this morning, you are irrelevant. unless of course you're one of the select few whose vote matters. i'll explain. plus, i have a theory about why black republican men have such bad haircuts. i'll ask michael steele if he agrees. the best part of having my own cable show, inviting who i want to the table. this morning, professor anita hill joins me. it might be the breakfast burritos we had this morning, but i think we've got a gas problem. good morning. i'm melissa harris-perry. it's sunday. a day when many american families sit down at the kitchen table and face the reality of the household budget for the week, groceries, bills and gasoline. it you're trying to stretch your dollars, even a small increase in the price per gallon can change your plans. not just the cost of your gas but your milk, your produce.

the things that have to be hauled across america's highways to you. even if you don't like big government, these kinds of pocketbook economic issues tend to make liberals and conservatives alike look to washington leadership for relief. if you look to the republicans right now, republicans like newt gingrich, you'll hear promises like the one he made campaigning in california last night. >> look, you have two futures. you have $2.50 a gallon lessor $9 or $10 a more. you pick. i think all of a sudden obama's majority starts to shrink. >> and here we go. politicians making promises o lower prices at the pump again. with unemployment number on the uptick. this seems to be the republican way of talking economics. this is the new hotness that isn't so new. honestly, i'm a bit overwhelmed by the deja vu. remember this from then candidate john mccain four years

ago. >> gas prices $4, $5, no end in sight. because some in washington are still saying no to drilling in america. no to independence from foreign oil. who can you thank for rising prices at the pump? >> if republicans thought it's smart to blame high gas prices on a senator from illinois, it's not surprising that they bring back this line of attack. but why assume that this is a wedge issue when everybody, and i mean everybody, feels the pinch at the pump. for that matter, do we really know ha is driving prices in the first place? treasury secretary tim geithner says they're up due to a mix of economic expansion, speculation baysed on iran's saber rattling. this week, president obama emphasized that presidents aren't magical and it's all about politic. >> we hear the same thing every year. we've heard the same thing for

30 years. well, the american people aren't stupid. you know that's not a plan. especially since we're already drilling. it's a bumper sticker. it's not a strategy to solve our energy challenge. it's a strategy to get politicians through an election. >> it's not a strategy, it's a bumper sticker. but still, is the president himself playing politics this? the issue of gas prices is coming at us from both republicans and democrats. but when this issue was a loser for republicans in 2008 and for democrats in 2004, why are politicians so eager to go to this well again? joining me now, michael steele, former chairman of the republican national committee who has a quite nice haircut and msnbc political analyst correspondent for rock center, harry smith. >> i have no hair. it's real easy. >> i really appreciate both of you for being here this morning. look, the conversation has turned to gas prices in a very powerful way. i suppose i want to ask two sets

of questions. one is about the politics of this and the other is about the economics of this. what really does drive gas prices. harry, i'll start with you on that. is there something that a president can do to fundamentally impact the price of gasoline that we experience at the pump? >> not much. i mean, quite frankly, you think about how many pumps are operating in the united states right now. many more than were say four or five years ago. they're drilling like crazy. there are almost 2,000 drilling rigs operating in the united states right now. there is more oil in the back en oilfield under north dakota then in a bay. there's a lot of oil in the united states that's with improved technology fairly easy to reach and i think this whole idea of using gas prices as a political wedge is just low hanging fruit. >> the other side of that and this is where i kind of on your opening commentary really think the bright spot is, the lack of

an energy policy by either administrations, democrat or republican over the last 10 or so years is glaring at this point. when you think about not just what we can do with oil, natural gas, wind and solar. nuclear. there's so many avenues that americans have to access better energy policies and better energy ways and things to o do, that we're just not doing it right now. both democrats and republicans are disingenuous when you talk about this. the bottom line an the problem, you and i feel it sitting at the kitchen table looking at an extra $30 a month in gasoline cost. >> i mean, you have to -- if we look at gas prices, average prices four years ago in 2008 and now in 2012. the gas prices in november of 2008 an average of $1.81 per gallon. and now up to $3.53 a gallon. >> that gap was in the first two

years of the current administration. here's my question. if you look at that and overlay that on top of a housing crisis and overlay that on top of an unemployment crisis, which is getting better, but still quite bad, what is something like that kind of difference mean in an american household. on sunday morning, we do a lot of kitchen table bill-paying on sunday mornings at my house. this is the moment when you go, okay, what does it mean not only at the pump but in other places in. >> it means a lot. because as i said, it's money out of your pocket. it's immediate. you feel it right now. i think how this resonates with the american people, particularly as we're sitting here in february, beginning of march, at almost $4 a gallon on the east coast, over $4 a gallon on the west coast. what does it look like. families are thinking about the summer vacation differently. staying closer to home. not putting the moneys that they do have extra into the economy but instead putting it at the gas pump is not something they

want do. >> here's my nervousness though. if we tell that story, the increase. there's tons of oil available there in north dakota, no one lives there. let's go frack it on out. isn't that notion that oil directly out of natural resources is not quite the answer to gas prices at the pump? there are like three or four or 10 or 15 steps. >> there's not enough refining capacity, haven't built a new refinery in how many years. most of our oil comes from canada, not saudi arabia. it comes from dcanada and mexic. there's three or four times more there. i feel this bubble is all about iran. if you had people speculating about gas and oil futures and saying ooh, we're nervous, it's not about the reality of supply and demand.

it's really about people afraid of what's happening in the middle east. >> i think that's a big driver. >> it is the republican candidates who are giving us the iranian fear mongering right now. telling us, we may need to ramp up for war, in fact we heard candidate -- >> but that's not a direct correlation with gas. that's a foreign policy discussion that has a gas -- >> it's driving the speculation. >> right. so it's a two-step process. >> it's not like republicans are seeking this fight. iran is doing things proactively to cause that kind of question or instability in the marketplace as well. >> you had governor romney saying in wednesday night's debate, look, a nuclear -- i do that all the time. a nuclear ahmadinejad. in iran with the bad bomb. it's clearly a much worse than even $6 gas prices. he's saying, look, let's not worry about the pump. we have to worry first about foreign policy security. that's one thing for voters to

make a decision on. but if you have speculators who are in fact driving this, then they hear that and say, okay, wait a minute, this is then going to alter what happens. at my kitchen table, i'm dealing with nearly $4 a gallon gas. how is it -- >> there is in -- honestly, just as an issue, you can't draw a straight line from that price on the sign up there to republican, to democrat, to whatever. so if somebody running against you with that, i think it's fairly easy to push that -- that's easy to push back. once again, it's low-hanging fruit. it's in everybody's face and you might as well glom on to that. whether it's true r not -- >> you feel immediately. >> it's irrelevant. >> speaking of people feeling it, allen west facebooked about how he was feeling this pinch at the pump and actually says on his facebook, last night it took $70 to fill the tank, this is

where it got great, of my 2008, h 3 hummer. which felt like he's trying to make this claim against the president, the president is making it tough for me to fill the tank on my h3 hummer. the first feeling is why in the world are you driving that? in a broader sense, isn't this question of how americans consume energy. at least as important as any government policy around energy? >> i think that's what drives the government policy and the fact that there is none, per se, on the question of energy, i think a lot of americans are kind of out in the wilderness when it comes to energy consumption. we are told, you know, that you should turn your thermostat back down or you should use this kind of light bulb. >> not a bad policy inflate your tires. >> that is not a mol si because it's not connected to anything. there is no broader understanding of why we need to do these things and the implications for the country as a whole, when you tell me to buy your government light bulb, my

response is, no. but if i'm connected to it in some kind of way, then i begin to see the broader picture. that's the failure i think of both democrats and republicans over the last ten or so years in setting down a bright line. how do you have a discussion about energy, melissa, when you don't include the nuclear industry, the wind or solar industry. when you pick and choose your favorites and that's the only people you're talking to, that is not a policy. >> we're going to come up with more pumped up policies and talk about whether there is, in fact, an energy policy and what it might look like right after the break. they upgraded with new seating, state of the art technology and lobby renovations. the atrium is now one the few

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gas is a $4. it's going up. what is this president doing

wrong, what are you going to do about it. >> the american people know it's driven by the smie and demand. it's going to drive to a certain degree gas prices. but american people want to see the president is trying to do something about it. >> that was mitt romney friday night. that was mitt romney hours after he gave this speech. standing near the detroit lions end zone filling ford field to 1.5% capacity. giving us all here reason to talk about optics. but at that town hall in kalamazoo michigan, it was romney talking about optics, more or less, admitting that politicking over gas prices is over optics. that talking gas is all about the president looking like he's doing something to bring prices down even if there isn't just one thing he can do to actually make it happen. joining us now again to pick up this conversation, our farmer rnc chairman, michael steele and rock center correspondent harry smith. you know, here we have romney

saying, okay, it's complicated. it's international. it's about all of these various aspects. but he's obviously trying to run a campaign hopefully to become the nominee to run against president obama so he has a political interest in suggesting that president obama needs to do something. what exactly do you think president obama should be looking like he's doing? >> one of the things, because this came up in the last segment. cafe standards. america did not raise cafe standards for years and years and years. we go back to the guy in the hummer paying all that money. a pickup truck where united states automakers, where automakers make their money is on pickup trucks. that's sells. the little stuff sells, fine. but they make their money on pickup trucks. >> it's a great vehicle. >> guess what? it's getting more than 20 miles a gallon now. ten years ago it was 12 or 14. >> yep. >> that's part of energy policy.

people, especially in detroit were saying don't raise my cafe standards. that is part of what needs to happen in order for there to be a sensible energy policy. this guy's five-year-old hummer gets zero miles to the sdplal. >> exactly. >> he's paying a fortune to fill it every day. >> on the cafe standard front, that is, again, a critical part of an overall push that the administration could have in terms of a conversation with the american people. look, the reality of it is, everyone sits back on these issues until it becomes important to talk about them. it's only important when, what, the gas price goes up. that's the only time. when gas prices started coming back down, you know -- >> then we stop talking about it. >> let's pause right here on the question of michigan. i mean, after all, this is the primary we're looking at next. this is where mitt romney was standing. and this is where the president has, i think, a real sort of battleground effort.

it's not -- it turns out it's not just the republicans in michigan right now. the president is in michigan right now taking these claims that, in fact, look a ford vehicle is a great -- ford truck is a great vehicle. it's getting much better miles per gallon now than it once was. trumpeting that he saved exactly this industry. at the same time that we've got mitt romney, a son of michigan. >> i saved my hair. >> what are the optics and politics of michigan right now? this is where all eyes on the auto industry and gas prices at the same time. >> the optics in politics is the president is very smartly inserting himself in the middle of a republican primary in michigan calling for the people, the michigan an anders, the people of -- let detroit fall or fail in the auto industry. but the fact still remains that, you know, the issue with gm is separate from the issue of ford in the sense that gm is still

owned by the government. it still has unions owning 17% of its stock. so the american -- >> which i'm comfortable with. if corporations are people, surely unions are people. >> sure. >> okay. >> i would oi owe the only problem i have with that, you don't kick out the kurnd bond holders to insert new ones. we can have that conversation later. the president is doing the right polar kind of politics here that have an impact on tuesday's primary and how the republicans respond to that, i think, little bit weak right now to be honest. i think there is a better argument to make for the case -- >> you're talking about the optics, though. they added a third shift at one of these big gm plants just a couple of weeks ago. >> right. >> people in detroit are going back to work. >> they're going back to work. >> cars are selling. >> how do you make an argument in the face of that? that's the problem. >> i'm literally, the front page new york times today, i know

this is a liberal rag of a magazine but it is still also -- of a newspaper. it's still all the news put to print. here we have fundamentally this kind of, this question about can this primary with romney, who ought to be a michigan -- kind of son of michigan, this is his last stand and he can't make this stand in this moment. sort of is this the end of a romney cam pan and the beginning of a santorum campaign? >> good question. the irony is that santorum is making the better blue collar argument to those auto workers. >> he is. >> recognizing the first sentence, yeah, you're going back to work. i'm happy for that. now let's talk about what happens next. whereas, romney is stuck with the overhang of his rhetoric from earlier about michigan and has not figured out a way to counteract that. >> i mean, it's still -- literally feels like the 1% argument. >> it does. >> as much as we've been talking about the below the belt

politics out of the santorum campaign, as he's walking around michigan, there's some of the religious discourse and that kind of thing going on, but there's the i'm the blue collar guy and i understand ordinary people. >> to your point, melissa, the key thing that people don't realize, if you listen to santorum's speech, about 95% of that is about the economy. about putting the workers back to work. the social issue component makes up a small portion. that gets the bigger play. he's been making very consistently an economic blue collar argument in places like michigan, ohio and elsewhere. >> michael, aren't you personally responsible for the fact that rick santorum might end up being the nominee and i'm not -- >> how did that happen? >> because as aren't the chairman, you helped to change and fundamentally shape the new rules allowing for a long gop primary. tell me, is this what you expected on the other side of that? >> it is exactly what i expected. i'm glad to see this thing play out the way it has. for this reason. what you see is people like rick

santorum and newt gingrich and others having the ability to make the argument without having necessarily to worry about having the big bank account. now, citizens united has changed the landscape there in that regard. >> right. >> but this was a chance to stretch this out to let the candidates really get their message out and more importantly have that primary voter have a greater say. >> is that how it happened in '08? you were on the road with the democrats in '08. harry, is that how it felt? >> the republicans too. there's a truth to this. the system is far from perfect. but i remember being out with huckabee in iowa. they didn't have money to put gas in the bus. that was very much santorum's campaign this time around. if you do the retail, if you go to all the counties, if you can show some authenticity. >> there you go. >> there will be -- people will eventually start coming your way. >> maybe that's why they care about the gas prices. the gas in the campaign buses. [ laughter ]

>> up next, president bush and president obama say we should leave no child behind. not me. i think it's okay to leave kids right where they are. i bet you didn't think i would say that. that's up next. the employee of the month isss... the new spark card from capital one. spark miles gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. the spark card earns double miles... so we really had to up our game.

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make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes. then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you. so start your business, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. presidential debates always produce good fodder and points to ponder. take last wednesday. this chunk from senator rick santorum was particularly interesting. >> sure, i had some boats. we've all had votes we look back on. i wish i wouldn't have voted for no child left behind. we need to cut and eliminate education funding from the federal government. move it back to the local level where it belongs where parents and local communities can deal with that. >> yes, senator santorum, i agree. let's leave the kids behind. what, you didn't think i would

say that? hear mae out. okay, it's true. either i nor senator santorum are saying o let kids fail. i'm saying there are problems with the current education system. i am saying no child left behind has serious flaws. i am saying, our children deserve better than a school to prison pipeline. that pipeline is what happens when you have high stakes testing and strict discipline that involves bringing in the police for breaking school rules. it sets kids up for failure. ultimately it drives them into the criminal justice system. between 2006 and 2007, nearly one in ten young male high school dropout was incarcerated. and the last time the justice department counted, 40% of prison and jail inmates lacked a high school diploma or its equivalent. president bush signed no child left behind into law on january 8, 2002. the intent, to continue the legacy of brown v board by creating an education system that's more inclusive,

responsive and fair. now, that's where i get stuck. how can a system be fair if it actually fails students? the goal was to make students in all states 100% proficient in reading and math by 2014. but many state are going to fall short. and falling short in a system with zero tolerance means you will matly students get punished for not making the grade. to help, president obama announced earlier this month that ten states will receive flexibility from no child left hand. they agree to bold education performs, including new targets, college and careers, accountability systems and teacher and principal evaluations. it's promising that the obama administration realizes the flaws in no child left behind but we need realistic reform. i kind of agree with senator santorum. let heave leave the children behind while the adults put

together a school that allows every teacher, student and child to succeed. coming up, equality as defined by professor anita hill. she's up next right here with me in the studio. dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover. cleaning better, doesn't have to take longer. i'm done. i'm going to... drink this... on the porch! ♪ give me just a little more time ♪ [ female announcer ] mops can be a hassle, but swiffer wetjet's spray cleaner and absorbent pads can clean better in half the time so you don't miss a thing. swiffer. better clean in half the time. or your money back. and for dry messes big and small try swiffer sweeper vac.

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with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. to say i'm excited for my next interview might be the understatement of the year. now, i want to break down why this is a must-see for everyone. in 1991 we met anita hill in the oddest of ways. she became a sub plot to someone else's story. a judge seeking a seat on the highest court but then she opened her mouth and spoke and we knew there was so much more to her than the stories. she was courageous, she was eloquent and she was not going to let her words define our understanding. she was only going to let her words define our understanding of who she is. lawyer, professor, author. a woman who has led the conversation on race, social justice and equality for decades. later for 1991, been there, done

that. instead, let's fast forward to the crisis facing millions today. namely, housing and poverty. what can be done to fix them without further adieu, i have the privilege of introducing professor anita hill. professor of women studies, law at bran dies university and the author of reimagining equality, the stories ever gender, race and finding home. professor hill, thank you so much for being here. >> oh, i'm excited to be here. >> thank you. it means a lot to me. you talk about reimagining home. and one of the things i love about the book is your interest in the raisin in the sun. tell me about how that piece of drama and of american writing informs what we should now be thinking approximate as we face the housing crisis. >> as a matter of fact, i draw on a raisin in the sun because when i was growing up and saw

the television version of the movie, through sidney portier and ruin i dee. it was the first time, one, i had seen an african-american family on the screen, but the other thing was, it was the first time when i had a model of what the end game for civil rights was. you had this model of groups coming together through the family, this african-american family who is moving in to a racially segregated neighborhood that has been primarily white, and you have a sense that there are going to be initial struggles, but she leaves us at the end of the movie and the play with the sense that they're going to work out their struggles together. ipt a model of inclusion and working out our differences but also finding a place where we can all belong. >> this point about literally

finding a home as being one of the critical end points of the civil rights movement, we often think about the '64 civil rights act which ended segregation or add '65 voting rights act which ended the voting discriminatory behaviors like poll taxes and that sort of thing. but there's real a culmination in '68 with the national fair housing act meant to end discrimination and housing. you write in "reimagining equality" that at the heart of the current crisis is the ideological disconnect between home as a basic element of the american dream, a pathway to equality and home as a market product. so if we were to look right now at the big home issue, which of course is the major settlement introduced by the obama administration and u.s. banks to address the foreclosure crisis, do you think it gets at the heart of this home as market product versus home as pathway to equality?

>> there have been two settlements, one by the justice department for $365 million, i believe, or roughly that amount, that involved discrimination claims against bank of america now or formerly country wide. that's one part of it. it looks spuskly at banks that discriminated against people of color. and it gives those people who were injured by the bank compensation. individual compensation and we understand that the most that people will get will be $2,000. so that's one point of reference. the other point of reference is a more recent settlement with the attorneys general. >> actually, we have a little graphic on that settlement just showing us what that settlement deal looked like in case folks have forgotten. $25 billion in penalties relief to borrow with state and federal government and foreclosure abuse victims have to file to receive case payments ranging from about

$1500 to $2,000. >> $1500 to $2,000. $25 billion. and everyone is saying, it's not enough. it's not enough to make people whole. the $2,000 at the max that people will get will not be able to put them in the place, one, that they were before. the defraud took place. so that's why people are saying it's inadequate. i applaud both of the settlements because people want accountability. they want the banks to be accountable for discrimination and for fraud. but -- >> this is a huge settlement. $2,000 is not much for the individual homeowner, but $25 billion in penalties is bigger than the tobacco settlement which was heralded as the great intervention into how tobacco behaved. >> it shows you how much damage was done, doesn't it? >> indeed. >> it's incredible if $25 billion isn't enough to put us back. >> it's still a lot of money.

>> it's $365 million is a lot of money. niece are record breaking settlements and yes they are important and we should be pursuing them. we have to pursue other remedies too, because the individual damage, the damage to the individuals is only part of the problem. we're not even going to compensate fully the individuals. but think about the communities that have been ravaged and that is where -- much of where i'm looking at today to see how do we now begin to put these communities, some of whom are -- some of which had stood for as symbols of equality and having achieved. >> so speaking of communities, if we take a look at how african-american and latino communities were disproportionately impacted by the subprime loans, you can see there that both african-american and latino households were more likely to be targeted by these subprime loans. obviously, white americans also being profoundly impacted here.

that disparity, when we already know from the raisin in the sun story that this disparity is a long-standing one with within american history. with he have to get to see black and brown home ownership and this crisis intervenes. >> don't forget, there was a gender element. especially for african-americans because many of those african-american home buyers were african-american women. >> right. >> who had overcome gender discrimination and racial discrimination to be able to afford a home and then just as they were getting in, the subprime market exploded, and they lost a tremendous amount of wealth in african-american communities and latino communities. 65% of wealth has been lost since 2008 there. >> so much the wealth of the communities were in homes. not in the stock market.

this their homes. >> because they believed so much, i believe, in the american dream and getting that place. that has historically been how we have established ourselves and established our communities and even established our civic participation. >> right. so actually what i want to do as we come back, i want to walk through the way that you've talked about how housing is not just about housing. but housing is about children and housing is about health and housing is about the communities that we live in, housing is about civic participation. i think to kind of make the broader point that this is not just about $2,000 and whether or not you can rent another place or buy another place. but the point that you make so beautifully in the book about the big community question. >> so many people, even though they have lost money on these homes, they want to stay there because it's not that they're looking at the home as a piggy bank. they're looking at the home as a place where they can build their dreams and the dreams for their children. and that's what we -- we haven't

been able to quantify. but we can start to think in some numbers about how to deal with the issues and how to deal with the undoing that has occurred because of the foreclosure crisis. >> after the break, more of my conversation with professor anita hill. don't go away. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes,

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we talk about children, what we have to realize is that this is a crisis that will affect everyone. we've got at last count, 2 million children that have been impacted directly by the foreclosure crisis and that means that for many of them there's disruption in their school year, their educational process. we don't know what the long-term outcome will be, but we better start paying attention to. because we know that when we have that kind of disruption that's caused but a crisis, that we can actually have children lose grades and even drop out of school because of these kinds of things. so we need to get a handle on that and, again, it's an issue that's going to impact all of us, not just those individuals. >> just before the break, before i sort of had my rant about no child left behind shall harry and i were talking about the education question. >> sure. >> right. this education question maps exactly on to this sort of

housing insecurity question. is that -- >> yeah. but it's interesting. we can talk about this stuff and there's an assumed as part of the conversation, there's an assumed remedy, right? and so often when we assume a remedy, it isn't a remedy at all. we talk about a couple million kids. there are all kinds of kids, kids from middle class families, poor kids, white kids, black kids, brown kids. there's a couple million kids who have been disturbed and whose lives have been turned upside down by this process. we assume there's remedy. i am not sure, as a country, we found what those remedies are. we often say we'll spend $2 million to do x, y or z. half the time it doesn't get the job done. >> i want to look quickly at this chart about how bad child homelessness is. in 2010, child homelessness increased by a half million to 1.6 million. that equals one in 14 kids being

homeless. that's almost 40% increase in homelessness amongst kids. you're right, certainly we know that there is an overa bun dan dance of this in communities of color. if you have to think about remedies, what does justice look like as a way of engaging this question of how this crisis is impacting children. >> first after you will, to have a remedy, you have to actually look at the numbers and count the numbers and think about what we know about disruption and anxiety in children's lives does for them in terms of their education. we know that, in fact, it could contribute to socially mal adjusted behavior. we know that. we know that it can have an impact on learning. have we put into place any of the services that directly talks to these issues when we're talking about addressing children in the school system? have we put into place -- when

we have housing policies in place that put people in many cases in hotels. have we thought about really what that does to a child's ability to study, to get their homework done? with the entire family living in a hotel and what kind of services the family needs. i don't think we have. i don't have all of the answers, but the question -- >> you have to start. you don't have all the answers? >> i tell my students i do. but i don't. >> the simple answer would have been, look at all the houses foreclosed, banks sitting with this stuff. let's buy up the houses and make sure people have a place to live. somebody wave a magic wand and have that happen. >> there's no magic wand. >> even the tiniest remedy situation, the first obama we're going to help people with the mortgage crisis helped a tiny fraction of the people it was intended to help. the bureaucracy is broken. >> right. >> the remedies aren't always the remedies. it's very interesting. you know --

>> it was all good intent. >> no question about that. >> you know, you were on the ground post katrina in new orleans and professor hill you were just in new orleans in january speaking about your work and about housing. when i hear people in hotels, a huge housing crisis, communities decimated. i can't help but to think about my city that i love, right? that if we had started to think about remedies in september of 2005, then maybe we would, in fact, have some answers on the table now in 2012 seven years later. but we allowed that minor and the ka -- that canary to choke and die and we didn't develop what some of the -- >> saddest story. we're in st. bernard parrish a year later and standing there with a woman working in a food pantry. they're still open. it's a year later. she's handing out food, handing out food.

where do you live? >> we live where the murphy oil tank spilled. it exploded during the storm, disspoiling a whole section of town. we went back to her house and she stood there and cried for half an hour. i said ha is this like? well, i go to the sba, it says this. i go to the state, it says this. i go to the county, it says this. every person she talks to sends her down a different direction. this woman was -- she was suffocating. literally suffocating by the layers of bureaucracy and policy. >> what i learned really more than anything above all when i went to new orleans in january was that people feel that they are not being listened to. that the remedies are these sort of high remedies coming down on them and it doesn't look at how people live. where they live. and what their day-to-day problems are. i think that's one of the things that we need to start.

if equality and justice and fairness really is to begin at home, we've got to start where people are living. what are their problems? we can't have a policy that comes out of washington that doesn't understand what the conditions on the ground in new orleans are. they're different in new orleans than they are in california and arizona and baltimore and detroit. >> i mean. all -- these states that are now coming up on the primaries are places that have their very own housing crisis. arizona's crisis is different than michigan's. we need answers to both. i hate we didn't get to it. but we'll keep talking about the fact that there were health implications associated with this. professor hill is going to stay with us. harry smith is going to stay with us. but first, i'm going to tell you why the girl scouts are dangerous right after the break. and who doesn't want 50% more cash? ugh, the baby. huh!

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it's the girl scouts 100th year. you would think that everyone would agree it's a milestone worth celebrating. no controversy. the girl scouts, good. enter stage right. republican state representative bob morris of indiana and his vehement opposition to honoring the organization's centennial. representative morris sent a letter to his fellow state lawmakers calling the girl scouts a radicalized organization that promotes homosexual lifestyles and is becoming a tactical arm of planned parenthood. what? i'm sorry. i must have misunderstood what the girl scouts stand for. but thank goodness for the nerdland crew. they found this handy instructional film in our vault. let's take a look. >> it seems that a brownie is a wonderful little person who appears like magic to clean the house and to help mother in many ways. in fact, a brownie just helps

everyone and is always in high, good spirits. >> i promise to do my best to love god and my country, to help other people every day, especially those at home. >> oh, that was a short film called women of tomorrow. was made in 1949. i have to laugh at the vision of magical little girls appearing to help their mother. but still, even back then the scouts focused on empowering girls by teaching them to build courage, confidence and character. the practical skills taught by the group have evolved from the days of handing out badges for sewing and home making, girl scouts today earn badges in financial literacy, innovation and graphic design. in a statement thursday, state representative morris apologized for his inflammatory statements. but said he stands by his decision to oppose the celebrato celebratory resolution and pull his daughters out of the girl scouts. you know what, mr. morris, maybe you had it right in the first

place. maybe empowering girls is radical. you know what girl scouts can make? not make. scouts make fire. can you? coming up, if you like it, then you should have put a label on it. my version of getting out the vote right after the break. ok, guys-- what's next ? chocolate lemonade ? susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave.

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there's no going back. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! have you ever seen someone who doesn't speak spanish trying to talk to ayala continue owe person. they throw out a handful of words they know in spanish. adios, gracias, it's like the gop nominees tried to communicate with latino voters the last time they were pressed to speak to them. >> susanna martinez. carlos gutierrez. >> martinez. >> and that was just when they had to talk to latino voters in one state. so i imagine they will all start digging deep into their spanish

language dictionaries when they got a glance at this week's time magazine cover. there are still many up for grabs in the presidential election. they could make all the difference in crucial battleground states. it's no wonder the gop candidates and president obama are look looking for a magic bullet to swing undecided latinos their way. packaging voters into a neat box makes for an easy targets when politicians are looking to get maximum mileage out of their message. the identity box is a can't mismark. if you take aim with something like, i don't know, a mental list of every latino politician you could have ever known, it could pay off on election day. now, i can't plead the fifth on this one. there's not just politicians who put people into boxes. us media types like to do it too. seriously, we literally put people inboxes. see there, that's a box, then there's another box over here and there, that's actually me in a box.

so bobbings are how we package and process information and to easy bite-sized chunks for you. when it comes to spot the swing voter, we can't resist the urge to put a tag on this elusive slice of the electorate. the problem is, human beings have this pesky tendency of being too complex to wrap up so neatly in a box with a label. the boxing in of latino voters can be tricky business. latinos turned out in big numbers for president obama in 2008. four years earlier, 44% threw their support behind president bush, an uptick from the cycle before. any presidential hopefuls thinking a few nice words about immigration policy will win the swing vote probably should think again. immigration came in at sixth place on a list of issues most important to latino voters. at the top of the list, jobs. you know, like every other american. so any candidate who wants

latinos to pay attention to their box at the ballot booth, they better start speaking their language. i don't mean spanish. joining me now, professor and author of "reimagining equality" anita hill. nbc's rock center correspondent, harry smith. maria teresa kumar and former rnc chairman and nbc analyst, michael steele. just before the break it was getting brunch in nerdland. there was a lot of excitement at the table. you really can eat the fruit. >> my priority. >> feel free to eat the fruit. we have a tendency of identifying nascar dads and soccer moms and swing voters. talk to me a little bit about why this demographic group, latinos is a merge of the new swing vote that everyone must pay attention to. >> i think it's because republicans put them in a box. i say that in respect to for the very first time, latinos were very much a swing vote. they would go republican, they

would go democratic. but since 2008, you've had this huge passage of really harsh anti-immigrant laws where there's -- we've encouraged racial profiling. for the very first time, latinos, some who may have been here three, four generations are getting racially profiled and getting pulled over. they're like oh, my goodness. unlike -- >> no, no. alabama, you have merp schoolchildren pulled out of the classroom and asked if they're documented or not. some of the stuff is outrageous. unlike in 2008, in colorado it was a swing state. now you have six colorados that are swing states, arizona, indiana. the fact that virginia is up for grabs and not surprisingly, also the republicans say we have ayala continue owe problem. we're not going to address the issues now. what we're going to do is set a harsh voter i.d. laws. you have 11 states that control nearly 2/3 of the electoral vote, texas, florida, arizona

being among them. indiana and virginia. they're saying we have ayala continue owe problem. let's step back and figure this out. let prevent that. >> it's so easy to beat up on the republicans, right? like i almost -- >> it's fun to do. >> make a career out of it. >> i know. >> really why michael is here. >> i just wanted to show you the quote real quickly from the washington post-op he had by jeb bush ho is recognizing this, right. he's saying we need to recognize this is not a monochromatic community by a diverse one. it includes, mexicans, puerto ricans and many others. there's aspects of the republican party. >> can we break this down? this is all about the numbers. >> break it down, michael. >> this is about the reality that in five short years and significant corners of this country, we will be a majority, minority population with hispanics, coupled with african-americans and asians, really controlling the ballot boxes of some key states, california is the least of them

in terms of where the numbers are going. my home state of maryland, you're seeing a burgeoning growth. in the midwest, the south. spanish are anchoring and calling these places home. they're no longer hunkered down in major metropolitan centers around the country as they once were. the reality for the gop, i think, really came home in 2008, but even before then, george bush was on to something in his conversation with the hispanic community and there were those in the party who say, time-out, we're not having that conversation. the fact of the matter is, you need to look the at numbers and see the trend lanes, the trajectory works against gop. if we stay on the sidelines and act like hispanic folks are going to be with us simply because they're more conservative on some of the social issues. >> a lot has to do with the tone. i think talking about jobs and education, latino issues are american issues, plain and simple. you can't go to a party that's not respecting you

fundamentally. it sets that tone. i think that to your point, a lot of the things when people say there's an enthusiasm gap among obama, there is. but the best catalyst so far for the latino community has been russell pierce, the architect of the as arizona law who basically said the latinos, we're going to go -- it was also pete wilson. >> a good enemy can be a good motivator. >> convener, exactly. >> we didn't get to in my conversation with professor hill, the civic participation part. but if we lay on top of that graph that african-american and latino households were particularly hard hit, add to that your insight about voter registration policies, then we ought to be looking at, despite the long-term trends that are clearly on the side of latino voters being deciding voters in the electoral college and therefore, against gop, doesn't the current housing crisis and the displacement of latino families make it maybe a little safer for this kind of discourse in this particular election.

>> i absolutely believe it does. but we have to have people talking about it. and that's not happening. there's another wrinkle i would just say to add to that. there's a report that came out this week about the percentage of populations that are suffering from a severe housing cost burden. in, for example, california and in places increasingly in places in the southwest where there are larger latino populations, the -- there are upwards of 25 to 30 -- up to 35% of the population are spending more than 50% of their income on housing. now, you consider housing is the -- o the prices are increasing. but wages are note. in fact, they're decreasing. so here we have almost a perfect storm. if somebody could talk to people about that. it's not just jobs, it's jobs paying a living wage. and that you can cover the cost

of housing. >> fewer and fewer people coming from the middle of mexico prince to el northe because of immigration laws and tough policing along the fence, so to speak. but also the fact that jobs aren't there anymore. the reason, the magnet is not as powerful as it used to be -- >> now the children of immigrants, americans facing a lot of these big issues and to -- the professor's point, 18 million americans who are voters in 2008 have lost their homes. how do you find those voters again and not surprisingly in key state like florida, texas, arizona, on top of that layer voter i.d. laws that may prevent them from the polls. we need what the professor is saying, we need a -- what we need in order to go to the polls successfully. >> i want to take jeb bush at his word that there isn't one latino vote and geography is one of the critical issues.

florida and arizona and north carolina for example, the fact that those are very different latino pop layings and different public policies. >> walk on the street, right? there's -- >> but i think that's the thing. he's right with the nuance. he's right that it is -- it depends on the state. but the republican primary, because it's gone so extreme right haent allowed for romney or santorum to dig into the actual issues. all they're hearing right now is we don't need you. >> we're going to take a quick break. >> this is a republican talk. we're going to let the republican talk about the republican primary as soon as we get back. we'll be right back. ♪ dave, i've downloaded a virus. yeah. ♪ dave, where are we on the new laptop? it's so slow! i'm calling dave.

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i'm back with anita hill, harry smith, maria teresa kumar and michael steele. i want to play a sound bite from arizona republican governor jan brewer a few moments ago on meet the press on anticipating her endorsement in this presidential race. >> i have decided that i'm going to publicly endorse mitt romney. i think he's the man that carried the day and i'm going to get out there and work as hard as i know how to make sure that he wins arizona and work in other places of our country. >> now, jan brewer has strong support among republican voters in arizona. given the fact that she pushed through one of the restrictive immigration policies is her endorsement an asset or liability for mitt romney who is likely to have a tough week in front of him? >> romney keeps on bringing on strange bed fellows. you brought in crisco back, the architect of these anti-i am

griggs legislation, pete wilson as the co-chair. in order to win california, he's the last person you want on your roster and now jan brewer. it's curious, because he's not talking about the issues that latinos care about. jobs and staying in your homes. he'd be better served do it in english, not just in spanish like in florida. >> it was not his best. i did cut you off before the break michael. then i put a little x over the box. >> i felt like you wanted to jump in on this. >> my only point right now is i see, i think, dr. hill made a very interesting point while we were in a break about have we gone too far, is it too late to recoup and recover for the gop respect to the arguments to make to the latino community. and part of me says yeah. because you've got to get past the initial den of noise about -- it's perceived to be

gray anti-immigrant, resentful of them being here. i think the broader argument can be made, where most of the folks that i talk to, right, lecht, center, latino, whatever, is secure the borders, and then let's talk about the combination of families and communities and how we work that out. newt gingrich talked about that. rick perry talked about that. you saw that drumbeat against that particular sound bite, if you will. i don't think you can withstand that any longer. you're going to have to breakthrough that. have this conversation. the parties have to confront his future and you make the point right now, you can't wait until the numbers turn against you. you've got to be on the forefront, which is what i think jeb bush is talking about. >> securing the borders is not the issue for a family that is about to lose their home. the issue is how do i secure my mortgage, a living wage. how do i make sure my kid isn't being dragged out of class. how do i make sure i live in a community that has available healthy food. these are american concerns. >> i think, i mean, if it was

just rhetoric, that was one thing. there are real families suffering. in alabama, there are great organizes right now, documenting all these cases where latino communities after sunset, they don't leave their homes. they're afraid to go out and walk into their neighborhoods because they're afraid that something is going to happen to them. >> doesn't that remind you of the old sunset towns that you had throughout the south where you wouldn't dare be seen in the town after sunset. and we thought we had gotten beyond that in our history. >> there's an economic reality to this about people who will do certain kinds of work. you go to those farms, you go to those rural areas where it's meat rendering and chicken processing and stuff like that. who is going to do the work? there have been stories of people from town who come out there to work for a day or two. they last for a day or two. they're not there day after day after day. you talk to the republican farmers in those towns in alabama and they say, we -- our

business can't exist without these people who are here illegally. >> right. it's a skill. i think we've created -- >> it's a work ethic. >> it's also a skill. i think we take that for granted. in alabama what they try to do is basically bring in inmates to work. they didn't have the skill set it do so. let's have these really honest conversations. >> it's not about a willingness to work hard, there's a set of skills and talent and i think part of what happens also, if we talk about if we talk about it, changing the discourse. not illegals. because people are not i will leem. but undocumented workers. the question in part, i think to what extent does the issue of undocumented labor, a fundamental undergirding of the economic system, how much does that move latino voters? maybe it does. because it feels like the discourse against undocumented workers is in part sort of a

racialized discourse that impacts them as well. if you're talking about folks who are doctors and lawyers and teachers an postal workers, the issue -- who are voters. >> this is what's fascinating now with the latino community. i call it a bridge generation. there are not all of them, you definitely have that historic latino that's lived in texas for -- a good friend of mine my family didn't move, the border moved. >> right. >> the border crossed us. >> but the fact that you do have 15 million, the majority who did migrate in the '80s and 90s and are having children, there are very few latino families in this bridge generation who doesn't know someone who is undocumented. it is personal. i keep saying the president's biggest problem is his mass deportation. how is someone that voted for him for the first time had a loved one deported. >> i was going to say, as much as we're beating up on the republicans, it's not clear that president obama is the easy choice for latinos. you talked about the

deportation. >> the numbers. >> under president obama, you've got record deportation and you have latinos disapproving of president obama's deportation policies at about 60%. >> that's not been a part of the national conversation either where, if president obama were president bush or president mccain, that number would have been -- that administration would have been beaten over the head incessantly for that number. the president i think has been rather disingenuous when it comes to the hispanic community, latino community, largely because it's a political toy. he pulls it out, dangles something in front of them and you saw that coming into 2010, saw it coming into 2011 and there has not been a concerted immigration effort other than the deportation policy that seems to be running very smoothly, which is fine. but the problem is, the broader question of dealing with that desire to come to this country

by whatever means necessary to paraphrase or quote malcolm x. >> that just happened. i'm sorry. i need to pause. did michael steele just quote malcolm x to talk about president obama's deportation policy vis-a-vis latinos? does this happen -- >> now you know why i'm no longer the rnc chairman. now you know. >> to be fair, not all undocumented are latino. >> they're not. exactly. >> at the same time, you say we're going to round up 11 million of them, you're talking about 5 million children. we keep having this honest conversation on structural issues. we need the labor. we keep saying that we don't. latinos also want a secure border, they want to know -- >> that's right. >> i think that's where sort of mixed message. how when you have this very diverse group of voters that we put in one box do we get the

mobilized and engaged and participating when we know that they don't -- they don't all think one way. and that there are mixed messages that can be coming from the obama administration. but suddenly, i think the strident messages are clearly coming from the republicans. >> absolutely. >> when you talk about the voter oo identification, you talk about the voter registration laws, no real resistance to things going on now. >> screaming in my ear. it looks like i'm cutting you off again. thank you to my whole panel here. coming up, we're going to ask does mitt romney's new tax plan hit the 1% where it hurts? maybe not. we'll dig into the numbers right after this break. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi.

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going to cut back on that to make sure the top 1% keeps paying the current share they're paying or more. we want middle income americans to be the place we focus our help because it's middle income americans that have been hurt by this obama economy. >> that was, of course, mitt romney, discussing his tax plan which he released on wednesday up against president obama's plan. why our minds were filled with below the belts politic, we almost missed other things unfolding. here's a refresher. 20. that's the percentage that mitt romney's plan will cut all income taxes. 28. that is the rate that the top earners in the country would pay down from 35%. 10. that's how many percentage points romney would reduce the corporate tax rate. we're talking about a group of taxpayers, since corporations are people that already pays a record low rate. 12.1 is the record low effective corporate tax rate paid in 2011. so does romney's plan hit the 1%

as he says? not really. 20.3 is the effective tax rate paid by the top 1% of earners last year. 6.8 is the percentage increase in after-tax income that romney's proposed cuts would create foor the richest americans. they may be making more money than they already are. how much is all of that going to cost us. $4 trillion. that's how much romney's tax cuts would cut the federal government over the next deco owe cost the federal government over the next decade. >> after that the numbers get fuzzy because they always get fuzzy when you talk about taxes. why? because of 535. the number of members of the u.s. congress who make the ultimate decisions about the tax code. and $3.3 billion, the number of dollars spent on lobbying in 2011 to sway those 535 members of congress. so why do average americans pay higher taxes than the

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with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. every week on this show we highlight a foot soldier, a person who performs challenging work often for the betterment of others. often for no personal gain. i'm proud to bring you our second foot soldier of the weekend. james armstrong. while he's no longer with us, he is the subject of a documentary short. the barber of birmingham. food soldier of the civil rights movement. let's take a look. >> i'm always going out, the worst thing a man can do is nothing. i got a lot of pictures of everybody here. we started to struggle by joining the struggle.

i remember some terrible days. i thought about what don king said. i've been to the mountaintop and i look over and saw the promised land. i may not get there with you. but you will get the promised land. just keep on keeping on. yes, indeed. things are changing. a black man, the president of the united states. you say that to yourself. black man, president of the united states. >> mr. armstrong was something special. he was one of the nameless soldiers of the civil rights movement who deserves recognition and the academy of motion pictures arts and sciences agrees. the barber of birmingham is nominated for an academy award for best documentary short. we'll know tonight if it wins. joining me are the film's producer and director, robin

fryday and her grandson and joining me are anita hill and michael steele. it's so nice to have you robin and darren this morning. thank you for being here. >> thank you. we're excited to be here. >> speaking of excitement, i have to say, are you beyond he can sighted that the film is oscar nominated? >> it's surreal. it's so exciting, yes. we're thrilled to be here. we're so proud. such a great honor. >> particularly, darren, i would like to talk to you about your grandfather and this idea that he is now obviously, we lost your grandfather, mr. armstrong about a year after the presidential election of 2008. he died in november of 2009. but his story may become an oscar winning story. what does that mean for you as his grandson? >> it's a blessing to be here to realize how far we've come from the beginning of the film and during the process and now just

seeing how his story is being shared across the world, how it's inspiring people. it really mean a lot to me because it's a story that needs to be told. a lot of people from his generation have already gone on, for instance, reverend fred shuttles worlt, friends of my grandfather, my grandfather himself. these stories need to continue to be told so that we realize where we've come from and all the things that we still need to do and that it is up to us, the younger generation to continue that struggle as the road is still very in an unequal place. it definitely means a lot to see him in this light. i've always known him and respected him as my grandfather shall but to see other people give him that respect is a blessing. i'm truly happy to be here and be part of this experience. >> thank you. robin, i wanted to ask you a bit about this and how you decided to make a film focusing on mr.

armstrong. i can tell you that the nerdland crew has been passing around the dvd in our offices. there was a lot of crying and tearfulness and all that sort of thing. tell me how you got interested in mr. armstrong as a foot soldier. >> this is actually my first film, but as we were heading into the election of 2008, i started to think about those things who really brought us to this day, those who paved the way. in particular, the foot soldiers, the unsung heroes, the thousands of nameless men, women and children who marched and integrated the schools and sat at the lunch counters and risked their lives and lily hoods to bring about the changes in america. i felt that, because many of these people were elderly and some had passed, but some were still alive to experience possibly the election of the first african-american president that it was important to

document that moment and this time and those people and to record those histories. so i took a trip to birmingham to do some research and was introduced at first to a woman named shirley gavin floyd at the civil rights activist committee and it was an organization that was the home of the foot soldiers where foot soldiers would gather to tell their stories and pretty soon someone said to me, have you met the barber. i took a trip to mr. armstrong's barbershop and one look around the shop, which was really a museum. it just covered with memorabilia from the civil rights movement and began talking to mr. armstrong about his own personal struggle and how he dedicated his life to civil right and his sons were the first two to integrate into the all-white gray mont elementary school. he carried the original flag on bloody sunday on the march from montgomery and decided to tell the story through the lens of

this man. >> robin, i love that the question was have you met the barber. my feeling is that over and over again in many many communities, you can't go do civil right without somebody asking you the question. have you met the barber. i like to bring in michael steele and anita hill on this question. have you met the barber. professor hill, in your new book, you talk about beauty shops as a space of political and social organizing. michael, during the break, you were telling me yes, i grew up in the barbershop. >> yes. the barbershop is where you got your education. you go there with your dad and you learned your manners, how to address the barber. yes, sir, no, sir. how to sit up straight. how to comport yourself. and as you got older, you integrated into the conversation from the neighborhood and everything as a nat a could tell you in the beauty shop is on the table. politics, love and marriage, men and women. all of it. it just -- listening to his

grandson touch that legacy and be a part of that. i think it's very important culturally for african-americans especially not to lose that. there's something unique that happens there. for those of us who maybe don't get as much taken off the top as we used to, you still go and you still participate in that conversation and you're passing on those genes if you will. it's a very powerful experience. >> professor hill? >> all of our institutions are rolled into one. there are churches, there are schools, there are clubs. all of this is going on under one roof. you're right, when you're young, you're just listening. you don't dare interject ourself in this because you know that there is a -- there is a protocol there. >> right. >> that is also a lesson about manners in respect for your elders and one of the things that i find wonderful about this story is that in the stories of foot soldiers, many people don't get a claim. they do very hard work and they

are the foot soldiers. but the other thing that i like about it is that we're not only talking about someone who live the movement but the they lived also the transition period. that's a difficult period. what is it like to be in that quote-unquote promised land and to have the triumphs but also the disappointments of what that's about. >> i'm so glad that you brought us there. robin and darren, stick with us. when we come back, i want to talk specifically about the politics that were engaged here. robin, you made this film during a time when then senator obama was running for the u.s. presidency. i want to talk about this legacy of barber shops not only in civil right era but today and then i'm going to explain my theory about black male republicans and haircut. we'll be right back. susie's lemonade... the movie. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds.

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in a minute. but first a preview on "weekends with alex witt." we have violence in afghanistan. it's raising questions about the u.s. presence there. four americans have been killed in the past week. we'll go there live. on the campaign trail, you might be surprised or not by what gop candidate rick santorum said about sending your kids to college. we're going to get reaction. gas prices are ticking up daily. we'll talk to ceo of gulf oil and why the price seem to go up faster than they come down. danica patrick's chance ended at a crash yesterday. today she has another shot at it. there's more to the story. and it's not too pretty. we'll talk about that in 15, 20 minutes. melissa? >> thanks, i appreciate it. i'm back with barber birmingham director, robin fryday, and darren armstrong, the grandson of james armstrong.

anita hill and michael steele. i have to show you another clip of this film that's oscar-nm nated. >> things are changing. i ate breakfast at lunchtime. now you worry about one color in the lunch counter downtown, that's a green back. i love that. >> i love that. right? i don't have to worry about my color at the lunch counter anymore. now i have to worry about the green, the almighty green jesus, green rules. there was a lot of that wisdom that came out from mr. armstrong in the context of this film. i wanted to point out that this film was made, in part, because of the climate of the moment. you wanted to capture what it meant to be in this transition. before we went to break, professor hill was talking about the transitional moment of being a civil rights soldier and here for the election of the first african-american president. beyond the politic, the question of whether or not mr. armstrong is a democrat or that anyone was

a democrat or a republican. the reality of what it means to have elected the first african-american president. can you talk to me a little bit about how mr. armstrong discussed what it meant for him in that moment. >> sure will. i was there actually with my co-director, gayle dole general who sadly passed away last year. but when we were there filming during the election, what we heard from mr. armstrong and all of the foot soldiers that we spoke to was very interesting to us, but everyone said, this is just -- this is another step. this isn't the end. this isn't the end of racism but this is one step. we found that very interesting and many of the foot soldiers the night of the election, they weren't as excited as they thought they would be. we thought they would be afraid of being excited and being

disappointed. but it ended up being a moment that was highly celebrated. >> it's interesting that idea of bittersweet concern about the possibility of disappointment. my father who is kind of civil rights foot soldier used to sign my birthday cards when i was four, five, six years old not love daddy. the struggle continues, daddy. i had no idea what was happening when i was seven. when that was going on. >> you were en lightened. >> i want to ask you, darren, about my sense is with a grandfather like james armstrong, you probably also have a strong sense of history. you know, robin's co-director passed away just after making this film. your grandfather passed away after being the subject of this film. what do you take as his struggle story as the thing that you would most want people to know and remember about him? >> i think the most important thing about this film and about my grandfather was that he was a

very ordinary man who did extraordinary things, and from him, i learned that the struggle always continues. even though we live in a society where things are a little bit different, racism is still alive, very prevalent, we're not in a post racial society but while we're here, there are things that we can still do that we have to do. my grandfather talked to me about times when they would have to be in the house pitch black as they were hiding in fear of death threats from the ku klux klan. the fire trucks will come and shine the lights through the house. my dad woke up one night, turned over and saw one of his church members sitting down his bed and my uncle's bed with the double gauge shotgun. so realizing those things, to me, my grandfather taught me

that in my own way that there are things that the younger generation has to do. my generation and the younger ones just as the young generation was doing back during the movement. going to jail, the sit-ins. it's up to us. to do that, i like to call it the three b's that i learned from one of my frat brothers when he visited us at college. the power of the three b's. the first b is the book, which means that we fight against inequality through education. the second b is the ballot, which means that we get involved in our political system and we vote. we do not take voting as if it's something just to do. people die for it. and then the last b is the buck. meaning that we use our economic empowerment and our wealth to change the face of this world, change the face of this country and continue to fight. that's what i really learned from him and that's the essence of his life.

that is his spirit that my grandfather passed down to me. i i encourage all of my friends' classmates that we continue to fight and i particularly do that through -- i've done that over the years through mentoring and just really trying to help the younger generation, push them forward. because it is up to us as we owe. we owe. >> yeah. i've been teasing the whole two hours about this about this republican thing. this is literally was just a joke that came up. >> republican haircut. >> in the household. if the barber shops are a place where people come together and talk pol tibs and particularly politics that are progressive and that maybe black republicans would not want to spend a lot of time in black barber shops if in fact it's places where where they may get criticized. >> you make an erroneous how progressive that conversation is in the black barbershop. it is very much rooted as you noted professor hill, in the

church first. so a lot of the orientation of the conversation goes around what the minister, what the pastor just talked minister, wh the pastor just talked about last sunday. that drives a lot of it. >> didn't the president tell them to vote for president obama? >> no, he did not. >> that would be illegal. >> that would be illegal. you want to get a church in trouble. >> some churches. >> right. particular churches. i think that's one of the things that i find very interesting is we do make these broad assumptions about -- on the issue of race, of how black folks think about certain issues and how they feel. that's not necessarily reflected in the 101 everyday conversation. >> this is part of the beauty of the barber shops. >> it absolutely is. if you listen to what darren armstrong was telling us, if you listen to the message we got from his grandfather, it is an empowering message that we all should take. really you're not talking about

democrat. that's not a democrat or republican. >> i thought it was a great democrat. it's a great message. we agree on that. >> that's right. >> i'm always hopeful because i teach people darren's age, and i feel so excited when i hear that they're studying, that they're voting, they're engaged and that they're using the advantages that this generation has. >> thank you. thank you so much. robin friday, darren armstrong, anita hill, michael steele, i love that we got to talk politics. good luck at the oscars tonight. let's remember "the book, the ballot and the buck," our lesson from darren armstrong. coming up, how one woman's body became a tool for millions. that's up next. wouldn't it be cool if your car could handle the kids... ♪ ...and the nurburgring? or what if you built a car in tennessee

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my footnote today, let's talk about women's bodies. after all, they've all been talking and trying to regulate women's bodies.

i want to start with one woman's body in particular. henry lax, you have likely benefited from the work of her body. in 1951 as lax was dieing, researchers extracted tissue from her cervix and without her knowledge create add culture of her cells which became the very first immortal human cell line growing indefinitely, frozen for decades and able to withstand many experiments. these cells were essential to the creation of the polio vaccine, they've seen what happens to human cells in zero gravity and invaluable to cancer research, in vitro vertization and gene mapping. but most americans knew nothing about the 31-year-old black woman who had given so much to science and done so without her consent. hers is not the only black female body used to revolutionize modern science.

j. marion simms the father of gynecology tested theories, developed techniques using the bodies of black women he owned as slaves. what we mow is zims practiced on these women without giving them medicine for pain. we know as slaves they could not consent to having their bodies used in this way. those women's bodies brought the tools and techniques of modern gynecologist that have gone on to save generations of women. today there are dozens of bills before state legislatures and cases bringing their way through courts whots outcome could impede women's access to health care. how could it be that so few black women's bodies are sitting at the desks these issues come across? this matters to everyone, no matter your gender, race or partisan identity. citizens must be able to use our voices, not be silent as our bodies are used. how can we thank these women for

the sacrifices that they were forced to make? we can refuse to let women's bodies be separated from their voices. good-bye. that's our show for today and for weekend. thank you to anita hill and michael steele for sticking around. thanks to all of you at home for watching. we'll see you next saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern and tune in sunday when new york mayor cory booker is my guest. coming up up "weekends with alex witt." [ male announcer ] yep that's your mouth.

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