outrageous, but that is the american way. it is freedom of speech. if somebody says they support biden and kamala harris that is their right. why do we want people to believe what they believe -- what we believe? diversity of thought is essential. we should celebrate each other's experiences. for me, i have a strong guidance system, a strong belief system, and no matter how much i have invested in my value system over the last decade, if someone takes me to a higher truth, i would have been did my ideology. it is the truth i will embrace because it is the truth that i see, not being right or wrong. host: deborah in south bend, indiana, hello. caller: good morning.

mr. williams, in my opinion, it is this. repeats toociety itself a peaceful transition of power, you allow the whirlwind of chaos to come in. you cannot continue these tobleweeds until we get back do peaceful transitions of power, regardless to what the political environment is. .veryone has an opportunity and you guys refuse to allow this man his opportunity to show you what he thought he could do. and ally jumped up, went, no.

say congratulations for winning the presidency. so we can get our society back in order. we are tired of fighting. we do not have to do this. all you guys have to do is give that man what he wants. host: deborah in indiana, thank you. caller: very interesting call -- guest: -- very interesting call. respect is important. i think the american people should decide the fate of our president, our president. i respect him. i respect the office. there are many things he has done that all of us should be proud of. obviously, there are imperfect things that we would like to november, no in

matter what they may tell us, when he was challenged by hillary clinton that he had no chance of winning. but i respect the american voter. i respect the will of the people. and whatever the american people decide, whoever will lead this country is who i will embrace as president. i respect democracy. there will be a peaceful transition and i think we should respect the will of the people. host: we do not have time to fully examine it, but in your book you talk about your relationship you had with south carolina senator strom thurmond. remind people who use and your relationship. guest: he was a former segregationist. my father want me to meet him because he thought -- was failing at it some point there would be other opportunities for my brothers and sisters and i to create a way of life for our family that would continue the

legacy of my mother and father. my father introduced me to senator strom thurmond and i never forget that when i met him, i said i hear you are a racist. my father i thought would knock my jaw, but he kind of chuckled. senator thurmond said you see like -- you seem like a nice young man. it is the most interesting internship i have ever had. he talks about the fact that while his policies may have been racist, which has impacted fair., it always felt he always agonized about doing the right thing. people are equal, they should have dignity. miscarriages of justice was when our founding fathers who fought against british tyranny and taxes so we can have her thirst -- we could

have respect and dignity of our own, yet we became hypocrites and enslaved our african brothers, becoming hypocrites of to becomehings americans. he said it would be the achilles heel of america. he said it would continue unless good men decided to do something. so i respect him tremendously because i realized that, while people may judge someone based on their past, you have to understand that people can change. they can become different, better. strom thurmond made me realize you cannot look at somebody as black or white. you have to get to know them. that is why i have such a diverse people, not just because they are jewish, black, white, hispanic, european, but because they share our value system.

we develop this camaraderie, this collaboration. people must stop getting caught up in stereotypes. statues of something that happened 200 years ago or someone who may have said something not politically correct is outrageous. if you believe people cannot change and make peace with themselves and their god and you continue to punish them, then we have lost the moral high ground and will never make the progress that is necessary for america to continue being great. host: miami beach, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. guest: good morning, brian. caller: good morning. i would like to bring the conversation back to where you were talking about the creation of wealth. gapi think that the wealth

is a big issue with the protesting that we have right now. as we can see, it is not just black people protesting. it is also white people that are protesting with the black people, talking about the disparity in the country. i feel that the creation of bothh would encourage white and black people to bring the country together, because a lot of the times, we find that the country is divided into -- in two, the haves and the have-nots. partiese are three populating the country, the haves, have-nots, and the elites. while the haves and have-nots are fighting about race, the elites are bringing in money like crazy. while jobs have gotten better -- just one last point -- while jobs have increased, the wealth gap has gotten larger.

host: thank you. like anything else, in terms of student loans, they do not feel they are going to get a fair shake in terms of the kind of success that their parents had. i know these guys. my buddies jacob locke. i have gotten a chance over the last two years, there has sort of been a renaissance with my buddies, young people between the ages of 28 and 32. it took me into this place called summertime valley where these young people are creating -- called silicon valley were these young people are creating companies. it is because they are taking advantage of technology, taking advantage of innovation. so i asked them.

i said, where is the diversity, creating this kind of wealth and opportunities? i challenge them. even over the last several months, they have gone back to try to find, included, and empower other minorities that otherwise would not have had these kind of opportunities. while we may want to say that young people are not making progress, like i said, i have had this renaissance over the last several years, where young people are making incredible strides in terms of wealth. they are socially conscious. they care about politics, poverty, and class issues. they have this value system that gives me tremendous hope. someone like myself, i hope a generation tries to support this. someone like amisha, a competitor -- a contributor for us, amisha cross, is taking this perspective. she does not necessarily share my point of view of how the world is. she has a perspective that is

important. it is not enough to say that young people do not have a piece of the american dream or opportunity, but people like myself, and there are many like us, have to create the next generation on the political front, crating technology, wealth, and opportunities, because that is our true legacy in america. well i might not be able to save the world in washington, d.c. and south carolina, i tear carrier -- i take care of those communities where we are. that is the beauty of america. americans are so connected. it is like two degrees of separation. i: people who have been blessed to do some mentoring -- i call on people who have been blessed to do some mentoring. host: pennsylvania. we will hear from debbie. thank you.

you are well-dressed. i heard some interesting statements. though you say, even have racist policies, but it sounds like your narrative is hope and change. where did i hear that from before? wealth. this country was built on stealing from one community to the other. that created wealth. some things just have to be corrected before they can be statues,and though even though it might seem like they don't matter, they matter to the people that put them up there. that mindset still exists. i heard you said you have never experienced racism. i heard a caller put you in the --egory that someone would

some people would consider racist. he automatically assumed you were a democrat because you are black, but that is another point. but i just wanted to put out there that there are some buzzwords going on even in your conversation that people are fighting about today. thank you. have a great day. host: thank you. guest: debbie, i appreciate your yournt, and i respect position on the statues, but while i respect your position on the statues, and it seems to me that you can empathize with those who want to remove them, here is what i ask you -- ask you. -- asked you. i asked you to sit down with someone who has a fully 180 degree opinion on the statues. let them listen to your perspective. because i do not just give my

position based on how i feel. i have many conversations with people. i have fierce debates in my office with my staff. many of them do not share my philosophy about the world, but i find that i am better. do not want my thoughts and writings and broadcasts to be in a vacuum. i want people to challenge me. so i find different places to talk to people who have this affinity for the statues. i will tell you something. i am convinced that removing the statues is not the answer. another thing is that they remind me of -- there is nobody living in america today that has anything to do with the racist past of our founding fathers and with the statues me represent. -- may represent. i'll ask you to do is

collaborate -- all i ask you to do is collaborate. find yourself in a comfortable situation with someone who totally disagrees with you, and be open to change in the way you think and to come to a better understanding and solution. host: the book is what blackened white america must do now -- what black-and-white america must do now. the author is armstrong williams. thank you for have -- for being here with us today. guest: thank you for having me. thank you for your comments. god bless you and god bless this great country of ours known as the united states of america. host: that is it for our program today. another edition of washington journal will come your way at 7:00 tomorrow morning. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy,

visit ncicap.org] ♪ >> you're watching c-span, your unfiltered view of government, created by america's cable television companies as a public service, and brought to you today by your television provider. dr. anthony fauci joins a discussion on the response to the pandemic, in science on the frontlines, today at 1:00 p.m. eastern. tuesday, a campaign event with president trump at the winston-salem, north carolina airport. live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. shameful record is a rollcall of the most