THE ROOT -- The second was a letter of resignation from the Associated Press by Austin Scott, later Austin Long-Scott, who had been hired 11 years earlier as the AP’s first black reporter. He was joining the Washington Post’s national reporting staff.
“ ... I think that in 10 years, changes in the AP will have proved me correct. Times change, and while institutions move grudgingly, they usually move when it becomes painful not to. ...
“It’s crucial, I think, that we stop explaining why we can’t and start doing a little bit more. Each week, just a little bit more. Because if we do that, one day we’ll be able to look back and realize we don’t have to spend all that time any more thinking up excuses.”
Long-Scott was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Black Journalists in 2016 after 29 years as a journalist for the AP, the Post and other news organizations and a teacher for 20 years at San Francisco State University.