Committed to reporting on undercovered communities, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien spoke to Diverse about 2009’s “Black in America” and “Latino in America” documentaries and other issues she’ll cover through the expanded “in America” series. The half Afro-Cuban, half Australian New Yorker says her mixed background has given her the ability to relate to many different communities. Listen here to hear more on her “in America” work.
1. Is there anything you regret or wish you had done differently in last year’s “in America” specials?
Oh gosh, always. … We did Latinos but didn’t look at all at Afro-Latinos. They’re absolutely missing from the documentary. My mom is Afro-Latino and so she even says ‘Oh so none of that in your documentary, huh?’ Understandably, it’s four hours and you’re looking at 51 million people. It’s not possible to get everything in. … The beauty of it is, I get to do it again because we will do more Latino stories, and we will do more “Black in America” stories. And we’ll expand even more what we consider to be the “in America” series. To me the mantra is we’ll go do stories that are undercovered.
2. What was the driving purpose behind “Latino in America”? Was it to explain this group, clarify stereotypes or bring forward issues?
I find a great story with a great character and I let them tell their story because it’s a documentary. There are a lot of unexplored stories in both the Black and Latino populations. I know that to be true. There are a lot of stories for gay Americans that never get told; certainly for Native Americans there are none [and] Asian-Americans. … My job is not to say ‘OK, this is a story for Asian-Americans.’ Not at all. My job is to find a great character and tell their story in a way that everybody is compelled, everybody is interested. It’s not about, ‘Well I’m here to explain this to this.’
3. In an article in Latina magazine you said education is the most pressing issue facing Black and Latino communities. Why do you believe this?
It’s the next front in civil rights. If you can deny someone a good education, you can deny them everything. You will get in the way of their earnings potential. You will determine whether their children are likely to be educated. You will determine whether they live in poverty. You will determine what job they are likely to have. You will determine their health care. … So I think that if we are not able to figure out how to make public education a real opportunity for all people who cannot send their children to private education, [if we are not able to] make public education safe and available and good quality, you will effectively condemn a large number of people, mostly brown and Black to being underclass.
4. What are you working on in regards to higher education?
Well, right now, we’re looking at doing an “Education in America,” because I think (education is) one of the things that every single person has (experienced) as a touchstone education. … Some of (the stories) involve historically Black colleges and universities (and] retention of Black and Latino students in the college process, so we have a number in the works now. Education is … a story that everybody has a vested interest in.
5. Do you think there is a place for honing in on different ethnic groups in a so-called “post-racial” America?
I’m not even sure what post-racial America means. If it means that race is no longer an issue then that’s insane. So I think that there is no post-racial America. And anybody who says that never fully understood “pre-racial” America. America has had a long and difficult history with race, and it’s really, really interesting and compelling to explore. And one of the most interesting things about my job is I get to explore that and the ramifications of some of those complications over the hundreds of years of history that present themselves today in present-day America and the challenges that certain people face. And some of the incredible successes that certain people are able to achieve. But there is no “post-racial America.” Race is a conversation that America is having very much currently.
