has the potential to disrupt the paradigm of policing. host: let's go back and let's listen to what she is saying. it is about 20 seconds. >> i am not coming near you. i'm going to record you. he had better be alive, how about that? yes, ma'am, 9453 lexington court. this is an officer who shot my husband, and he has better live. he had better live. they are all good.

live. he had better i know he had better live. carr, that was his wife, and the question that some people are asking, why did she not drop the phone and see how he is doing? instead, she decided to record that moment. guest: the african-american experience in our country, if one thing is consistent, it is bearing witness. in that moment, she did not have the fear that we expect her to have, in part because that is one thing that black people have been able to retain, bearing witness in the moment. i want the world to see what they did to my boy. yesterday is in a long tradition of black folks saying i may not be able to stop you in this moment, but i silenced, and i think it is a remarkable moment. by henrys is a piece

louis gates -- henry louis gates junior. "never have i found that a black had uttered a thought above the level of play narration, never see even in elementary trait of painting or sculpture," thomas jefferson wrote. "i advance it, therefore, as a suspicion only that the blacks, whether originally a distinct , or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the wife in the endowments both of body and mind." guest: that is of a simpleminded. we are not created by europeans. when mr. bannister said i am in one of those people that you are talking about, he did not write back to mr. bannister. he is able to stay at his desk and write so eloquently because he is surrounded by blacks keeping him indoors and keeping everything around him operating.

jefferson is the great hypocrisy of the era. the continuing dilemma of the heart of the enterprise. fortunately, black people have not waited around to get an answer from some deals as to whether or not we are human. host: i would guess here is greg carr from temple university. joe is joining us from new orleans. the democrats line for professor greg carr. caller: good morning. i had not really a question but a comment and specifically directed for c-span. megrieves me, it saddens that on a day when we're making first museume dedicated solely to -- in washington by the smithsonian -- sponsored -- dealing with the history of black people in our country, you take the

to spin a negative connotation toward black people when you are talking about black relations, race relations and stuff. to me, this would have been an excellent opportunity, c-span, for you to talk about the contributions that black people have made to america instead of talking about the negative side of race relations. why not take this opportunity to tell people who may never, ever have the opportunity to go to the museum in washington what is there, what positive contributions we have made. i will give you an example. i had no idea that black women worked for nasa and were involved, intricately involved, in plotting the past for the

trip to the moon. i did not know that! and i bet united 9% of your audience does not know that. this would have been -- and how many people know that a black man helped develop the stop sign? how many people know that a black man developed the gas mask that helped people of today deal with disasters? host: i want to give our guests a chance to respond. thank you for the call. we have -- actually ending a hour, we will be focusing on the this ay, what is inside story museum for her to have a lot of programming on our american history network is well on the various issues that you talked about. about racet question relations because what is happening in charlotte, north carolina. thanks for the call this morning. we love the feedback. that is what makes the program work so well. we appreciate your thoughtfulness. guest: i think this is part of

the reason you asked me to come down. and i appreciate what she said. if you look at the exterior of the museum, is really the convergence of african architectural design. either this is pan african architecture, by j mack bond, it ft,designed on a euro ri but it is also in honor of the blacksmiths of new orleans and ralston. -- charleston. it is not about the extension of american history but the extension of intellectual traditions. i will be down on the mall myself to i look forward to the covers. we will celebrate today because this is a very important point. host: and joe brought up the , and therery gainer is a story in "washington post"

her, she helped put man on the moon. guest: also carla hayden. carla hayden, the symbol for black intelligence in that period was a woman. they are not just innovators, they extend a tradition that goes back at least five years in world history, and it is a black tradition. host: let's go back to the independent line. caller: good morning. thanks for taking my call. i have a comment, and i would just like to hear the guest's response. i have been very disappointed, when i listen to each of these events from mr. brown in missouri to the gentleman that was selling single cigarettes up in new york to the shootings that the media does not really analyze how each one

of these this very fact-specific. that is my one comment that i would like to hear him respond to. the second is -- water police -- not just interacting with african-americans, but with all citizens, what are they taught us how to interact in their training? my personal feeling is that in the last 50 years, police have become more aggressive in reacting to all of us at traffic stops, etc. host: thanks for the call. have you ever been pulled over? guest: absolutely. in fact, we make a joke, "i do not know of i trust a black man over 14 years old who has not been pulled over by police." it is something i am used to. host: when that happens, what do

you do? guest: i have a law degree. i teach law. when law professors are talking to high school students, particularly young men and women of african descent, they say your first job in an encounter with police is to make it out of that encounter alive and safe. unfortunately, i have heard that many times. host: into the caller's point? guest: i agree with him. adolph reed talks about using a marker ofrity as issues. no matter the color. have you been stopped by police? host: oh, i have. who hasn't? guest: to his point. when you get stopped by the police, you should be able to expect some form of decorum, some ability to not have any anxiety beyond that i make a mistake, am i safe, and i think it comes to the central question that bill raises. have they been shifting the paradigm as it relates to police engaging with the public? peopleas african

are concerned, there has not been a shift -- that has been the case since we got here. when you look at a violence question and a structural problem, we might all have a discussion. host: let's go to george in chicago. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning, brother carr. guest: good morning, brother george. how are you? caller: i am great, man. i think we're going to have to stop paying attention to this off-white -- the white altar white. that is the clan and all that group of people who got that frame of mind, they are taking control over the republican party. control over trump and all of his words that he reads coming from that circuit, so we

.ave to be careful that is what hillary was talking about when she said "the basket of deplorables," because those people controlling trump's actions and some of the things that they want to take control of our government, they have, if you check the top people that he has got advising that is who they are connected to. and so that is the carefulness that we have got to be looking for because, like, if we don't check that, everything is going to explode because that is the ku klux klan, that is all of that force coming at us. that is the lowest force in the universe, and we have got to come back at the highest force,

which that is what obama brings to it. obama brings, like he says, if they come low, we have got to come high, but we have got to come high with light, light in the darkness that is coming. and that is why trump is stumbling around in the dark because he is coming from but darkness, and the light is going to just eliminate all of that stuff. i predict that he is going to lose so bad, women are going to wake up in the next week or so, you dig? women, black people -- the italians are going to go against this character, you dig? [laughter] host: thanks for the call. guest: let me say first of all, in chicago, the museum in chicago, steve, the museum in the first museum of african american history and culture, and the museum of detroit, the charles wright

museum, this is not the first museum dedicated to the black experience, but it is the first smithsonian, national museum. history does not always go in a progression. sometimes it goes in the other direction. it goes backward. i would go as far as saying history is directionless. it depends on human initiative. trump is an aberration. this is not an aberration. this has been boiling before that. i know one thing, either of these candidates could win. george may be a little more optimistic than i am. host: we are looking at things inside the museum. including chuck berry's car. how badly do you want to sit in that? guest: i tell you, man, i just want to look at it appeared when you convene objects in a space, you cannot forget them. i will look at chuck berry's

car, and i will look at how elvis wesley, among others, repurposed chuck berry's work, and now we celebrate the car on the top floor of the museum, but what we must never lose sight of is that also speaks to a man whose car should probably be sitting in the highest halls of congress, in american history, in other words, in a place that elevates him among the race story. his influence may still be unknown. this is a may go a long way to rewrite the story. host: our next call is from marshall, texas. here ingreat car washington -- greg carr here in washington, d.c.. go ahead, keith. caller: i cannot let that jefferson quote go unchallenged. he had written to honor washington in 1809. he did this when he received

african --ture from it says, "sir, i have received the favor of your letter of august 17, and with it, the volume you were so kind to send me on the literature of be assured that no person living wishes more sincere than i do to representation of the doubts that i entertained and expressed on the grave understanding a lot of by nature. this -- defying, at are similar, they i express,es -- therefore, with great hesitation

, whatever be their degree of talent, it is no measure of their rights because sir isaac noton understood he was lured by the person or property of others." host: thank you. guest: jefferson was in direct communication with regimen vinegar, a black man, who wrote banneker, a black man, who wrote almanacs. the new director of the museum the museum is the size of the west wing. jefferson knew the genius of black people because he employed

a lot of them. unfortunately, they were considered property by him. he did not have to know how smart black people were. they enabled him with a lifestyle to write those very letters. from henry gates this morning, a museum that helps to restore what slavery took away. took away our ability to be free, in a legal sense, it took away a number of things, it destroyed a number of institutions. what never away was the genius of black people. in terms of restoring, he will memory iffresh my there was ever anything like an approximation to the quality. i think he has a fundamental misreading of history. we can get into that whenever he comes down to howard.

host: let's go to sarah with greg carr of howard university. inler: im 81, i will be 82 october. host: happy birthday. you sound great. caller: i was marching with martin luther king in the 1863, i want you to know. i have been active in different thinks throughout the years. in north carolina, if you could law and theracist voting think that the judge said, they have to cease and desist, in those areas. that was just like one month ago. i think there were three or four points that were graciously inspired to keep black people from voting. if you could discuss that.

if you feel your vote -- that you cannot get out and vote. we supported a sncc worker in the 1970's to and register people to vote. host: thank you for the call. the sncc stands for? guest: the student nonviolent coordinating committee. theerday i went down to sncc thinkers. they are still singing. host: how did that go? guest: oh my goodness -- you are not going to get me singing on tv. ♪ governor wallace . segregation bound to fall

fingers weresncc there. they will be there again today. you saw what the supreme court said in massachusetts last week. they used and quoted from a report there in massachusetts about that. massachusetts has always been progressive. if we ever get a fifth judge, maybe we would know how they would role. the north carolina legislation deliberately tried to enact

policies that would in poach upon the black right -- encroach upon the black right to vote. north carolina is a highly .ontested state october 1, you have a lot that the into place by republican majority in north carolina think that police videos would never be considered public povert property and theyt need to be released. you have had the reverend on to talk about these issues. host: when you talk about sncc, governor lewis will be front and center this morning. right. yesterday, the official snccsentative of spoke.

it shows you that america is an experiment, and it continues. host: on the mall. guest: on the national mall. host: let's go to wayne. caller: your guest is not going to like what i have to say. guest: how do you know? go ahead. caller: let me tell you. to start with, if your people are committing a disproportionate amount of the get crimes, they will stopped for them. number two, if you want a police,e outcome from obey the law. number two, when you're stopped by the police, followed their instructions. guest: you mean, like when they say put your hands up like an toast the, oklahoma, and that man was shot with his hands up. that is what you mean? caller: he did not follow the

police orders. the next point is -- guest: i'm sorry, go on. caller: thank you. the next point is that blacks in america have become the new racists. you are so sensitive to white people that you go out and beats up white people because they are white. you constantly refer to white people come away people, white people, but you are so sensitive when white people call you people you people and black. i appreciate that, considering the fact that i don't think you heard that today. the first time, you correct you do yourself -- you said you, then said, we. i'm not offended at all. i would expect that to be the absolute reaction in the country

that is becoming majority nonwhite. the majority of the world is nonwhite. america is starting to look a lot more like the world. it is unfortunate. some people are saying, for example, why do have a museum on the national mall dedicated to only african-americans. i think there is something ironic about having a museum for the american indian close to the capital, a museum for african-americans close to the national monument, and between, all the other museums, the missoni and. there's something very disruptive about this narrow definition to be american. you talk about us, you, what you shouldn't do, what we shouldn't do. we, people, when they save

americans, they mean whiteness. host: rudy, good morning. caller: good morning, professor. i do not use the term african-american because there have been so many terms over the years that have been expressed. maybe an old. like me, a 60-year-old black man, to learn something -- your moderator, steve, i have people in my family who looked just like him. i think it is great to have such a diverse family like i have. if you saw it, it would be like looking at the u.n. maybe you might be able to teach me something that i don't know. mexican,like has to be african-american, asian american , but other people don't have to

use german-american, so on and so on. maybe you can help me out a little bit. thank you, professor. i appreciate the call. i would say this. the label african-american, people chase it back decades ago. this notion of an african or black person is a product of modularity. it comes as a process of enslavement. language has incredible power. james baldwin said that. when you look at african-americans, you can see ks in the early 19th century calling themselves afri- americans. it was black, before that it was

negro. here we are today, still contesting identities. the normative definitions in this country, of for chile, are grounded in the colonial project. to be an american, in many ways, means to be white. thestruggle was to drop irish and italian so we could assimilate. guess who could never assimilate? the aboriginals of this country. host: a few more minutes with our guest. we welcome our listeners on c-span radio. we are speaking with greg carr about race relations in the u.s. and the dedication ceremony of the museum of african american history and culture. good morning. caller: good morning. up to a to follow

couple of other callers questions. you actually addressed a couple of them. i have been listening here, as far as the voting restrictions that the court refused to hear the case and uphold a lower uling because they were derived on a racial basis. that was clearly the case. to me, it was amazing it was called what it was. -- they hide behind the voter fraud issue, which is bogus. it was refreshing that a court, for once, called it what it was. we all know what it is. and, with surgical precision, research on how the voting broke down by race, and with surgical precision,

targeted how those specifically would suppress the african-american vote in particular. it is disgraceful. and with the body cameras, the legislator in june passed a law that these would not be made public. it defeats the whole purpose of having these body cameras. host: i will jump in, we want to get our guest to respond. guest: i think you laid it out. you have to show intense. you are right. i was a bit surprised and glad see theseourt did laws were enacted. we will see what happens next.

i imagine, if hillary clinton wins the election, mayor garden -- mayor garland will be on the supreme court. host: our last call comes from steve. caller: i hope you are doing well. i find it disturbing that when folks like yourself, on, and i guarantee you have every right in the world to come on -- guest: did i say that? caller: you are talking about id toamericans need the vote. you just got done thing that. if i said it, i don't remember it. caller: let me ask you a

question. why would black america vote democrat in the first place. go you talk what everything that the gop has done wrong in america. it does not make sense. you have 1800 babies aborted a day since 1973 that are black babies. guest: i can answer your question very simply. why would anybody vote for a without having the right to vote. if you trace the history in this country, there has been far too little informed voting. host: how important is this day

with this president dedicating this new museum? guest: the most important thing that barack obama may have done in this country, related to being black, was getting elected. today, he will write himself thathistory by cutting ribbon. no one can tell the story of black america. debate.will have the ultimately, we will see where it ends up. we will see if lonnie brunch is right. if we want to make progress, it is very important. professor greg carr of howard university. he is chair of african-american studies at howard.

i'm glad to be on twitter. listen, c-span and washington journal, it is an honor to be at this table to be with you. .ost: it is our pleasure you have 45 mins to get down to the mall. we will talk about the significance of this day. we would love to hear from you as the museum opens its doors. these are live pictures outside, in advance of the opening ceremony. give us a call. zone andastern time central time zone, (202) 748-8000. for the mountain and pacific, (202) 748-8001. we are back in a moment. ♪ >> this weekend, on american history tv on c-span 3, we are

live this morning at 8:00 from smithsonianan -- museum opening ceremony of the national museum of african american history and culture. speakers include president obama and bonnie bunch. >> in essence, in most history museums, we tell the story of slavery or migration. we want you to think about it on a human scale. artist, just after 7:00, peter whitetail shares his paintings depicting washington d.c and the 19th century. truman presidency, those giant lights outside the white house that were taken out during the roosevelt rehab in

1902. theunday evening at 6:00, mosys my house was the first owned by a jewish family. downout how it was passed through the myers family. >> they struck gold. 22 and a half caret gold, largely intact. it only had to be repaired in a few places. today it is considered one of the most elaborately gilded fireplaces of its kind. >> for the complete schedule, go to c-span.org. -- >> "washington journal" continues. lies, outside the museum of african american culture and history, the ceremony begins at 10:00 eastern time live here on

c-span. the headlight, the story behind the african-american museum -- it is located on what was once the south bank of the tiber creek, located between the monument and the white house. our lines are open. we want to hear from you. lapse photography over the last couple of years, for those living in washington, we have been seeing the construction on a regular basis. design from on the the architect behind the museum. the inspiration was understanding that the

african-american community comes from the central and west of africa. there is an extraordinary theseion of creating incredible structures. i thought it would be prudent to to make a reference to that tradition so the african-americans who do not know this tradition would understand the place they came from had these incredible traditions. that is part of america and part of that history also. it is a very important restaurants -- reference and .nspiration the incredible metalwork of those houses was predominantly built by slaves. we want to honor that incredible

labor and craft. you see this incredible detail that is about that language. >> those motives, are they evident on the exterior plantation homes in the south? >> they are. ironwork.ee the at on our building is the mapping, using a computer program. >> we are standing now in the oprah winfrey theater. the design here is an echo of the design theme. can you explain how? > it is the exact same pattern, but produced in scale. we want you to feel that you are in the heart of the building. objectoutside, it is an

in the mall. in the theater, you are the center and the building surrounds you. wanted for a much, on the south side of the mall, to create a real welcome. this idea of living inside outside, we thought was a very important idea we wanted a toy first century transition of. create a water body and structure that basically creates an incredible shape and on a hote winds -- summer day, you are sweating and you are able to come to the museum and have the cooling effect with the porch and water reflecting pool. host: more from that time lapse

oftography and the work david. "the chicago tribune those quote toing it is impossible museum -- "the chicago tribune" saying it is impossible to capture the museum in just the 300 artifacts inside. let's hear from john. good morning. caller: good morning, steve. offer an ideao and also ae program, might reparations that work for the people of america. the program you need is one on voter suppression and the

ules,ng of voter rol ofminating the ability millions of people from voting. it is an issue that needs to be covered. , therea of reparations needs to be a focus on improving the graduation rate of minority citizens. this is the first to bring the issue of funding to an individual level. second, to establish accounts show up anddent to do well in school so that they make aover 12 years, significant contribution to college, or their job, or whatever.

for the call.u you are looking at the howard university marching band. we go to derek. good morning. caller: hello, and good morning. host: go ahead, you are on the air. caller: good morning. beas so excited to happen to one of the people who has the artifacts in the museum. i was a former soldier. we walked up to the museum, it with incredible feeling the people all in line, smiling, and waiting to get in. the reception was so awesome. items of allf the those who have gone before me displaysme, seeing the was incredible. host: thank you for the call.

23,000 tickets were snatched up tours offor the first sto the museum. let's go to melvin. good morning. caller: yes, sir. host: good morning. caller: good morning. that i'm glady they have a museum in washington, d.c. that represents what the african-american has done. has, not only here, but it taken this as far back as possible. think, if what was done to our people here in america were to revert, and was done to the

caucasians, none of us would be of the idea of revenge -- host: we are getting a little bit of feedback from your call, but we get the essence of your points. we appreciate that. rick has this tweets, with regard to the design of the architectural structure of the national museum of african american history is truly magnificent, great tribute and monument. is behind the construction of this museum. a few years ago, we toured the warehouse where many of the artifacts that are now on display today were stored. [video clip] >> what happens when you try to build a museum is this notion of the collection. one of the challenges is the variety of ways you do this. early in my career, it was easy. people felt a desire to give to

the museum. as times changed, these things became a commodity. began to seeple these as a way to make money. we still have people are great donors, who we court and talk to about donating materials. also, people just call and say, i have this cool thing, do you want to? sometimes it is cool, sometimes it is a copy. we have to be very careful about what happens. often when you create a museum, embrace of that 30 or 40 years later, you have things you don't need. you often times also go out to auction or purchase things that are really rare. that.e try to do is limit it is hard to get sometimes

civil war air of material or slavery material, or fine arts. we go out and try to judiciously acquire items through purchase. we have a variety of mechanisms that allow us to build this collection. one of the joys of this process is realizing just what is out there. there are many things you want you you hope to find, but are convinced you will never find it. right here, we are looking at two artifacts that i was convinced did not exist. these are materials that are related to harriet tubman, the railroad abolitionist and -- underground railroad conductor. what you are looking at is a shaw given to harriet come in

from the queen of england in order to honor her. what i love is not only did we get this from a collector, but he gave us this gospel hymnal. this is a hymnal railroad -- that harriet tubman owned. what is powerful, if you remember, when harriet tubman would go south to alert the enslaved that it was time variesshe would sing hymnal's ph you cannot read, but the fact that she carried this with her for a large part of her life is a very powerful piece. host: he was the visionary force behind the african-american museum of history and culture. a few years ago, we toured the warehouse where many of the storedts on display were until today, the opening ceremonies by president barack obama and vice president biden.

we will have live coverage at the top of the hour. check out the website for more on the tories and the opening ceremony. is joining us. good morning, mike. and a: i have a comment question. my comment is i think the museum is rightfully so, i think the african-american community has in ouran intricate role history. my question is this. i think one of the most influential men in the history of this world was martin luther king. without changed society a shot fired. i do believe in today's world the youth in the black community have not followed the who set the man

course of this country and a different direction, giving many opportunities to the black community. i want your thoughts on that, professor. has left,essor carr he is asked a heading down for the ceremony. we appreciate your comments. we will leave it at that. i'm proudthis tweet -- of my country, the black story has been suppressed until now, but now you can see the water sounds. back to calls and more lies pictures outside the museum. steve from phoenix, good morning. caller: good morning. i cannot help but notice a certain paradox. that is, at the very moment that the museum is made, it basically shows the history of separation in our country.

around, you will see thee husband is darker than wife -- there is a lot of intermingling because of mass transportation. i cannot help but notice the paradox. the museum shows what a certain group of people to, but at this time in history, we are all integrating. it is like looking at something that, in all honesty, we don't want to exist anymore. host: thank you for your call. viewer a comment from a ising harriet tubman's shawl on display, i look forward to seeing it.

let's go to clyde, joining us from atkins, minnesota. thank you very much for taking my call. i will try to be brief. math teaches us that if you start from an incorrect premise, you will be incorrect. let's apply that to our social cont construct. we got off on the wrong foot. no one denies that. i think we need to study history and away with respect to the museum, and all museums. chinese, african-americans, native americans, chinese -- so we understand where we are today and why we are where we are at and white we should be somewhere

else. we need to think about people. everybody in this country should write a dissertation on all nationality history in this ourtry before we go to electives. we need to get our act together and not let perception be reality but let the facts teaches what we do not know. host: thank you for the call. oprah winfrey, by the way, donating $21 million for the theater inside the museum. she also donated some of the slave shackles from about 1845. bunch.ckground on lonnie he took up this effort to lead to today's opening ceremony.

we will hear from him as well. the live coverage getting underway around 10:00 eastern time. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm a teacher in the city where i live, and i teach music. and so glad to see this open up. i'm sure it is telling the story of african-americans and contributions that our people have made to this country. the history of american history intertwines with every group that has come here, and the groups to come. i'm looking forward to taking a trip to d.c. as soon as i can to see the african-american history museum. i will bring to them true facts from this museum about african-american history, since

it is not included in most history books. thank you for the call. another viewer saying, thank you for covering this grand opening, very proud and happy about this day. ben inhear now from springfield, missouri. caller: i hope in the museum, i'm sure they do, by hope there is a point where they talk about henson,enson -- josiah a runaway slave whose autobiography inspired uncle m's cabin. josiah is in there and it is mentioned that the book came from his story.

it was inspired by his story. host: thank you. ellis.go to thank you for calling in. caller: it is my pleasure, gun fellow. i would like you to have the police officer from buffalo, new york to come on one day. she was fired. i was glad to hear from one young white man who said he did not realize all of this was happening, about the shooting, and all that stuff. he said, i wonder why the black folks were not a whole lot matter. folksn to me, the texas using government land, and the shotguns for the federal offices, but no one was shot. you have a standoff right now and no one is getting shot. host: let's listen in right now.

this is the preprogram before the ceremony gets underway on the washington mall in washington, d.c. [video clip] ♪ host: culture and history coming together at the mall in washington, d.c. and the museum of african american history and

culture. fredericksburg, virginia, good morning. caller: wonderful coverage. this is so great. host: it is just beginning. much more to come in the next 15-20 minutes. caller: i'm so glad it has finally happened and we are able to watch it. there.nning on getting the earliest i can get there is november, which is fabulous. host: the tickets went up city quickly. caller: it is just a great day. host: i just want to mention, this is along the mall, they have set up some huge monitors. i know you are in fredericksburg, not enough time to get here, but if you are in the d.c. area and want to be part of the activities, you can surly do so by going to the mall and watching it from the screens that have been set up. caller: definitely. i highly recommend it if people can get there. i'm enjoying the coverage here.

i will see the museum itself in a couple of months. bravo. host: thank you for calling in. let's go to susanna from florida. caller: good morning. thank you so much for this coverage. it is something that is overdue. years ago,een this we would not have the problem with have now. difficult for young black people, especially, to not .e able to go to the library when i was growing up, i used to mom, why not treat something about my history, how did we get here? learnedthe only thing i

in my high school. there was one article with a picture of a person from africa. one man. grotesque, awful. i could not identify with him. there was no record for years. then, you wonder why we black now.e are so untrustworthy .e do not have a history it would make a difference if we had known. i think america owes something to the black people today. it was not right, just not right to leave all of the beautiful history out. the call.k you for be began the program with comments from the president yesterday at a reception that

took place last night. here is part of what the president said in light of what has been happening in north carolina and today's event on the mall. [video clip] my hope is that black folks, watching the same images on the television, and then seeing the history represented in this museum can say to themselves the struggles we are going through today are connected to the past, and yet, although the progress we have made tells me i cannot and will not sink into despair. host: ray from richmond, virginia, thank you for joining us. caller: thank you for having me. host: you are on the air, go ahead. caller: what i would like to say

is i'm excited about the idea of the museum. what i am concerned about is the narrative in which our history is being framed. insteadthe result of -- of seeing our people in terms of toe and color, we have recognize that mankind is not nations andace, but tribes. this history of the indigenous african american people is the evolution of the making of a new tribe of people. haveent the fact that we embraced racist language by white to define human beings. the american human being is not

white. just because you have one drop notlood in you, it is black. it is the result of institutional racism that has put us in this type of mine. it is unfortunate that scholars have embraced this racist language in the making of a new tribe of people. have ae in the world can tribal origin and a national origin. this is the advantage that most people have over the indigenous african people. "st: this is a headline from the baltimore sun." this tweet from another viewer saying, the calls this morning, largely positive, it feels so good to be collectively happy

about something. the stacy, who represents virgin islands we spoke about the significance of today's ceremony. [video clip] >> do you there is a role for the museum in the national ?ialogue we are having to go >> i represent the u.s. virgin islands, which next year will have 100 years as part of the united states. we have our own story of slavery and exclusion from the american story itself. from one of our virgin islanders, alexander hamilton, to others. we are hopeful that our story as well, the story of all scooter people, can be told through the museum. i think the museum is providing that.cle for

you tell us what the museum means to you personally? as i said, i was a history major, so to me all things revolve around history. if you don't know your history, you cannot move forward. this will be something that i told all of my sons who are out of school. we will take a day as a family and immerse ourselves in the museum. yourselfortant to see in all aspects of american life. will be a that there place for not just myself but my sons and daughter to deal to see themselves and feel they are part of the american story. host: a delegate from the u.s. virgin islands speaking of the

significance of today's ceremony. it is a gorgeous day in washington, d.c. as people line up along the mall. of course, the president will be speaking at today's event. let's go to georgia, good morning. go ahead. you are on the air. caller: how are you doing? fine, thank you. in america.t day about the civil rights movement. i'm sure everyone who participated, those who are alive and who have gone on to this, would be proud of

day. i am because i grew up in the civil rights movement. marched to one of the prison tier in georgia. i remember when all the african-americans were being and fireby dogs hydrants. we could only drink from a colored fountain. proud grown, and i'm so that we have this museum. i wish that every small town teenager can go to this museum and see where we came from. host: let me ask you a question based on your own experience. you talk about the fountains on display at the museum. or symbols one moment

of what you and african-americans went through, what do you think it needs to be? weler: it needs to be what went through and what the white people put us through, they should put themselves in our place. if they could put themselves in , how would they react? i felt belittled. i was a child, like 12 years old. i did not understand that, why they need to have two penalties. it was degrading. host: can i ask how old you are now? caller: 70. host: you sound terrific. thank you for the call. caller: have a wonderful day. host: president george w. bush also in attendance.

more before the ceremony gets underway at 10:00. [video clip] ♪

of therom the steps museum of african american history and culture. a couple more minutes of your calls and comments. we will go to dorothy from new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i was talking about the negro national anthem. we were taught to stand whenever we heard it. anthem,yed the national than they would ask people to continue standing for the negro national anthem. don't hear it anymore. it is forgotten.

our children know nothing about it. i would like to see a copy of that in the museum. we honor all are dead sons and the civilnd men from war, slavery, world war i, world .ar ii we could not even sit next to each other at a counter when they came back from the war. host: can you read of verse of it? go ahead. caller: my eyes have seen the lord.of the coming of the i'm sure you have heard it. , just do not know the whole complete song. .hat is the beginning of it the negro national anthem.

becameplayed after we desegregated, they played it no more. host: we will move on. we only have a few minutes left of calls. we appreciate you calling in. in las vegas. caller: thank you for covering this. i think the design of the building is just beautiful. that, ined by the fact recent decades, so many people of color have immigrated to this country, whether it is legal or illegal. it seems that african-americans are more in jeopardy than ever before that the vast majority. i'm not talking about the one or 10%. that haunts me. it should hunt all of us. i will get off the call now.

york, from hudson, new good morning. how are you? doing well. i'm just calling to say that i think this is such a marvelous idea, i cannot wait to get down there. people learn our history. kids do not understand it, they don't know it. i think this is just marvelous. everything looks great. i'm so happy you are covering this today. host: let me ask you the same question i asked an earlier caller, if there is one artifact that represents the struggles and successes of african-americans, what would it be? what would you include in the museum? caller: i say it would be the sit in and greensboro. i went to a segregated school. i can't believe we had to be

taught to be done violet. you cannot put as they in any of the sit in unless you could sit there and be taunted. and all the more lighting things done to our people. in our school, we shall he had classes to teach you to just sit abuse.nd take this if you are not able to do that, they did not what you participating. i think they don't understand what we went through, the we went through. all you hear on tv now is how terrible black people are, how violent they are. we went through struggles for a lifetime. i'm so happy about the good things that people have contributed to this country. host: that is the perfect way w. all you to conclude this program this morning. folks continue to gather next to the museum and those inside the area where the speaking will

take place. c-span will be the one network to take you outside and into the ceremony that will get underway momentarily. check out our behind-the-scenes tour available on her website, c-span.org. thank you for joining us on this saturday morning. c-span's live coverage of the opening ceremony of the smithsonian museum of african american history and culture gets underway now. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] only rawlings blake:

then, will we have not just a voice, but votes in both houses of our congress. together, and only together, we can write this wrong i making our union more perfect. , when we become the 51st state. please, please, enjoy my hometown, embrace the richness from theighborhood place where frederick douglass made his home to you street where duke ellington made his roots. come back often to visit this national museum of african american history and culture and celebrate how far we have come together. may god continue to bless you, the district of columbia, and the united states of america. thank you. [applause]