Susan Saulny

In Chicago, a law partner, George Jr.

dropped out of school at 13 to help his father lay bricks to support the family.

So look at the different life trajectories between George, who was black and his son, and Edward, who was passing for white and his son.

By the third generation, we got together and we look at each other and we're like, well, you know, you're a professional person, I'm a professional person.

It seems like we're living really comfortable lives.

What made the difference?

And I think my generation had the benefit of things like the Civil Rights Act.

of the Voting Rights Act, of programs like Affirmative Action that were looking for potential and merit in places where they hadn't looked before.

And if we gained any ground to be on somewhat equal footing now, I think it's because of a lot of the things that our parents' generation fought for, my parents' generation, black people in the South.

And going into this, I didn't see how resonant the story would be with our times right now today.

And that we're seeing some of these things that made all the difference to my generation being picked apart, being diluted, being attacked.

Most recently, the Voting Rights Act, which was the signature achievement of the civil rights movement.

You know, my grandfather was disenfranchised.

So there are so many things about the 2020s that look uncomfortably to me.

like the 1920s.

But I get hope from the fact that we were able to heal this family and the responses I saw across the internet from other people who cheered it, applauded, said, we want more conversations like this.

We want to do more of this kind of thing over here where I am, over there where you are.

There was sort of like, I got the feeling that people were ready for something more

Like truth and reconciliation, you know, because that's really what we did, the white Grangers and black Grangers.

We had a moment of truth and reconciliation.