The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Charlamagne tha God On The Problem With DEI
Episode Date: April 8, 2024In this podcast exclusive, Daily Show contributor Charlamagne tha God and Daily Show writer Ashton Womack discuss Charlamagne's issues with corporate America's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initia...tives, how conservatives have hijacked DEI, and the need for true leadership and change in the Black community. Plus, Clarlamagne unpacks what it was like to work with Jon Stewart and the inspiration he gave him for this piece.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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After the murder of George Floyd, white people across America looked around and said,
wait a second, are we racist?
So America took a good hard look at itself and when big corporations saw themselves
in the mirror, they said, oh shit, we're white as
f-whi
And to address this problem, businesses turn to the Daily Show Ears edition.
This is your boy, Ashton Womack, stand-up comic writer for the Daily Show.
I'm here with the one and only.
You have seen him before he is no stranger to the show.
Please help me welcome, Charlotte Bay the God.
Bram!
This is awesome.
I'm like... Ashton, what's up, I'm super excited for you one being here, and I, and I, thaged, thaged, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, to, to, to, to, to, to, is, is, is, is, is, th, th, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is a, is a.. t. toge, toge, toge, toge, tog. tog. t. My first question is honestly I got some questions on the paper but I do have a personal question.
I pitched a DEI piece during Black History Month. Okay. But they were like they hit me up,
they were like Charlemagne wants to do, they told me your piece. But I was wondering, did you already
have DEI in mind when you came here or what kind of piece the thr.. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their their piece. I their piece. I their their piece. I their their their piece. I their p. I their their. I their. I their. I their. I I their. I I I their. I I I their. I I their. I their. I their. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the te. I pe. I'm p. I'm p. I'm p. I te. I te. I te. I they. I their p. I to? No, I didn't necessarily have a peace in mind,
but DEI is something that's always, you know,
top of mind for me because I often wonder
who comes up with these things.
And so, you know, when everybody is up in arms,
I want to pay attention to it to see what has them up in arms.
And it all comes back to blackness, right? Like anything that, like I said in the piece,
anything that, anything that leads to black progress,
for some reason you have some white people
who think that equates the white failure.
And so they don't want that.
They've never wanted black progress.
Because I feel like it's like a saying I always heard. It's the equity saying, like you like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, the.. the. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th.. It's the equity saying like you gaining anything makes it feel like you're taking something from there.
And that's ridiculous. Yeah, okay. Like like there's more than enough to go around.
Yeah, no, I know. I know. I know. I don't even know if what's going around is the actual pie they're eating from. They have a the actual pie they're the pie the pie the pie. the pie. the pie. the pie. their their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. they. they. they. they they they're th. It's th. It's they they they they's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's that's that's that's that's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's th. It's like. It's like. It's like like. It's like like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. It's th. It's pie that they don't even have to give us a slice of that.
Give us our, we can have our own ovens and our own ingredients and bake our own pies.
You know what I mean?
Like we don't need a slice of your white pie.
We don't need that.
Trust me, I think that point comes up, that point comes up a lot in my life because I used to be like, man, I want to go to these club, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, to, their, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, and tho, and tho, and their, and their, and their, and their, and their, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I, I'm, I'm, the the the the the the the the the the the the thin, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, thin, I'll, thin, I'll, I'll, tape, I'll, I'll, I'll, tape, I'll, th..... We'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'm, I'm, I'm, tha, man, I want to go to these clubs. I want to go to these white clubs. And I finally get them. I'm like, I don't want, man, I'm gonna go to the black club. Yeah, that's right.
I'm gonna go to my, our response, it's no offense to them.
It's just like, oh, you know,
there's enough, you know, there's there's there's enough, there's enough, there's enough, there's enough, there's enough, there's enough, there, there, there, there, there, there,
, there, there, there, there, there, there, there's, there's, there's,
.
, there's, there's there's, there's, there's, there's, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there, there, that's the problem, okay? We got this over here for us.
Y'all got that over there for y'all.
Now, at some point, we can come together and collectively, you know, do something.
But let us hath the cooking.
Yeah, until then Jack Harlow stay in your lane, bro.
Until then.
Okay, so we're here the daily show man.
I mean the best in the business, I think that they were already on their A-game. I think John, you know, the legend John Stewart coming back, got everybody even sharper than they was. He did. He he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he did he did he did he did he did he did he did he did. He did he did he did he did he he he did he did he did he he he he he he he he th. He he th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He th. He he th. He he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he he th. He th. He th. He th. He was he th. He th. He th. He th. He did. He did. He did. He did. He did he the theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. He did did did, he did, he did, he did, he did, he did, he did, he th. He was th. He was they was. He did. He came back I was like, oh I got to work.
That's what I'm saying. I thought y'all was super sharp last year when I hosted the show a couple of times, but just even coming back now, it's even more sharper. And I mean, even sitting in
the, we were on a zoom one time, you know, talking about the DEI stuff and John just popped in on the zoom and John just popped in on the to zoom........ to show. to show. to show. And, to show. And, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, th. John, th. John, th. John, th. John, th. John, th. John, th. th. tho, tho, tho, th. tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, th. I was th. I was th. I was th. I was, th. I was, th. I was, th. I was, th. I was, th. I I I was, th. I I I was, th. I was, th. I was, th. I was just, th. Like, th. Like, th. Like, the. Like, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho. Like, tho. I thooooo. Like, thooooo. Like, thoooo. Like, like, I tho, like, I want to give you this. And so he gave me something that actually unlocked a whole bunch of other thoughts,
which probably the writers hate it because.
No, no, not at all.
I sent like 30, 40 different points.
No, I swear to you.
Not at all, when he said that,
when he said that, the point he was making was about how slavery, you know, this is all the the the the point the point the point the point the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the point, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, was, the the the th....... the th. the the, the threat. threat. the threat. threat. the threat. the th the threat. the threat. the the the threat. the the created by the oppressor. Yes, exactly. And so that made me start thinking about, yeah, this is something that corporate America
created and now corporate America is upset about.
And when you look at like what happens a lot of times in these cases, right?
Most of it, anything that causes black progress is going to cause conservatives to lose
this shit, 90% of the time, right? So when it comes to something like DEI, it feels like they're hijacking the language, right? Which they always do, they did it with
woke, they do it with critical race theory, so they're hijacking the language of DEI,
so then we start to hate it. Woke got, they used to use woke. They used to, they used to, they used to use woke, so much so so so much their their their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, they, they, they, they, they's, they's, their, they's, they're, they're, they're, they're, they're, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, their, their, their, their, their, their, they, they's, they're, they're always always always always always always always always always always, they're they're always always always always, they're they're they're always always always, they're they're they're they're they're they're have it. It used to be third eye stuff. It used to be with my dad with smoke weed,
he'd be like, boy, you gotta get woke.
And that now, nobody.
Now we don't even want it.
They're hoping we do that with DEI.
They're hoping, that's why they take the words, right?
Diversity, of course black even want diversity, equity, inclusion, though. Which is why I love how we tackle this piece.
We literally, we expose them, expose them for all.
They're just racist, the racist rhetoric they've been using on DEI.
And then we actually take a real nuanced look at what DEI is and like a dress, like, is
us?
this good for us?
And I genuinely like love how we went about tackling the tea. Absolutely. The truth about DEI is that although it's well-intentioned,
it's mostly garbage, okay?
It's kind of like the Black Little Mermaid.
Just because racist hated doesn't mean it's good.
And you know I'm right, because every one of you
is sat through one of those diversity training sessions and thought,
this is bullshit.
And it's not just you. Over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over over the the the the the th, over th, over th, over thu studies, over thi studies, over thi studies, over thi studies, over thi studies, over thoes, over thoes, over thi thea, thea, thoes, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the. thea, th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thean th th the the thea. thea. thea. thea. you. Over 900 studies have shown that DEI programs don't make the workplace better for minorities.
In fact, it can actually make things worse because of the backlash effect.
One thing I noticed, I see how deeply you are inspired by John and like late night and
watching your show and when you come in and host.
You can feel you studied. I can tell whenever you like hosted. You, you can feel that like you were truly in this.
That's one, that's one of the pleasures I feel like working with you is because you are
actually like, you're like, you're like, I love this shit, I'm in it.
So I'm like, just now, in the meeting you were fully in it, and I was like, I can tell you were appreciating it as much as we were appreciating.
The Daily Show, the cultural institution,
I've read the Daily Show book twice.
I've listened to the audio book probably twice,
so, you know, I'm familiar with, you know,
you know, Jen and all of the success that they've had. That's the other thing I'm so intrigued by nowadays,
like longevity, right?
Because we live in such a flash in the Pan era.
So I like to see people who not only evolved
from whatever position they started in,
but we're able to maintain that level of success,
operating on a high level for so long.
Even if we, you know, when you talk about even like athletes, right? Like LeBron James is going to be studied in the future.
Tom Brady is going to be studied in the future.
How did they stay so good for so long?
Joe Biden is going to be studied.
No, he will not be.
He will not be.
He will not be longevity.
He will not be longevity.
.
.
. will be saying should have hung it up a long time ago. But no, I absolutely, to your point,
Jen 25 showrunner, been here 25 years.
Incredible.
Isn't it, to me, like, one of my heroes,
somebody, I'm like, every time I just look across the table,
her work and I'm like, bro, you really be putting in the work,
she's been holding this place down, like, because it's a system, and I th systems I think systems lack in a lot of areas like there's a lot of areas in my life that could use a real system
I'm not gonna put anything on blast but there's a lot of you know areas in my
life that I know would be way better if we had a actual system and that's
what I love about the Daily Show I I rave about it all the time even when I'm not here I just I'd be I be at my at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at my at at at the other at my at my at my at the other at the other at the other at the other at my the other at my the other at the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the other the the the other the other the other the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. th. th. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. the the the they. the the the the the the the the the the the the the I love about the Daily Show. I rave about it all the time, even when I'm not here. I just, I'd be at my other places complaining like,
see, we don't have a system!
I can tell, and I'm only brought it up,
because I love the Daily Show as well.
Been a fan since I was a kid.
When I'm in here, I'm stoke it all in. I'm in here, I just I just I just I just I just I just I just I just I just I just just I just just just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I just, I'm, I just, I just, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th.... th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. I see that shit. Thank you, brother. That's why it makes it a lot easier, and this piece even funner to work on, somebody
who's like in it.
But speaking of, I do have a question about the DEI piece, to bring it back to the DEI, we
had a segment about mediocre black people.
What inspired, that was one of the points you were making.
What inspired the mediocre black people in the world? Because we don't want that either. One of the things that we complain about a lot is mediocrity.
Like, you know, you'll have white people in these, you know,
positions of power and they don't bring anything great to the table either.
They're just there, because they're the mediocre white man.
So, you know, you don't want DEI to come around what they do the problem with a lot of these things is that when you hear
Like a Charlie Kirk or whoever just because I'm black don't mean I'm mediocre
So you can't say things like if I saw a black pilot I would be afraid or if I saw a black pilot I would second guess whether or not I wanted to be on the plane That's your bias. That's your racist bias. You look at black people as inferior, right?
So just because I'm black doesn't mean I'm inferior. Just because you're white doesn't mean your sub-peria.
So that's just like, we don't want any mediocrity, period.
Do you think this rhetoric, like you said, Charlie Kirk, he's going around saying
saying black people are mediocre, oh, and invoking that kind of feeling
towards when any time you see a black person in power.
Usually, typically when Republicans and conservatives have found their talking point,
they hammer that, they hammer it down until, as you can see, a mass wave of people who are kind of psychologically weak to it,
start to believe it. Do you think that this mediocre narrative that they're pushing about black people and on affirmative action. Do you think that might stick? Is that something like, is that something we should be afraid about?
Like, in six years?
I think it's already stuck.
It's been sticking for 400 plus years.
But it's part of almost like the actual Republican talking point.
Yes, because they believe that.
They believe that. We know the Republican Party, you know, you is is is is is is is is is is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is the party, is the party, is the party, is the party, is the party, is the party, is the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their, it's their, it's been sticking, it's been sticking, it's been sticking, it's been sticking, it's been sticking, it's been sticking, it's the, it's the, it's the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. It's, it's, it's th. It's thi. It's been sticking. It's been sticking. It's been sticking. It's been sticking. It's been sticking. It's been sticking. It's been sticking. It's been sticking. It's been sticking, it's been sticking. It's been sticking, that. There's nothing they're saying now
Rhetoric-wise that they already haven't felt forever
It's been passed down from generation the generation the generation that is the narrative. They have a black people that is the
Perception they have a black people that's why profiling will never go away, you know, that's why you know, they can look at a black person and thin. They can label us their people the their people their people their people their people. their people. their people. their people. their people. their their people. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their they they they they they they they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they their. their. their. their. their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their person and already think they got us pag, they can label us thugs, they can label us dead beef fathers,
all of that already exist. So if you already feel that way the way they feel that way,
there's nothing I can do to change that. President Barack Obama was considered a mediocre
negro to conservatives. You could tell by the way they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they they're they're they're they're they're they're they're th conservatives. You could tell by the way they spoke to him, you could tell by the language
they do. I would say he was a front to like, you know, I'm not about to sit here in Gassup
Obama, you know, he got all his things, but I would say in the white eyes they have this image of the great white man and I thought to them why he was so scary was a great black man. Now I think I think I think I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I th. I that that that tho tho tho tho tho that that that that that tho tho tho tho tho tho thi thi thi thi he he he he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he was he he he he he he he he he he he he that he was that is that is that is that that that that that that that that that that that that they that that they that that that that that he was he was he to the, I think the, those conservatives, he's still a nigger. A hundred percent.
Do you know what I'm saying?
So, so as long as you're looking at a person and saying they still nigger, you look
at them as mediocre, you look at them as inferior, you know, you've dehumanized them
in some way, shape or form. No, that's a great point. I was only. I. I. I. I thi. I. I thi. I. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I th. I thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. thi. So. that. So, that. So, so. So, so. So, so. So, so. So, so. So, so. So, so. So, so. So. So, so. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. So. th. So. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. So, as long. So. So we can make fun of them on the show. Well actually you know what I was talking about when I was thinking about, I wasn't thinking about
that I wasn't thinking about black person as an individual and I hate to even do this but
this is the line of business that I'm in. I'm in the entertainment business. So I was really just thinking about a lot of the content that was created over the last few years years th. th. th. th. th. th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th. th. th. the the the the thea. thi thi thi thi. thi thi thi. thi. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi. thi. thi. I thi. theeeeea. I was thea. thea. I was thea. theea. theea. thea. thea. thea. thi thi theea. the is because of, I guess, DEI, or people wanting more diverse characters and more diverse people
in certain roles.
Like, there was just a lot of garbage, I think that was created from a TV and film standpoint.
Yeah, yeah, now, I've seen a lot of garbage.
Let me ask you a question. The Baltimore D.I.
B.I. the B.I. Mayor. Yeah, yeah. Now, I've seen a lot of it. They called the Baltimore Mayor, the DEI mayor. This is obviously the new boogie man, I mean, the new cultural boogie man that's
been vocalized, the DEI. Do you think, what do you think is the next boogie man going to be?
We need to watch out for it. Well, that right there point is because, you know, what they're trying to essentially say is these people are in these positions, you know, just because
they're black or just because they're a woman or just because they're gay, not
because they earned them. You know, we people vote folks in, right?
Nobody put the mayor of Baltimore in that position. Like a group, he
he went out there and he campaigned and he convinced the
group of people, black, white, gay, straight, women and men, to go out there and vote for
him to make him the next mayor of Baltimore.
So I think they're going to continue, you know, pushing that rhetoric because that goes
back to Birth of a Nation from 1915.
How's up? That movie, Burf of a nation, you know, there's there's there's there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's, there's there's there's they. 15. How so? That movie, Birth of a Nation, you know,
there's a scene in the movie where it shows
all these black elected officials and politicians,
like just looking real savage, lips greasy,
eating chicken all crazy, barefoot in the office, you know.
And the reason they did that, because it was propaganda to show folks, that this is why you can't allow black people be elected officials. to....... to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, and, and, and, and, the the, and, they, and, they, the, the, they, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, and, and, so, so, and, so, and, they...... they. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the they. the the the the the they, they, they, they. they. they. the the they. the the the the the the the they. the the they. the they. they. the the the to show folks that this is why you can't allow black people to vote, this is why you can't have black people be elected officials.
It was just to scare America, to scare America to keep black people away from politics in
any way shape.
To me, this is just an evolved version of that because there's no, if you're running
around saying that an elected official is a DEI elected official, you're just an idiot. Because you just don't understand how the voting process works.
Yeah, no.
And I bet you if you took some of those numbers,
I mean, Baltimore is a very black city,
but if you took Baltimore and you looked at who voted for him,
yeah, I'm sure it's a large percentage of black people,
but I'm sure it's a decent percentage of white people. Like, Barack Obama is probably the best example. He had a whole nation coalition. A whole nation coalition.
That's not a DEI higher.
And it's not a higher.
That's people getting behind his ideals and feeling like that's the next.
This is where I want to take my country.
This is who I want to, this is where I feel like progress is going to be.
this is like a hundred percent. That's right. And so like another point, not even just in politics. The DEI attacks on like medical institutions feeling like black doctors can't, them undermining
black doctors as if you don't go through med school.
The answers are still the answers.
The test is still the test.
They don't go up to black doctors or black premed students.
It'd be like the knee bone is connected to the ass bone, pass. We still have to to to to to to to to to to to the test the test the test the test to the to the the to the the the the to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. their. the their. the the the the the the the the their. the their. their. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their black black black black black black black. the the their. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black. the the the the the the their. their. the the the the the the the theck. I. I. I. I'm. I'm. I'm.clueck. I'm.clueck.kneck. Imea. I'm.eck. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm. Black. Black. Black. Black. Black, black. Yeahto the ass bone, pass. You're still, we still have to take the test.
You're not skipping steps if you're a doctor.
Truly.
You're not skipping steps if you're a pilot.
Yeah.
There's certain things in this world
that you're not skipping steps on.
That literally.
You know what I'm saying?
So, so whenever you label, D-E're an elected official or a doctor, our pilot, or an attorney,
no, they did not skip steps to get to where they are.
Exactly, exactly.
We have to take a real quick break.
We'll be right back.
Hey, everybody, John Stewart here.
I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show coming out every
Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls.
What are they talking about on these earnings calls?
We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches.
I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?
Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back.
I'm here with Charlemagne the God.
What do you think is the things we can do?
I think the biggest issue that we have is we don't have no real leadership.
We don't have any real movements.
Because you know when we're talking about DEI being something that corporate America invented, yes, it is. It's something that they invented to cover their
ass to keep from being sued, to make it seem like they were doing something after George Floyd.
When people started looking under the hood and realizing like, well, y'all talking to all of this wokeness and what needs to be done for black people and yada yada yada, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, to to to to to their, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, th. thi, th. thea, toda, today, th. the. thea, thea, they's they's they's thing to keep from being sued, but you know, there's real solutions that can be put on the table. Like, you know, the George Floyd
Policing Act is a real solution, right? The John Lewis voting rights act, that's a real
solution. When we were in the meeting, you know, somebody said it, somebody was like,
there's a difference between marketing and creating actual laws. There's been, there were actual laws that have been put on the books to help black people.
Affirmative action when done right is something that actually can benefit a black people.
So you just need real leadership and real movements to push for real legislation.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was pushing for real legislation during the Civil Rights era.
I don't know if we, I think I can say firmly I don't think we have that in 2024.
Yeah, we don't have any black leaders.
We have no, the closest thing I got to the father movement is Charleston white.
Jesus Christ.
I'm so stricken.
Yeah, but that's a problem.
We don't have no black leaders. we're left on our own devices and we're deaf with media figures and we're left with corporations to like oh we still got the black problem let's we
got let's let's figure that out with policies and ineffective policy and some
of the black leaders want to be the media figures yeah because a lot of
the black leaders think that you know in order to continue to galvanize people and they got to have a podcast or they got to have a to the, to the, the, the, to, the, the, the, the, to, the, the, the the, to, to, the the, to, to, their, to, their, to, to, their, their, to, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, and their, and their, and, and, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, toe, to, their, their, their, their, to have a YouTube show and I mean they might be right to a certain extent but I would rather them you know let's go back to the days of
like I did my job and amplified what you were doing like which is what I
try to amplify those people who I know are on the front lines like a Tameka
Mallory you know what I mean you know like what they're doing with u theylfrey the tell freedom is is th is th is th is th is th is th is fantastic th is fantastic th is fantastic th is fantastic th is fantastic th is fantastic. th. they's they's th. th. they's they're they're th. they're they're th. they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're thi. they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're to be to be to be to be they're they're they're to be they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're to to to to to th th to to th to th tm. I I tm. I tm. I'm tmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I'm not tm-I tm-I tm-I'm not tm-I'm tm-I. Like so I like to amplify people who are doing that work.
Oh, what was the young lady you had on your podcast to interview, uh,
Mayor Eric Adams?
Yes.
Like she went, she was, that was a perfect example.
O'Lea Yemme or Lauren.
She had a fantastic, that was an incredible, just interview and watching.
It was great to watch, you know, power get pushed back on with somebody
who knew the facts, who knew the data, because it always feels like times your
people are allowing people to say stuff and then they just walk away. So they
hear her, hold them accountable in real time, that was. And see, the beautiful
thing about that to exactly what we're talking about, she's a lawyer, she's an activist, talking to an elected official.
Like, to me, that's a consequential conversation.
Like, I've been watching her for a while.
Like, she's been on Breakfast Club before, but I watch her,
you know, on social media and I watch her YouTube.
And she's, she challenges, you know, Eric Adams,
and she's critical of Eric Adams.
So I just felt like, and the moment that we're in right now, especially in New York City, she'd be the perfect person to have that conversation,
you know, with him. I felt like the people, you know, needed to hit that. And I think it looked,
I think it made me like Mayor Adams even more too, because he wasn't like shying away from it. He wasn't
ducking it and it forced him to be human and eventually just say, man, don't y'all know what's going on? They're tion, don't tion, don't tion, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, don't, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, you, you, you, you, thi, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, thi, thi, thi, thi, the people, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. tha. tha. thoooooo, tha, tha. tha, tha. thi. thi. thi targeting all the black mayors. It's the target
of all the black mayors. They're sending all of these migrants to all of these cities that have
black mayors. And to your point, making it look like black mayors are ineffective and...
That's right. That's right. So I just felt like that was a great conversation. So yes, to your point, to your question, we don't have enough. And to to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your to your point, and to your to your to your to your to your to your to your point, and to your to your, and to your, and to your, and to your, and to your, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and the, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, and, the, and, the, and, and, and, and, and, and, the, to your point, to your question, we don't have enough real leadership, we don't have any real movements, and I think that all of us need to understand we all got a position
to play.
So when those people that are leading and those people who are trying to create these real
movements, when you see them, it's our job as media figures to amplify them, because Malcolm X said, the person who to control the media, the media, the media, the media, thi..... I, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that all, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, th..... I I I I I, th. is, th. I I th. is, th. And, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, to thi, to to to to to to thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, the minds of the masses. So we got to be very cognizant of who we're amplifying, who we're putting in our people's
ears.
Absolutely, absolutely.
I would say Dr. Umar.
I like Umar too.
Even if you disagree what Dr. Umar is doing, which I don't know how you could disagree
with what he's doing.
Because we should be building our own institutions. But if you don't feel like he's doing it right, offer him some assistance.
But that's the thing.
We want to talk about black leadership and like it feels more entertainment than leadership.
And I feel like if I give him money, is it going to go anywhere or is this just going
to fund the movement, his movement or a movement?
That's a great question, right? But I'll tell you this, you cannot help who has the star power.
We're lying if we say Martin Luther King Jr. didn't have star power. Of course. The way he spoke,
the way he looked. Charism is the charisma. Malcolm X had star power. Like he just did, the way
the way he's, he oritated, the way he look, everything. So it's like when somebody has that star power, you can't be upset about that.
Like, you know, we should build coalitions around these people
and let's all see if we can get behind this person
that help them with their message,
especially if we know the ultimate goal is the liberation of our people.
I truly feel like that when it comes to somebody like Dr. Umar, I feel like he really wants to liberate our people, you know, I really truly feel like that. Like people can disagree all
they want. I see that brother putting in the work all the time. Dr. Umar
definitely should create DEI policies. I, he is a leader in his space.
Just like, you know, I said earlier,
Tamika Mallory is a leader in her space.
There's a lot of different leaders in their space.
If their ultimate goal is the liberation of black people,
I want to put all their ideas on the table.
Because I know one thing, all their ideas are going to be better than corporate America coming up with you know ice spice and Dunkin' Donuts commercials. You know what I'm saying? All of that is better. All that's going to be better than whatever
Dunkin' Donuts and all these other corporate entities are coming up with. 100% 100% no that is that is
facts. I'm still tripping over the ice spice. I didn't know it was real. I thought you bought it up in the writers room. And somebody googled it. I th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, th. I's, th. I's, th. I's, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. I's, that, that, that, that, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. that's. th. th. th. th. I's, th. It's th. I'm th. It's th. I'm th. I'm th. I's that's going. I's going. I's going. I's going. I's going. I's going. I'm that's going. I's going. I'm that's going., I thought you made it up in the writers room and somebody googled it and it's like Oh, Ice Spice does have a Dunkin' Donuts commercial.
And it's because of Ben Affleck's, what's it called?
It's a diversity commercial.
Yes.
Which is, I think, is the, I don't like that because you to do your little Dunkin' Donutcom. That's crazy. She's perfect for Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks.
Her name is Ice, Spice.
She's perfect for Dunkin' Donuttonet.
That's not an equity hire.
Ice, Ice Latte.
Ice, ice, pumpkin spice latte?
Oh my God.
There's so many.
There's a d'Utaker. what? How dare you? I'm gonna say my piece about the DEI piece. I think it was one of the funnest things I've gotten the write on in a long time. It was dense. It was, we got some really
good jokes in there. I know y'all loved it. Is there anything you want to say before you want to go?
Man, I just enjoy it. What I really love, enjoying about doing the daily show is. I do really like talking
like talking about, you know, social issues. And you know, I have the Breakfast Club
and I have the Brilliant Idiots podcast when Andrew Schultz,
but it's just something about the Daily Show.
When you come in here with a real POV
and you come in here with some real thoughts,
it's like America hears it.
Because I watch all your, I watch Breakfast Club,
I watch you on Daily Show, you have three different true modes. And when you're here, when you in your Daily Show bag,
it's like, it's like, I mean,
you do everything elevated.
But truly, I know what you're talking like, you're...
It feels grown.
Yeah, it feels adult.
Like, these are the things that, when I do Daily Show, daughter's cheerleading competition in Atlantic City or Wildwood somewhere.
It's some 50 year old, 60 year old white person coming up to me talking to me.
I saw you on Daily Show. I appreciated that. When I did Daily Show last time, not the
last time, the time before last, I believe, and I had Doug Melville here and we had
just put out his book invisible Generals and we we had a book signing at Barnes and Nobles that night.
In the front row, it was like these three older white women.
And they was like, we came here,
because we saw you on Daily Show.
We saw this conversation with Doug on Daily Show.
And we thought it was fantastic.
So we came here to support you. And the old lady goes, and I really like you to get to, to, the to, to, the to, the, to, the, to, the, to, the, to, to, the, th, th, th, th, th, th, th.. I, th. I, th. I, th. I, to, to, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th, th, th, and, and, the, and, and, the, and, the, the, and, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th....... And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, th. And, thin, to, th. And, to, to, to, to, to, to, thin, th. And, th. And, th. And, the the th. And, the we came here to support you. And then the old lady goes, and I really like you on daily show.
I'm rooting for you to get the job.
And I was like, that's just a different audience.
And yeah, I feel like, yes, you get your older base.
There's, I think, the foundation, the older,
older white woman crowd for sure, but also everybody, What's wrong with the old debate? Trust me, I love it. You know, we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion,
but people want to exclude old people.
I think that we need to look at the world we're in
as everybody being a potential consumer.
I think we need to throw demos out the window,
stop worrying about, you know, oh, this is for this person,
and this is for the age group, no, everybody is a potential consumer because I think this
is the first time ever where you have really no bridge when it comes to age.
Like everything is just all in one big melting pot.
That point is a great point to make, especially on a diversity and an equity inclusive podcast,
because the original D.I.I. programs, who was the man you brought onto
the phone call on the Zoom?
Doug Melville.
That point he made about how the original DEI was just expanding your market to diverse audiences,
so you can make more money.
That's all it was simply about.
So yes, 100% ain't nothing wrong with nobody.
We want everybody to be here.
That's an incredible point. When people see Breakfast Club, you go go to to to to the to the to the the the to the the the the the their their their tha their the the the the codak the coda the coda theck.cockkodak thaqqqqqqqqqq.c.c.com. theck. theck. theck. thoom. I thoom. I thoom. I thoom. I th. I th. I th. I the. I the. I the. I the.com. I the. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I's. I's th. I's th. I's the. I'm the. I'm the. It's the. It's the.e.a.ea.ea.ea.ea.ea.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.e.to be here. That's an incredible point. When people see Breakfast Club, you're gonna see Kodak Black and Nikki Haley.
And Bishop T.J.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, we had Becky Lynch to W.W.E. Wrestlaw and Judy Blum.
Like you're not with, I don't limit myself to anything because I'm a very curious person. And I do have a lot of different, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, th, th, th, to, to, to, to, to, to, th, to, to, to, to, to, to, and, and, and, and, and, to to to to to to see, to see, to see, to see, to see, to see, to see, to see, to see, to see, to see, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to thi, and, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, to the the thin, the the the thin, the the the to the thee, to thins that I'm into. My mom told me a long time ago, read things that don't pertain to me.
So therefore, I put my nose in a little bit of everything just to see what's going on.
So yes, I think that we need to, like I said, we need to change our mindset and just realize
everybody's a potential consumer, everybody. I think th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi. thi thi thi. thi thi thi thi thi thi. I'm thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi's thi. thi's thi's toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooee. Soa. Soa. I to that is an excellent, excellent, excellent point that we can wrap this podcast.
Yes, sir.
Can I plug one thing?
Absolutely, of course.
My new book comes out May 21st.
It is called Get Honest or Dyline Why Small Talk Suck, because I absolutely hate small talk,
when I say small talk, I'm not even just talking about like when somebody sits down next to you and y'all forced to make conversation I hate that too but I'm talking about the fact that we discuss a
lot of micro issues and we make a lot of micro issues macro which is another
reason I love doing the Daily Show because it feels every time I come to the
daily show we're only talking about the macro issues and we're talking about them in such a digestible way like there's no small talk. the the the the their their their their their their their their their. their. their. their. their. their. There's. There's. There's. There's. There's. There's no there's no there's no there's no there's no their is no their is no their is no their is no their is no th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi is thi is thi is thi's is no thi's is no thi's is thi's is thi's thi's is toeeeeei's is a thi's is a thi's is a thi's thi's thi's thi's thi.. Like, this is a show that is very consequential, and the things you say on this show actually have consequences,
and they resonate with America,
so I really appreciate doing it.
But in my new book, Get the tauke,
the tauke, the Daly, Suck, or Sotomay,
thi's a task, thi. book Black Privilege, Charlemagne the God, everybody. My name is Ashton Womack, and this has been the Daily Show Ears Edition.
Thank you all for listening.
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