Famed journalist compares experiences in Deep South, South Africa
"Leadership is what we're celebrating tonight," USC President Harris Pastides said, introducing the former "PBS NewsHour" correspondent and the final speaker in the university's Leadership Dialogues.
In 1961, Hunter-Gault, who was born in Due West, S.C., became one of the first two African-Americans to attend the University of Georgia, before she was hired as the first black staff writer at The New Yorker.
As Hunter-Gault took the stage, she took note of her audience's diversity.
"I'm so happy to be before such a rainbow nation tonight," she said. "It's not often that there's such a rainbow of people."
As Hunter-Gault continued her speech, she delved into the importance of the giants whose shoulders leaders today stand on, her experiences with the civil rights movement and the eerily similar issues that still riddle South Africa today.
"As much as we rightfully honor leaders like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr., their success would not have been possible without those that might as well otherwise be called foot soldiers," she said.
When speaking of President Barack Obama, Hunter-Gault said that she feels leaders come in all shapes and sizes.
"They assume that mantle of being a leader to make a difference," she said. "It's not about them."
Taking the audience on a journey through her lifetime, Hunter-Gault told the story of how she went from being crowned prom queen to suddenly facing students' intense resentment caused her presence at the University of Georgia.
"People shouted at us, 'N---a, go home!' I was so confused, looking around for the n---a," she said with a laugh. "We walked on that campus like we belonged there, and we did."
Hunter-Gault spoke of many obstacles for black families during the civil rights movement, such as Jim Crow laws and segregated schooling.
But she said she feels that facing these hardships has really helped make African-Americans stronger now.
"The same system that sought to oppress us equipped us with a value system," Hunter-Gault said. "Instead of first-class citizenship, they gave us a first-class sense of ourselves."
Hunter-Gault was the chief correspondent for NPR in Africa from 1997 to 1999 and then became the head bureau chief and correspondent in Johannesburg, South Africa, for CNN from 1999 to 2005.
Having experienced the civil rights movement firsthand and having bricks thrown into her dorm room by white students, Hunter-Gault said South Africa's resemblance to America circa 1968 is almost unbearable.
She also said she was happy to see the country's progress, as South Africans can now enjoy interracial relationships publicly with their "cappuccino-colored babies," but felt the chaos in Africa is far from coming to a close.
"Their civil rights movement has yet to happen," Hunter-Gault said.