National Public Radio senior correspondent and Fox News TV contributor Juan Williams has stirred up controversy and conversation with his 2006 book "Enough: The Phony Leaders, Dead-End Movements, and Culture of Failure That Are Undermining Black America" (Three Rivers Press). Raised by a single mother who worked in New York City's garment district, Mr. Williams also wrote "Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary" in 2000 and spent 21 years with the Washington Post prior to NPR. He'll be in Upper St. Clair tomorrow to speak at the Town Hall South lecture series. For information call 724-942-9529.

Q: What drove you to succeed instead of becoming a victim of your circumstances?

A: I think my mom has a lot to do with it. I know that people might say, "Well gee, that seems rather psychological or something that comes out of therapy," but I'm not a guy who has been in therapy. [She was] a mother who really had high expectations. She's the kind of mom who when I got a part in an elementary school play, wanted to know why it wasn't a better and bigger part. I remember being very frustrated with that, but in fact it is sort of now built into my psychology. I want to do better, and I always strive for my highest aspirations. I can't even dream large enough for what might be possible.

Q: Did being a black man help you in any way?

A: I don't know. But, I think it's a challenge in the United States to be black because you deal with so much of the stereotype and so much of the lower expectations. There are so many situations where I come into an academic or professional environment and I think I've got to prove myself.

Q: Similar to what women experience?

A: I think that's right. And I think that's wasted energy. That's energy that could have been employed in advancing some argument or idea or creating some project.

Q: Do you think the state of black leadership has improved since you wrote "Enough"?

A: Well, I think Barack Obama has done so much to transform the black political scene. As you well know, most of the elected black officials, most of the black civil rights establishment, is with Hillary Clinton's campaign. He's now getting 80 and 90 percent of the black vote. His energy represents a new kind of leadership. It's one that says it's not simply about our turn. It's about building a coalition with white voters. It's about looking for opportunities to change the politics of the day. You know, the patronage politics that existed where the likes of a black mayor with old civil rights activists ... saying it's our turn to get our share of the spoils, that has been now blown apart by Obama's insistence that this is really about having a new vision about working across racial lines.

Q: Of the two, gender or race, which do you think will prove to be the more powerful determinant?

A: I could be wrong [laughs] but you know, I think it's harder for a black man than for a white woman to win the nomination. The reason is you have so many more white female voters who could identify with Hillary Clinton. I think a black male still has a greater hurdle to leap.

Q: He is black, but he is also half white, so does that play into his winning streak or is it what has been termed Hillary Clinton's "polarizing effect" that is doing it?

A: She was winning white men until recently. She is still winning white women, but your earlier point about Obama being half black, half white is an interesting one. In America, if you have any black blood you are considered black. I think now, it's like here's someone who is an achiever. Something we all consider admirable. The question is, do whites view him differently because he has a white mother? Do blacks view him differently? At the start of his campaign, a lot of the black politicians didn't like him because he didn't come up through the black political machine. A lot of them said he wasn't black enough. All of a sudden now, this has been turned on its head by Obama's success. Turned, ironically, by his ability to prove that he can get white votes, and he has a real shot at winning the nomination.

Q: What do you think of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell's remarks, that some voters in Pennsylvania may not vote for Sen. Obama because he is black?

A: I think he just stated a fact. I would hope there aren't many such people.

Q: If we were to have a black president, how far would that go to alleviate the culture of failure you write about in the black community?

A: The key point there is that it would suggest to young black people that you can succeed in this great and wonderful country. That in America you can be president of the United States. This says there is a future for them.