Gang-banger turned journalist speaks out about race in America

When Nathan McCall used to pick up a newspaper, his name was in the headline. Now it is in the byline. The Black Student League presented a lecture by McCall, a Washington Post reporter and author of the autobiographical best-seller Makes Me Want to Holler, Tuesday night in the auditorium of the Annenberg School for Communication. The once gang-banging urban youth who robbed stores, held up people and gang-raped women described his turnaround and recovery -- the subject of his best-seller which debuted last February. McCall, who grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia, described how he did not have a supportive family life and looked to the "boys on the corner" for role models rather than his hard-working stepfather. He said he soon fell into the common inner-city trap of crime and shot a man -- who survived the bullet wounds. McCall served a short prison term for the shooting and was next caught robbing a McDonald's. After having served three of his 12-year prison sentence, he turned his life around as a result of stumbling onto Richard Wright's Native Son -- in which the main character is sentenced to death by the electric chair. "It struck a chord with me," he said. "I decided to try to live on the other side of the fence." Upon getting out of prison, McCall attended Norfolk State University and received a bachelor's degree in journalism. He went on to work for several different newspapers before being hired by The Washington Post. After briefly describing parts of his book and reading an excerpt dealing with his experiences upon returning to his hometown, McCall answered questions from the audience. McCall said he does not believe in a "three strikes you're out," crime policy because learning from experience, everyone needs a second chance. "Shouldn't we try to save some of these lives rather than write them off so quickly?" he asked. McCall's main focus of the evening was racism and its prevalence in America. "People always ask me if I'm obsessed with race," he said. "And I always tell them the same thing -- yes, I am. I'm obsessed with race and it's had a profound impact in my life and the life of every American in this country." He said he feels the violence in American cities is a "blue collar" version of the ruthlessness found in corporate America. McCall said one way to fight the racism in America is to target the "things we do to promote viciousness and selfishness," in our everyday lives and not be surprised when they exist on the street as well. He also said society needs to increase discourse on the topic of racism -- which is one reason why he said he chose to speak at the University. "We need to stand up and exchange ideas," he said. "That's what college is about." The audience was extremely receptive to McCall, and some members became hostile in response to a pointed question from Law student Latif Doman that referred to McCall's book as "dangerous." "I think it was a dangerous book because it says racism is the only explanation for the problem," Doman said. "Too many excuses, not enough explanations." Other audience members, however, found the book and presentation inspirational and especially appropriate for young readers. "It shows young people that they can't just act in the here and now," said Wanda Grooms, a member of the Philadelphia chapter of Go On Girl!, a reading group which named McCall its "Author of the Year." "They have to think of the consequences," she said.

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