We call it segregation, but we know it was more than that. For every two and a half days for almost 45 years, there was a black man or woman or child swinging from some tree. That’s the strange fruit that Southern trees bear in the United States.
- Dr. Cornel West, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, Feb 1, 2011
A week ago, Craig Ferguson had one of his special episodes, and not the kind where a puppet crocodile-y-alligator thing makes out with Maria Bello before leading the audience in a James Taylor singalong. No, this was one along the lines of his hour-long discussions with the Archbishop Desmond Tutu or Stephen Fry; a lengthy, serious discussion with an intelligent person about a thought-provoking subject. Ferguson became an American citizen in 2008, and his care and pride for his country is frequently apparent, but never moreso than in his episode from February 1st, which he dedicated to a discussion about Black History Month with preeminent scholar Dr. Cornel West in an effort to learn more about the country he has fought to call home. It’s the kind of discussion whose intelligence is genuinely remarkable, and the reason why Craig Ferguson is a man who I have the utmost respect and admiration for. Look at how curious he is about something so frequently horrifying, for no other reason than he feels it is his responsibility to share in the bearing of that cross.
Look at the above quote. Let it sink in. Let it haunt you; I’m not sure it’s possible to read it and not be moved and forever changed by it. Watch it on YouTube. You will be better for the experience.
