Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

Tavis Smiley Leaving NPR

Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | “It’s not National Some-of-the-Public Radio”: “There’s an old adage that says, ‘He who breaks through the brush first, gets the thorns.’ So, I’m leaving with a few thorns that I’ve picked up here and there, but I can tell you this: I don’t know that I made NPR any better, but NPR has sure made me better. I leave NPR not bitter, but better. Better as a person, better as a man, better as a talent, this experience for me — it’s made me feel better about America. I cannot begin to tell you how this program has made me smarter. I’ve learned so much just hosting the show. I’m going to miss that intellectual vigor, that challenge every day … I so much appreciate the opportunity and experience that I’ve had. I just hope that the decision that I’ve made will, for future generations, be a plus in terms of making this network sound more like America looks.” [Tavis Smiley]

I had never heard of Tavis Smiley until earlier this year when I noticed a TV listing for his show on Public Television. He was going to be interviewing Prince–whom I have always considered a really interesting, intelligent, and very talented kind of guy. Prince didn’t disappoint, but I was particularly impressed with Tavis Smiley’s interviewing skills. He asked good questions that really showed a lot of insight and he gave Prince plenty of space for providing answers. (I really loathe interviewers who don’t give people enough time to provide complete answers. Of course, some interview subjects really aren’t capable of providing more than rehearsed sound-bites.)

Anyway, so I’ve heard parts of a few of his NPR broadcasts and they were interesting. I never got the impression that his shows were geared specifically to black people and I believe that’s the key to his success. If you’re doing a show where you’re talking about, for example, how poverty affects a person’s access to education, you don’t need to say much about race because poor people–regardless of race–pretty much all have the same problems in this regard.

Certainly, there are issues that are race-specific but there are fewer of them than a lot of people think. When something is race-specific, of course it makes sense to talk about race. Dragging race into every discussion, though, is–in my opinion–really just divisive. I like how Tavis Smiley’s NPR show didn’t make race a part of everything he talked about. It was inclusive. So…I hope that when he talks about “making this network sound more like America looks” he’s not wanting to make race more of an issue than it needs to be.

Yes, there are different races and different cultures in this country and that’s a very good thing. (One of the things I particularly appreciate about living in the Washington DC area is the cultural diversity.) But, in the immortal words of Star Trek: “The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity… and in the way our differences combine to create meaning and beauty.” It’s that combination that interests me much more than how our differences might divide us.