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CNN explores diversity in ‘Black in America’

The two brothers sit side by side in the interview room. One is famous, one is not. Both reflect key themes in CNN’s “Black in America” documentaries, which first aired July 23 and July 24.

Michael Eric Dyson, a Georgetown professor, has written 16 books. “He is a philosopher,” says CNN anchor Soledad O’Brien. “He got his Ph.D. from Princeton. They call him the hip-hop intellectual.”

Everett Dyson is also highly regarded. “He seems like a great guy, a gentle soul,” O’Brien says. “The warden describes him as a great man.”

Yes, the warden. Everett Dyson is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.

The specifics are debated. Michael Dyson feels his brother didn’t commit the murder.

“You see a great deal of love and respect they have for each other,” says Mark Nelson, producer of the CNN project.

Still, their opposite paths reflect a key fact. “What I have learned is how diverse the black community is,” Nelson says.

This is the year in which a black man could land the highest job opening, president of the U.S. Still, CNN’s hidden camera showed another educated black man being denied even an interview for an entry-level job.

That reflects results of a poll CNN took with Essence magazine. Whites say racial discrimination is no longer a serious factor; blacks disagreed. Both sides say the lives of black women have improved in the past decade. Blacks say the same isn’t true for black men.

“The number of (black) women going to college is increasing,” Nelson says. “The number of women in good-paying positions is increasing.”

For black men, O’Brien says, that’s not true. “Just walk around a college campus and you’ll see.”

There’s no agreement on what forces are to blame. Nothing is for sure, as evidenced by the Dyson brothers.

They grew up in a warm, middle-income Detroit family. Their dad was an autoworker, their mom a school aide. Michael became a phenomenon who read the Harvard Classics. His brother was overshadowed, Nelson says.

“Everett Dyson was not a great student; he was a regular kid.” And like some other regular kids, he found trouble.

Michael did, too. He got a scholarship to a boarding school, but says other students were racist. His grades skidded; at 19, he was living in his car, unable to support his child. He righted himself quickly and became an acclaimed scholar. His brother was in the drug scene and linked to a murder.

The Dysons are only a small part of the CNN films, but they illustrate many things, including the disparity of schooling.

“If you believe that a good education is important, then we really do have a long way to go,” Nelson says.

Then there is a touchier subject. Michael Dyson is light-skinned. Everett is dark and feels that affected the way people viewed him.

“That’s a conversation in the black community all the time,” O’Brien says.

Many people assume she’s white, but her parents — a black Cuban mother and an Irish father — emphasized roots.

“When we were children, it was always clear who we are ... I’m black,” O’Brien says. “Light-skinned, but black.”

And she’s part of a blended society, from Barack Obama to Tiger Woods.

Another CNN story introduces a joyous black family, which recently learned of a white ancestor. He loved a black woman, Nelson says. “We believe she wasn’t a slave. But he was run out of Virginia because he was with a black woman.”

Until recently, neither group of his descendants — black or white — knew about the other. Both received the news cheerfully, Nelson says, and they’re planning a combined gathering.

They’re part of a blended American world.