In this extended "Road Scholars" interview clip, retired Air Force hero-turned-civil rights leader, Alton Yates, compares racism today and how it was when he participated in civil rights movement demonstrations. On August 27, 1960, a lunch counter demonstration he participated in led to a bloody attack by a white mob. That event is known as Ax Handle Saturday. He explains that although racism today is not as overt as it was when he was a younger man, it is “still alive and well.”

Yates reunited with young Black men whom he had first met in 2009 as part of an oral history project. During intimate conversations recorded in 2023, they talk about navigating the reality of being a Black man in America today.

Watch more of Yates’ story in the four-part digital series, "Road Scholars," which showcases conversations that offer hope, inspiration, and a possible roadmap for change.

Watch the series:
   • Road Scholars  

“Road Scholars” is a four-part digital series produced by Investigative Media Group, Inc. in association with The WNET Group's Chasing the Dream initiative.

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The WNET Group is the parent organization of THIRTEEN, WLIW21, NJ Spotlight News, ALL ARTS and operator of NJ PBS – media made possible by all of you.

Chasing the Dream: Poverty and Opportunity in America is a multiplatform public media initiative reporting on poverty, justice, and economic opportunity, and showcasing promising solutions.

Major funding for Chasing the Dream is provided by The JPB Foundation with additional funding from Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III. Additional support for "Road Scholars" was provided by the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida.

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