Father Dave sits down with Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and host of the Sirius XM show “Steele & Ungar,” to discuss the recent events in Charlottesville and to discern how we as a nation can heal the wounds of racism, anti-Semitism, and white supremacy.

In the first part of their conversation (00:22–4:30), Steele lays out some of the ways in which our ongoing cultural and political turmoil led to the events in Charlottesville, providing some answers to the recurring question, “How did we get here?”

LISTEN: Father Dave Responds to Charlottesville

In the next portion of their discussion (starting at 4:37), Father Dave asks: “Before we get into the digesting and the aftermath [of the events in Charlottesville], as a faithful Catholic, a former seminarian, as an African-American man, as someone who’s been empowered to be involved in the politics of this country–when you heard of the violence that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia last Saturday, what was your first reaction?”

LISTEN: Homily: Was Jesus a Racist?

“I was not surprised,” Steele said. “I was [already] very heartbroken because at that point — I think people forget what happened on Friday — on Friday you’d had the marching with the torches, and you had American citizens with torches gathering on a university campus [and] calling for the death of Jews. So from that moment to the impactful moment of the death of a young woman, [Heather Heyer], it was very heart-wrenching, very disappointing. … But also then, like a parent understanding his or her child, you realize, ‘Maybe I have a sense of where this behavior is coming from.’”

Later in the podcast (12:45), Mr. Steele briefly illustrates how the election of President Obama led many to believe our country had reached a “post-racial” era, in which racism had ceased to exist. He explains the steps that need to be taken to confront racism in our country, which include having difficult, honest, and uncomfortable conversations about it. (Original Air 08-18-17)