Tonight's show will feature a conversation around race and the interaction between Grant Hill and Jalen Rose. Both are impressive men for a variety of reasons. After I watched the Fab 5 documentary over the weekend, I was glad to see this response from Grant Hill in the New York Times. “The Fab Five,” an ESPN film about the Michigan basketball careers of Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson from 1991 to 1993, was broadcast for the first time Sunday night. In the show, Rose, the show’s executive producer, stated that Duke recruited only black players he considered to be “Uncle Toms.” Grant Hill, a player on the Duke team that beat Michigan in the 1992 Final Four, reflected on Rose’s comments. I am a fan, friend and longtime competitor of the Fab Five. I have competed against Jalen Rose and Chris Webber since the age of 13. At Michigan, the Fab Five represented a cultural phenomenon that impacted the country in a permanent and positive way. The very idea of the Fab Five elicited pride and promise in much the same way the Georgetown teams did in the mid-1980s when I was in high school and idolized them. Their journey from youthful icons to successful men today is a road map for so many young, black men (and women) who saw their journey through the powerful documentary, “The Fab Five.” It was a sad and somewhat pathetic turn of events, therefore, to see friends narrating this interesting documentary about their moment in time and calling me a bitch and worse, calling all black players at Duke “Uncle Toms” and, to some degree, disparaging my parents for their education, work ethic and commitment to each other and to me. I should have guessed there was something regrettable in the documentary when I received a Twitter apology from Jalen before its premiere. I am aware Jalen has gone to some length to explain his remarks about my family in numerous interviews, so I believe he has some admiration for them. In his garbled but sweeping comment that Duke recruits only “black players that were ‘Uncle Toms,’ ” Jalen seems to change the usual meaning of those very vitriolic words into his own meaning, i.e., blacks from two-parent, middle-class families. He leaves us all guessing exactly what he believes today. I am beyond fortunate to have two parents who are still working well into their 60s. They received great educations and use them every day. My parents taught me a personal ethic I try to live by and pass on to my children. I come from a strong legacy of black Americans. My namesake, Henry Hill, my father’s father, was a day laborer in Baltimore. He could not read or write until he was taught to do so by my grandmother. His first present to my dad was a set of encyclopedias, which I now have. He wanted his only child, my father, to have a good education, so he made numerous sacrifices to see that he got an education, including attending Yale. This is part of our great tradition as black Americans. We aspire for the best or better for our children and work hard to make that happen for them. Jalen’s mother is part of our great black tradition and made the same sacrifices for him. My teammates at Duke — all of them, black and white — were a band of brothers who came together to play at the highest level for the best coach in basketball. I know most of the black players who preceded and followed me at Duke. They all contribute to our tradition of excellence on the court. It is insulting and ignorant to suggest that men like Johnny Dawkins (coach at Stanford), Tommy Amaker (coach at Harvard), Billy King (general manager of the Nets), Tony Lang (coach of the Mitsubishi Diamond Dolphins in Japan), Thomas Hill (small-business owner in Texas), Jeff Capel (former coach at Oklahoma and Virginia Commonwealth), Kenny Blakeney (assistant coach at Harvard), Jay Williams (ESPN analyst), Shane Battier (Memphis Grizzlies) and Chris Duhon (Orlando Magic) ever sold out their race. To hint that those who grew up in a household with a mother and father are somehow less black than those who did not is beyond ridiculous. All of us are extremely proud of the current Duke team, especially Nolan Smith. He was raised by his mother, plays in memory of his late father and carries himself with the pride and confidence that they instilled in him. The sacrifice, the effort, the education and the friendships I experienced in my four years are cherished. The many Duke graduates I have met around the world are also my “family,” and they are a special group of people. A good education is a privilege. Just as Jalen has founded a charter school in Michigan, we are expected to use our education to help others, to improve life for those who need our assistance and to use the excellent education we have received to better the world. A highlight of my time at Duke was getting to know the great John Hope Franklin, James B. Duke Professor of History and the leading scholar of the last century on the total history of African-Americans in this country. His insights and perspectives contributed significantly to my overall development and helped me understand myself, my forefathers and my place in the world. Ad ingenium faciendum, toward the building of character, is a phrase I recently heard. To me, it is the essence of an educational experience. Struggling, succeeding, trying again and having fun within a nurturing but competitive environment built character in all of us, including every black graduate of Duke. My mother always says, “You can live without Chaucer and you can live without calculus, but you cannot make it in the wide, wide world without common sense.” As we get older, we understand the importance of these words. Adulthood is nothing but a series of choices: you can say yes or no, but you cannot avoid saying one or the other. In the end, those who are successful are those who adjust and adapt to the decisions they have made and make the best of them. I caution my fabulous five friends to avoid stereotyping me and others they do not know in much the same way so many people stereotyped them back then for their appearance and swagger. I wish for you the restoration of the bond that made you friends, brothers and icons. I am proud of my family. I am proud of my Duke championships and all my Duke teammates. And, I am proud I never lost a game against the Fab Five. Grant Henry Hill Phoenix Suns Duke ‘94

The fun show last week on the three California teachers who made a mockery of Black History month continues to generate enormous email response. A handful agree with me that the teachers should be fired. Most do not - of course, they are wrong :) Even more think that Black History Month should be eliminated altogether. A point of view that actually thinks that the average white American knows a lot (or at least enough) about the contributions of black Americans, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries to America's development. I could not disagree more. Anyway, here are two of the most interesting emails to arrive. For your reading pleasure. Allen, 1. African-American History has outlived it's purpose. African-American history is included in every history curriculum in the U.S. If we are to have true racial healing in this country, we have to get away from the idea of seperateness and start seeing ourselves as one people. 2. The three teachers in California may not have been conservative bigots trying to make a point. They may have been liberals who thought these three men were wrongly accused or convicted. After all, it was California. 3. Another man who is often included but should be excluded from African-American month is Malcom X. He was a racist, and should not be included with the likes of Rev. Martin Luther King. Thank you, Louis Mr. Hunt. In your tirade about the three L.A. teachers you repeatedly said they should be fired, why? Because they were insensitive? Because they disrespected Black History month? Please! For starters there have been far worse offenses commited by teachers where being fired was not even considered. I think "Diversity Training" whether in education or on the job is outragious. This is nothing more than political correctness run amuk. This is just more big government. How about teaching American History. Why segregate our history? Let's just educate our kids. I think you're just ate up with political correctness and diversity. You continued to harp on the fact that they were "three white males." What if they were females, black or hispanic? Should they still be fired? I believe we should be more worried about the overall education system and what it's doing to all our children. I think we should be trying to pull together as one nation, one people with one history not worried about how diverse we can be. Exploiting our diversity will not help pull us together. I'm a frequent listener and will keep listening. Keep up the good work. V.R.

Great conversation on Sunday night about race and the Attorney General's comments that we are "cowards" when it comes to having honest conversations about race. Most of us are afraid to have open discussions about race because we fear being called racist if we step on the wrong eggshell. Terrific calls from every vantage point. Listen to the show here. My favorite email came from Kaye - who dares to be honest and real. Enjoy! Dear Allen, I enjoyed the 30 minutes or so of your program that I got to listen to this evening. I was driving and didn't have a chance to call in, but I had written one of my personal experiences about this subject (racial cowardice) on my Blog yesterday. I thought you might enjoy reading it, so I did a cut and paste to save you time. Racial Cowards in "Academentia" When I was advising university students on the courses they should take, a young black student came in who only wanted to take one course for the summer term. I told him that the tuition for summer school covered two classes and encouraged him to take another one to keep from wasting his money. He left in a huff and I went on to the next student in line. Within 15 minutes an imperious black female professor insisted on interrupting my schedule to discuss a “very important matter.” She was there to tell me that I had insulted the student by assuming he could not afford to “waste” money because he was black. She came to my office to get me to apologize to him for my racial insensitivity. I told her that all advisors were instructed to remind all students to take two courses for the summer term, unless they had an important reason to not do it. I also informed her that of my four children, three were married: one to an Hispanic, one to a Caucasian, and one to a Black. If I were racist to any degree, that would not have happened. She left hurriedly before I could explain that my children’s friendships and marriages resulted from judging people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. And furthermore, it happened without affirmative action, quotas, or lessons in politically correct behavior. If Attorney General Holder is correct that we are a nation of cowards, it is because we have been taught to be cowardly by political correctness. In fact, it has been pounded into us until it’s almost impossible to discuss anything frankly and it only causes trouble. Thanks for your program and thanks for "listening." Godspeed, Kaye

We are a nation of “cowards.” At least that is what our Attorney General, Eric Holder, wants us to believe. You and I are a nation of lions walking around in search of some c-c-c-courage in hopes of having an honest conversation about race. He is right, but has no idea why. Holder, America's first black Attorney General, sounded off last week on the issue of race. He said, “...in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.” Holder rightly cited that our workplaces, schools, and military are far more integrated than our leisure time. Monday to Friday life brings engagement and interaction, but weekends bring the old adage “like seeking like.” Sadly, Holder offered no explanations for why this odd polarity of work life/leisure life is so. He merely attributes it to “cowardice.” In doing so, he lacks reflection and honest engagement himself. The reason for our reticence to have open, honest conversations about race with one another lies fairly near the surface. Fear – not of each other – but of the R word. Fear of being labeled a “racist.” As a Methodist pastor for two decades, I was required to attend “sexual ethics training,” to sensitize us pastors to matters of sexual harassment, intimidation, and power. Portions of the “training” were helpful. Some portions were downright absurd and dangerous. For example, “sexual harassment” was usually defined solely as being in the eye of the receiver. There was no objective, agreed-upon definition for what constitutes sexual harassment. Rather, the trainer was content to suggest that if a woman accuses me, a man, of having crossed a boundary or stepped on her sexual sensitivity, then I have done so. Absurd and arbitrary. Such a definition places all the power on one side of the equation and gives the other person no place to stand or defend at all. To be called a harasser or sexist renders one defenseless and likely unemployed, whether one has actually done or said something or not. How does one defend oneself against a “crime” that is defined purely by the “victim”? How does one disprove a negative? It is impossible. “If you feel like it is harassment, then it must be.” Again, absurd and purely subjective. The result: male pastors began to distance themselves in safeguarding and protective ways from female colleagues and parishioners. We had been neutralized at best; gutted at worst. Our fates lay in the hands of the women around us to determine whether our words and actions met their own particular definitions of sexism, harassment, even abuse. Absurd and capricious. In the same way, most of America has done the same thing with the word, “racism.” The term gets thrown around willy-nilly, often without meaning or basis, but always with the same result. To be labeled a racist in America in 2009, is to embrace exile and career suicide. “Racist” is such a loaded adjective, that most Americans fear open, honest conversation that centers around race. Once you have “gone there,” you may never come back. If the “victim”, who has all the power in the definition, determines that you fit their own subjective definition of racism, you have no place to stand or defend yourself. You no longer matter – you are a “racist.” Such a burden of proof squelches open, honest conversation. Where fear prevails, curiosity and conversation end.. To be labeled a racist today sends one into an exile far worse than any other categories one can be cast in to for asking questions or countering cultural norms: homophobe, misogynist, anti-Semite, dog-fighter. One can eventually recover from all these but rarely from the label of “racist.” Think Jimmy the Greek, Al Campanis, Dog the Bounty Hunter. The term is a conversation-stopper, an argument-ender. “Racist” is the ultimate egg-shell, to be trod upon lightly if at all. Its use compares only to being the first one in a debate to use the words “Hitler” or “Nazi.” The conversation ends there. Three recent cases in point from the political world: 1) The picket line of protestors outside the New York Post demanding retribution, even the firing of a political cartoonist, for suggesting that a chimpanzee authored the recently passed Stimulus Bill. Since the President is an African-American, some citizens evidently believe that a chimpanzee can no longer be applied to any political discourse because it could remotely be interpreted as racist. Nix chimpanzees. 2) James Clyburn, the highest-ranking African-American member of Congress, recently accused Southern governors who oppose the economic stimulus spending of indifference to the plight of poor blacks who might benefit from the federal money. Again, he leveled the charge of racism to counteract policy opposition. Nix opposition to policy. 3) John McCain and Sarah Palin were immediately labeled “racist” for suggesting that some of their opponents' policies edged toward socialism. Some observers noted that politicians in the past had used the label of 'socialist” to discredit or soil the reputations of African-American candidates. Nix the term “socialist.” Pile up a few more of these examples, and not only will chimpanzees, policy opposition, and socialism no longer occupy spots in the national discourse, but silence and fear will dominate the arena. The result: political cartoonists and commentators will tread fearfully, and fear-mongers will squelch the free discourse and honest conversations Mr. Holder hopes to encourage. What is needed to encourage free speech and inquiry on matters of race is a moratorium on the leveling of charges of “racism.” Individuals and societies grow and develop not by squelching honest conversation but by encouraging them. Not by hiding from opposing or offensive views but by bringing them to light and examining them, even when it is painful or difficult to do so. If we sincerely believe that all humans are created in the image of God, and therefore have dignity and value, than we will not fear or silence those who think or suggest otherwise. As long as we choose to live in fear and silence, Mr. Holder's assessment of our cowardice will prove accurate. He does not understand why we fail to converse openly and often about matters of race, but I do. Fear.

I remember watching Hank hit the record-breaker, number 715 - in my neighbor's house, Al Downing pitching, Bill Buckner chasing. I was 8. I do not know Hank Aaron, but surely I can feel his pain. We all should share it. The evidence of Barry Bonds' character flaws is widespread, but the evidence of his steroid using is damning. And now Barry gets ready to break the new magic number - 755. Bud Selig and baseball have chosen to let Bonds' amazing run of home runs continue. Success sells. Sadly, barry has sold his soul - selling out his body and his character for a little fame and substantial fortune. "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?" That's a good question. Barry should know the answer. Bud Selig may too. They both are getting what they deserve. An empty record - emptied by the folly of lying, cheating, and selling out. I won't be watching.