Hey, confessional listeners, given everything happening in our country right now around

issues of race and policing, I wanted to bring back an episode from last year.

It's a conversation I had with Wilhelm Vervout, and it's about his own culpability in

apartheid South Africa.

But it's also about his lifelong commitment to helping dismantle something his very own

family helped to build.

I found it really helpful, and I hope you do too.

I'll be back with a brand new episode for you next week.

See you then.

In the spring of 2014, I found a small dog wandering in front of my house.

The streets of our neighborhood in North Denver were dotted with small brick houses, and

the nights were often punctuated with gunfire and drunken shouting.

I coaxed the friendly Chihuahua into my arms and found that he was tagged with an address

just two blocks away, so I decided to return the cute little thing to his owner.

But I was alone and didn't know what kind of situation I'd find when I knocked on

the door.

So when I saw a police cruiser parked on the street, I thought I'll just ask the officer

to keep an eye on me as I return the dog, you know, make sure I was safe.

When a young black woman answered the door, she did not seem to be relieved or grateful

that a white lady was returning her lost dog as I had expected, but instead had a look

of terror on her face when she saw a cop parked in front of her house.

She just said, okay, as I handed her the dog, but she never took her eyes off the cop.

...