amy: joining us now is historian gerald horne.is author of two new books, "the counter-revolution of 1776: slave resistance and the origins of the united states of america" and "race to revolution: the u.s. and cuba during slavery and jim crow." he is a professor of history and afafrican american studies at te university of houston. we welcome you to democracy now! , gerald. can you start off by talking about this past week, from the killings of black men to the killings of the police officers in dallas? >> well, we should not seen these events as terribly surprising. first of all, you have a society , as president obama noted, is awash in weapons. second of all, we have unresolved issues of racism and inadequate discussion about the legacy of slavery and jim crow that helps to contribute to situation where black people are perceived as criminals by the police authorities, which inevitably leads to their slaughter, as you saw in louisiana and minnesota most recently. amy: i want to ask you about int scene of the protesters dallas

be about confronting blacks but also the revolutionary life of paul robeson with this guy, ed gerald horne is amazing as a scholar and historian please give a round of applause to welcome him. [applause] >> all night all day we will be fighting for freddie grey. all night. all day. we will be fighting for freddie grey. let me say first of all, it is a daughter and a pleasure to be back here i was here some months ago to introduce the new books i have written and i consider it to be quite an honor they have invited me back again so those who may not be familiar of freddie grey, a young black man who had a fatal encounter with the police in the city of baltimore and he is in a long list of such young black people with fatal encounters with the authorities including cleveland and new york and texas and hopefully when i will be talking about this evening is to say in the event that spee is the fear -- the period of the haitian revolution in this will shed some light i would hope on why is north america we have had a spectacular rise and surge of police killings and misdeeds upon black people i

[applause] [cheering] [horn blaring] >> when president gerald ford announced his presidency, he was an incumbent that never ran in a national campaign. he faced a hurdle within his own party when ronald reagan challenged him for the republican nomination in a contested convention. president ford would become the nominee by a slim margin, but lose to jimmy carter. president ford: delegates and alternates to this republican convention, i am honored by your nomination and i accept it. [applause] with pride, with gratitude, and with a total will to win a great victory for the american people. [applause] we will wage a winning campaign in every region of this country, from the snowy banks of minnesota to the sandy plains of georgia. [applause] we concede not a single state. we concede not a single vote. [applause] this evening i am proud to stand before this great convention as the first incumbent president since dwight d. eisenhower who can tell the american people america is at peace. [cheering] tonight i can tell you straightaway this nation is sound, this nation is secure, this nation i

be about confronting blacks but also the revolutionary life of paul robeson with this guy, ed gerald horne is amazing as a scholar and historian please give a round of applause to welcome him. [applause]