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By Root 1070 0

of my black brothers and sisters that I would be honored to be buried with slaves with no headstone. But, of course, what was in my mind and what came out of my mouth were not the same thing, causing a mini-scandal to erupt because I said I wanted to be buried at Mount Vernon. When we later called the foundation to offer money for a marker, they had been so bombarded with phone calls about what I said that they didn’t even want to talk to us. I apologized to them for the misunderstanding. I felt so bad as they have preserved Washington’s home with such impeccable detail so that we can learn and understand about the history of our country, slavery, and the man who gave so much for us. Even so, they still refuse to have anything to do with me—for now.

Unbeknownst to me, while Beth was freaking out, two African-American men approached her backstage. She didn’t know who they were. For a moment she actually believed Sean Hannity had double-crossed us by bringing two black guests on to comment after my interview. That’s when someone told Beth the man who was merely saying hello to her was the Reverend Jesse Peterson, who was there with his group BOND, which stands for Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny. Beth was relieved when she met him, realizing he and his coworker were there to support me and not destroy me.

Reverend Peterson approached us after the taping was done. He looked a little like a gangster to me at first. I thought, Here we go. My first public fight. I couldn’t have been more wrong about the guy. We began talking and sharing our thoughts on racism in America.

“There’s no ‘white bands, white TV networks.’” He was telling me that because of these types of stereotypes, he believes the black man is just as prejudiced as the white man. “I grew up on a plantation in the South. I’ve heard the ‘N’ word more times than you’ve taken a breath.”

“Jesus, man. Shut up! I don’t want to hear you talking like this!” I was stunned by his straight-to-the-heart style and manner, and nervous to be a part of any racially fired-up conversation. Peterson told me he knew a racist when he met one and he didn’t believe that I was a racist. From that day on, he and I forged a friendship that began with what I thought was going to be a very sticky situation. Peterson and I don’t necessarily see eye to eye when it comes to politics. In fact, I’ve never disagreed with a man more in my life than I do with Reverend Peterson, but I respect him and all he stands for. He’s a radical nut and just the type of man I needed in my corner to help guide and counsel me through these times. We agreed to talk again over the next few weeks to see how we could work together.

I appeared on Larry King Live the next night. The interview was equally emotional. Tim Storey appeared with me for a segment, as did my oldest son, Christopher. Tim caught a lot of grief from other preachers in the community for standing by my side, but that didn’t deter him from referring to me as his brother and supporting me through this situation. Even when others insisted I was a racist, Tim Storey refused to let them have their way, going so far as to make it evidently clear that he did not believe that to be true.

During the interview, my son Christopher told Larry King how the National Enquirer had approached him to talk about his dad, offering him quick cash for his story. They asked him a series of questions, which Christopher lied about in his answers so he could get the money. The Enquirer asked him questions about my alleged drug use over the years and about me being a racist. They encouraged him to say whatever he wanted by telling him “the more dirt, the better.” When the paper gave Christopher a lie detector test, which they sometimes do as a precaution, the results were inconclusive. Even so, they went ahead and printed the story.

Since that incident, it appeared the National Enquirer had had an ongoing interest in stories about me. Christopher’s interview was done months before Tucker sold the tapes. Christopher drove himself into the ground with guilt for