teaching history at in a indiana university when the new york public library asked him to head the schaumberg center in research for the culture. >> i decided right after college thre w nothing more important to me than learning about american history and culture, really being able to learn first hand the contributions that americans have made to this country toond the world. >> the schaumberg center is known the world over for documenting the history of all peoples of african descent with a special emphasis on the story of african-americans. among its 10 million items are classic works crystallizing that experience. i asked mohammed how we tell america's story witho white washing the past. welcome to the show. >>han youvery much, bill, for having me. >> why history? i ask the question because henry ford famously said history is bunk. >> that right. >> and you clearly disagree. >> i clearly disagree, and i think this is a moment with questions about what the founding fathers intended when they established our system of government, how large it should be, the debate between jefferson and hamil

know that you move in between spaces very fluidly, so we are very honored to have you here at the schaumberg center, and you've had a very patient, excited and interested audience, so they're very pleased to have you here. >> all right. >> um, we were, we opened this conversation about you and your work and your experiences by talking a little bit about you as a kid. >> uh-huh. >> and i shared with them some opening passages about your love of fishing. so i want to question you a chance -- give you a chance, in my prepared comments i wanted to ask you contrary to how most people know you, either as an abject victim of police violence or as a controversial figure in the midst of the l.a. rebellion or as someone who has been part of a longer conversation about whether policing is racist or not and what is the responsibility of black people, um, in relation to the community, but in all of those versions of rodney king, um, there's no understanding of you as a kid who loved fishing, a kid who loved to swim, a kid whose favorite pastime in sports was baseball, and i would even say something most