86 SCENE | JUNE 2017 on the town they’re going to be here. What kind of country we leave them in large measure will help determine what kind of country they can shape and make better. They’ll have the tools to do that with an understanding of what this country is, how it has changed, what it was, and their role in shaping its future. What is the seminal thing you learned by serving in the Korean War, which you have said had a profound impact on your life? Service. That’s what you owe your country. I had a college degree. I was not drafted. I volunteered for Korea. It was not about a wonderful patriotism, although that was part of it, because my dad had served, as did my older brother. It’s what you owe your country. But there were other advantages in serving. You got a GI Bill out of this. You got to test yourself against other people under stringent conditions. Whatever you decided to do after that would be an asset to you. I believe in the draft. When people know that they and their family are at risk with wars or whatever this country has to face, they have a very different attitude than when everybody is a volunteer. I want everybody to have that kind of investment and risk. Everybody has skin in the game. What was the driving force for you attaining a PhD from the University of Chicago? I always knew that I was going to do that. I started out to be a lawyer, not because I thought about it, but because everyone expected me to be one. I wound up leading things. I was a debater. In those days, you didn’t have a whole lot of black lawyers or doctors. I was going to do that until I was a senior in college. I loved learning and Chicago was my kind of school. People from my all black high school had gone to the University of Chicago in the 1930s because they could commute from Gary. Chicago let you in whether you qualified or not. They didn’t care if you were black or anything else. The rules were the same. By that time, when I went for my PhD, I had developed such an academic record that I got a fellowship there. I loved every minute I was there. This is what Chicago does. They lay it all on what it takes to get the PhD and then they leave you alone. If you need help, you go get it. They treat you like an adult. I love that place. You have just returned from the National Museum of African History in Washington, DC. Please tell me about your initial reaction. Absolutely amazing. Not only the structure, but the way it’s organized. You start in the basement. What it does is start you off with the whole history of slavery worldwide and then it builds in different periods. By the time you get to the fourth level, you’re in the modern day. There is no way you can see everything in two or even three days. It absolutely exceeded my expectations. What is the one thing that you want everyone in America to see when they visit the Museum? It’s the entire experience. For many people, including African Americans, but especially white Americans, they’re afforded the chance to see a history that almost none of them were taught, because it was not written. John Hope Franklin and Carter G. Woodson started that whole business of doing that — stating that this is a history that needs to be told because it is American history. That, and its location, is the power of this exhibit. When you go to the top level and look out, you can see every monument from there. I love Washington and haven’t been there in while. I used to spend a lot of time there. I was on three Presidential Commissions. I ran conferences for the Congressional Black Caucus when there were only 13 members. I was blown away by the Museum and I was so proud. It shows you how change occurred and how long it took. I never thought, in high school, that we would ever have African Americans doing the thing that they’re doing in the fields that they’re in. The head of American Express and Xerox are African Americans. But that’s not the main thing. At every level, you can see the differences and the strides being made. Have things gotten better in your opinion? Where are we in our country with regard to race in America in 2017? Of course we’re better. You can get better as long as you are alive. You have to keep working at it. It’s all about diversity. Almost everybody here came from somewhere else. People forget that when the Italians and Irish first came here there were signs saying, “Irish need not apply.” Things have gotten a lot better but things can still get better. Your involvement with overseeing, maintaining and eventually securing a new long-term home for the Barnes Art collection has been both hailed and met with criticism. As you look back at that time in your life, what is the greatest thing you accomplished there? It was a long process. Mr. Barnes’ collection was tucked off in Marion County in his personal home and they wouldn’t let us do a lot. We couldn’t raise funds there. They didn’t want us in the
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