Dr. Richard Harris, author of “Growing Up Black in South Madison: An Economic Disenfranchisement Of Black Madison” spoke with the Stan Woodard of the Buzz on Tuesday, February 26, 2013.
The book is a reflection on how he has seen Madison for the past seven decades. It speaks candidly of Madison’s racist history and acknowledges that racism still exists today.
“I’ve been getting two types of reactions [to the book]. Many of the whites who are reading it are upset. They are saying, ‘Yeah, it’s true. But let’s let bygones be bygones and move forward,’” Harris says. “Many of the black people I’ve talked to are interested in the history and what went on. Much of [that history] they had never known before.”