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The Conversation with Dasha Burns

The Black correspondents at the White House

The Conversation with Dasha Burns

POLITICO

News, Politics, Government

4.01.6K Ratings

🗓️ 7 May 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

White House reporters have access to the highest seat in the country — and they’re a small group. An even smaller group? Reporters of color. On today’s episode of Playbook Deep Dive, Eugene Daniels gets honest with fellow Black White House correspondents April Ryan (TheGrio) and Ayesha Rascoe (NPR) about everything from microaggressions to death threats. “Covering the White House from Bill Clinton to now, race touches everything,” says Ryan. “Everything.” Plus, a look at the first Black female White House reporter Alice Dunnigan and her faceoffs with Eisenhower — who refused to take her questions for two years. Eugene Daniels is a co-author of POLITICO Playbook.Carol McCabe Booker is a former journalist and attorney who edited Alice Dunnigan's autobiography "Alone atop the Hill."April Ryan is White House Correspondent at TheGrio.Ayesha Rascoe is White House Correspondent for NPR and part of the NPR Politics Podcast.Adrienne Hurst is a producer for POLITICO audio.Annie Rees is a producer for POLITICO audio.Jenny Ament is senior producer for POLITICO audio.Irene Noguchi is the executive producer of POLITICO audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

The Black World knew Alice Dunnigan back then, knew her very well, white people.

0:08.0

White people didn't know what was going on in the Black World.

0:14.0

Where in the 1950s, Eisenhower is president. I'm not born yet.

0:21.0

Alice Dunnigan is a White House reporter sitting in the briefing.

0:27.0

The first and only Black woman sitting in the briefing room back then.

0:32.0

So she raised the question at the news conference.

0:35.0

And Eisenhower got very mad and he had a little fit of peak.

0:39.0

He said, well, I don't think much of the question.

0:41.0

Why are you asking me that?

0:42.0

Shut down, ignored.

0:44.0

Each time, he would say, why are you asking me?

0:47.0

I know that feeling well.

0:49.0

Thank you. That's all.

0:51.0

I'm Eugene Daniels, an author of political's playbook.

0:54.0

And this is Playbook D5.

1:00.0

Hi, I'm Carol Booker.

1:03.0

Carol is a former journalist and attorney who rediscovered an autobiography

1:08.0

Alice wrote back in 1974 that was almost out of print.

1:12.0

There were a couple of copies offered online, but for $100 or more,

1:17.0

I was too bad to pay $100.

1:19.0

So I lived near the Library of Congress and I walked over there.

1:23.0

I was amazed.

...

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