Atlantic Exchange: A Retrospective on Race in America

“The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.” – Frederick Douglass

From its founding to the present day, America has struggled with race, identity and power. Now, America’s grappling with its long overdue reckoning with white supremacy.

AtlanticLIVE partnered with HBO to explore race, justice and the present day cultural reckoning mirrored in their new series Watchmen. Inspired by the aftermath of the Tulsa race massacre of 1921, the series is set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws. Watchmen brilliantly interweaves the supernatural with real world threats to society - white supremacy and domestic terrorism, and daringly confronts race, power and justice analogous to our current state.

The evening’s conversation, featured cultural critics, historians and thought leaders, covered the devastating impact decades of white supremacy has had on our society, examine the complicated history of the nation’s justice system, and explored how we move forward as a nation.