The Daily Show: Ears Edition - D.L. Hughley On Tyre Nichols & Fox News's Reaction To The Released Video | Ibram X Kendi & Nic Stone
Episode Date: January 31, 2023D.L. Hughley and attorney Ben Crump discuss the police killing of Tyre Nichols and the precedent set by the swift arrests of the five Black police officers. Ibram X. Kendi & Nic Stone discuss why ...it is important to give yourself grace when learning how to be antiracist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, how you guys doing?
Hey everybody, how you guys doing?
Hey, bye.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
Well, I, uh, I'm Dio Hugley.
And well you.
Good to see you.
Well, I, uh, I am Dio Hughley and welcome to the Daily Show.
Um, of course, between me and Liz and Wanna, this is starting to look a lot like B.E.T.
I tell you that, do not be shocked if you see those diabetes commercials, you know,
oh, oh, oh, oh, O Zambic!
Black people love that song.
You can have one foot, you still dancing that song.
We don't even care.
All right, of course, we have a lot that we need to talk about.
So we're going to get right to it.
So I'm sure many of you heard by now that a young black man in Memphis was pulled over by the police and we all saw how it went down
For the first time we are seeing the violent arrest of Tyree Nichols what began as a traffic stop
Quickly turned violent as captured on multiple videos released tonight by the city of Memphis
officers are seen pulling Nichols out of the car.
I'm just trying to go home.
They use pepper spray and deploy a table during a struggle.
Then for roughly three minutes,
officers are seen repeatedly kicking and punching Nichols while he was handcuffed.
As Nichols lay on the ground, bloodied and bruised.
Several minutes go by without any of the officers administering first aid. Nichols died in the hospital three days later.
Is it a shocking video? Yes.
Shocking. You know you know who wasn't shocked by that? Black people.
I know no we were not like it just like I think that is a word which you thought about lexicon,
because the one thing we were not,
you just see black people sitting around,
can you bleed, they beat the shit out of another nigger on TV?
Can you believe it?
Because it's pretty commonplace for us.
The only people who are probably shocked,
are people who haven't been paying attention. flashback. So those videos are like so commonplace. You it's hard to be shocked.
That's like watching a porno and saying he gonna stick that where?
Ain't nowhere at hell that's gonna fit.
I mean I don't know I'm just making a point I don't watch point on. Let's stick with the story all right. It is not
shopping to black people because that is probably every black parents
nightmare. It's like that's why we train our children to to deal with police.
We we act like they're going on safari or something like don't make a
sudden news a noise don't make any sudden move don't smile don't run so you
you can't be shocked when the media, also the media, has been a whole week prepping
us for the video.
They told us how viding it was going to be.
To be real, that video got more promo than I did for this show.
Like, I haven't seen a TV show that anticipated since the remake of Nightcourt.
They wasn't playing around.
It was like they were rolling out a new movie release.
Brought to you from the people that bought you George, Floyd and Rodney King.
I can tell you what I did find shocking was how fast those cops got arrested.
Yeah, now. you what I did find shocking was how fast those cops got arrested.
Man, man.
They got arrested so fast they didn't even give us time to riot.
I'm like, damn, what am I going to do with all this gasoline? I got to pour it back in the limoer.
It's just, uh...
Because, you know, usually it takes a considerable way.
I'm like, damn, what am I going to do with all this gasoline? I gotta pour it back in the line more.
Because, you know, usually it takes a considerable amount of time more. Like, usually when they tell us a cop got indicted, a reporter is wiping tear gas out
our eyes.
So it's, it's just interesting because they did get arrested fast.
And I just, these cops got arrested so fast I got a
wonder why did oh I there's something about them that looks fast arrest worthy like
I I can't put my finger on it but I don't think
I don't to arrest them myself I can't put my finger on it, but I want to arrest them myself.
I don't...
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know.
I can tell you what diereree could have done to stop this from happening.
I mean, usually you hear people saying he should have followed orders but they gave him 71
different orders in 13 minutes.
So not even Wendy's can turn an order around that goddamn.
And then they gave orders that didn't make any sense, like telling them get on the ground when he was already on the ground.
Like I don't know how they do in Memphis, but where I'm from the ground is as low as
you can go.
That's it.
But you know, it is a complex issue.
And I know it helps me whenever I'm delving into a complex issue that affects
black people. And I want an expert opinion. What I do is I turn to Fox News.
I do.
I learned how to make gumbo watching that show too.
So it's, it's the reason that I found out why cops do bad things in the first place.
And it's apparently because people are so mean to them.
This is a direct result of his oldest
to fund the police stuff, right?
And if you vilify the cops, you'll get less people
wanting to be cops.
These endless wars on police departments now.
They have dissuaded a lot of good people from becoming police officers.
That's a fact.
They have had recruitment problems and they've had retention problems. You can look at the data like I can. And what happens is you
wind up getting stuck plain and simple with just bad guys.
You would think he got his ass weapon. Like he, it's, but the great thing about it is I got a good guy from Fox
to say they are bad cops.
I got him to agree with Antifa, see?
That's...
I've been there one day and I'm changing shit already.
It's going great.
But there is one guy on Fox News, and this dude came up with something that I got to tell you,
I really did not see it coming.
Look like gang violence to me. It looked like what black men do when they're supervised by a single black woman.
And that's what they got going on in the Memphis Police Department.
They've elected some, or put some black woman in charge of the police for us.
And we're getting the same kind of chaos and disunity and violence
that we see in a lot of these cities that are run by single mothers.
What the fuck is he talking about?
What is he?
What is he?
What is he? So, it is single black mothers that are a problem.
So wait a minute.
All of these cops, all of them, they had single black mothers too.
And by the way, those are the images that came up when I Google Good Cops.
Um. that came up when I Google Good Cops. If Jason Whitlock proves anything is that you do not have to be white to hate black
people.
And I can understand how can we expect Jason to see the plight of black people when this
dude can't even see his own dick.
So...
So... When this dude can't even see his own dick. So, um... Um, um...
Um,
um...
Um,
I'm Dio Hughley.
You know what's going to do a dick joke on comcison.
You know, stop.
All right, for more on this story, I'm going to be joined by Rory Wood, Jr.
What can you, uh...
Hello.
You just, you just say, just disagree with the man.
You never break your dick into it, then come to me.
I'm sorry, let's not let a dick come between us.
It's crazy.
What can you tell me about the police officers that committed this
attack? Here's the thing Dio, first and foremost, they're not just any police
officers. They were actually part of an elite unit within the department with
the special focus on violent crime. That elite unit. That was elite.
Yeah, yeah it was elite. And like in the whole idea of an elite unit is already kind of weird, right? Like shouldn't the whole police force already be a the the the the th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, the whole, the whole, the whole, the whole, the whole, the whole, the whole, was elite. And like, and the whole idea of an elite unit is already kind of weird, right?
Like, shouldn't the whole police force already be elite? I mean, you already got guns?
You know, it's like, this is like when you get on the plane and the flight attendant tell you, oh, well,
you're lucky today this is one of our elite pilots. Well, who the hell? Who's flying this shit before
ma'am? But there's something even weirder about this elite unit and that's in
the name of this elite unit. They were actually called the Scorpions. The Scorpion,
you know, you know, the police they love their acronyms. And Scorpion stands
for street crimes, to restore peace in our neighborhoods.
Scorpion. And I don't know about you, Diaz, but look, as a rule of thumb,
no police unit should be named after a mortal combat character. I agree.
You can't name a unit, Scorpion. Because once you give them a name like Scorpion,
it don't matter what they're even there for, they're going to be violent with the shit.
You can have a police unit that only does paperwork, but if you call them Scorpions, they're gonna be swooping in and whooping ass with W-2 forms.
I agree. Anyway, agree. And that's the other thing, man. It's not that hard for the police to name
a unit after something other than a deadly animal. You ain't got to name every unit after deadly
animal. It's easy. Just, watch watch this Securing neighborhoods alongside kind enforcement
That's peaceful
Ain't that snake don't don't interrupt me I'm still thinking man give me a second what about this and what about this and this is peaceful
Yeah, yeah, yeah, secure in homes and rescuing kids with orderly lawful functionality.
That's good. Shark wolf. Damn, okay, okay, okay. It's something down thou-tough.
Forget acronyms. We can do one. We can do a police unit. It's peaceful, kind. Gentle Enforcement
needs officers carefully inspecting downtown elements.
Don't you want us to be the police. Don't you want us for me to finish the week, man? That's genocide.
Okay, all right, well then just forget the name.
So here's an idea, here's an idea. Police got all these elite units.
How about the police form an elite unit that's specifically trained to not kill black people.
That's the unit for all our unit, talking six months of boot camp, learning how to identify
black people, identify when our hands are up, identifying what complying looks like, all of it.
I bet you could do that. If you did all of that, you could drop the killings of black people
by as much as 20%. 20%.
Just 20%.
Just 20%.
Hey, that's a lead to me. We've got to start somewhere.
Thank you so much for Roy Wood Jr. everybody.
All right. When we come back, I'm going to talk to the attorney representing Tyric Diannick
Nick's family.
So do not go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go away th go away th go away th go away to talk to the Daily Show.
My first guess is an attorney who's representing the family of Tyree Nichols.
Please put your hands together for Ben Crump.
How are you?
I'm good, Diel. Good to see you, brother.
How you doing, Fratt? You good?
You good? I'm good, Fred, other than this situation. How are you? How are you that? I'm good, frat, other than, th. th. than 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,. Good to see you. How you doing, Frat? You good?
I'm good, Frat, other than this situation.
Out of all the time, like, usually you called me, I think it's Tuesday.
And whenever I hear from you, I know it's bad news.
Like, you never called you one or had a baby shower, or nothing like that.
But you told me about it because my driver happened to be Tyree's stepfather and he had told me
about it previously.
And so it struck me differently because I know Rodney and I remember when he moved to Memphis,
and I knew that you were on the case, I was certain that something positive would
happen. Do you think that the fact that the officers were arrested so swiftly is an indicator of things
that are getting better or that just we got five black higl so we're going to arrest them
real fast?
You know, that's an interesting question, D.L. Hugley, but I think when you look at the fact
that they are black officers, it seemed to be that this move awfully swiftly.
What I mean, the police chief said, very fast, very fast.
Very fast.
The police chief David said it was important that they take swift action, that they move
swiftly to justice, D.L. She said that because this video was so clear
that the community needed to see that.
And so I said to myself, they got fired, arrested, and charged in less than 20 days.
So this is the blueprint going forward, D.L. Hugely.
They cannot say any more to us whether the cop is black or white.
When you see them on video committing a crime,
using excessive force against us, that it takes six months, that it take a year.
No, you can't tell us that anymore, because we're going to say, you remember those five black police officers of Memphis, y'all arrested them immediately.
What I do find interesting is that I know that you have tried to, you know, do what you
can in terms of police reform.
But let me tell you, Congressman Jim Jordan, he said, and I think meet the press, that
he's not sure that any law, any training or any reform could have stopped what happened to Tyrie Nichich Jordan. the Nichich Jordan. Jordan. Jordan Jordan Jordan Jordan Jordan. Jordan Jordan Jordan Jordan Jordan Jordan Jordan. thichichichichichichichichich Jordan. So thi th. So to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to say to to to say to to to say to say to say to say 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 to to to to to to to to to to to to to they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. the press, that he's not sure that any law, any training, or any reform could have stopped what happened to Tyree Nichols.
So that sounds like a setup to not do anything.
I'm tired of hearing about rotten apples.
We've got to start looking at the trees and the soil at the trees grow on.
If the premise is already nothing could have stopped that. That sounds a lot like their approach on guns. We might keep everything the same because nothing will stop it.
You know, D.L., it really is troubling when they continue to see all this evidence that we
have a problem with the culture of police in America. One of the questions I was often
asked was, where they're black officers, are you surprised
what they did?
And I said, no, because the race of the police officer isn't the determining factor of whether
they're going to commit excessive use of force.
But it is the race of the victim.
And it's often black and brown people who bear the brunt of police brutality.
I mean, D.L., we don't see videos about white brothers and sisters who are unarmed facing
this kind of excessive use of force.
I'm waiting to see those videos because how often, D.L. have we seen, you know,
Eric Gardner in New
York get choked the first I can't breathe case then Alton Sterling down in Baton Rouge
Louisiana then Pamela Turner the sister outside of Houston who was having a mental health
crisis and the police killed her and Lequan McDonnell.
What is the incentive to stop?
But what is their incentive to stop?
Because what happens is, police officers who kill black people get a paid vacation,
then they come back.
They have go-fund me accounts.
Then they say police departments need to be,
they need to be retrained so they get more money.
So there's no real incentive to make substantive change when nothing really severe and what police they'll
tend to do is they'll get rid of the police officers and say now everything we can start
at ground zero, everything's changed.
And I don't see anything that has changed that is so remarkable that it would lead me to
believe that these are going to be changes that are resonant.
Well, D.L. we're making some progress. We need to make a lot more, but we're making some progress because you know what a deterrent
to them killing us unjustly is?
As Reverend Allen and I always talk about if they have to do the perk walk, if they're
being convicted and sent to prison, like Derek Chauvin and those officers who killed George
Floyd, if we have more police officers saying that,
well, just like you think about white people,
you de-escalate fine, because you know,
if you shoot a white person in the back,
oh, you're going to prison.
But if you shoot a black person in the back, maybe not,
because it's like a cliche almost, yeah, black men running away, and they say, oh I feel in fear of my life.
How can you feel in fear of your life when the person running away from you?
You know it's funny?
It's hilarious.
It's hilarious.
I say this all the time.
The most dangerous place for black people lives in the imagination of white people.
It is the most dangerous, that's the most dangerous address to have. You, um, one of 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. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I th. I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I's, I's, I's, I's, I's, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is, I is th. I is th. I is th. I is th. I is th. I is th. I is th. I is th. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, the the the the the the the the the the th.... I'm, th. I'm, th. I'm, th. th. I'm, th. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm is the most dangerous, that's the most dangerous address to have. You, um, one of the things that you'll always have an invention. I got I got to
I got to say this dear. Isn't it funny how conspicuously silent the police
union is? Yeah, yeah, yeah, the words out of my mouth. I'm hosting the show, not you, Ben.
I want to make this point, every time you have a conversation about policing, invariably
somebody will feel the need to go, but not all policemen are bad.
We're talking about the ones that are.
I wish that somebody would make that point on the other side, that not all black people
are bad. Like that's, no one ever, no one ever says I would never, I
would never make the accusation that all of anything is bad but people when
they say black on black crime or high crime errors they are really painting
everybody with one broad brush and saying these people can't be trusted,
they live that same way. So even the mentality that we speak about
these things has to change. Yeah. And we have to quit making excuses for police killing us unjustifiably.
I hear so many of my white friends say, well if they would only comply, Tyree Nichols
couldn't have been more compliant.
I mean, you think about how they tried to justify blaming the victim when we see video after video after video.
Hey, how about we say the person who actually killed the person is the blame?
Yeah. And let's stop it there. Yeah. You're right. They have a weird notion of compliance
because I didn't see any of that on January 6th. I didn't think any of them were compliant.
I didn't see any of that. So um, but let me just, let me just... I kid you around, I kid around with you a lot, but I will say this,
it's the first time I've ever talked to you that I got scared. You sound is so exhausted.
I never heard a black man sound so weary, like just exhausted.
So you've got to make sure that you were around to make sure you're all right.
Yes. Thank you, D.L.
And I appreciate the prayer, brother.
I would say this, what I am praying for,
Tyree Nichols' mother has been dealing with this tragedy with such grace.
She said, I believe that my son was sent for an
assignment and now he's back up in heaven with God because he's completed
that's assignment. She said that's the only way I can cope with this tragedy. It's
the only way I can keep waking up and she said because I have to believe a greater
good is going to happen for this senseless death of my son. And so I am
praying that the president Biden who we talked to will listen to us when we say let's
marshal the United States Senate back in to session
and reconvene with Senator Schumer and Senator Booker and then let's get Congresswoman Sheila
Jackson Lee to bring the bill back up in the House of Representatives, the George Floyd
Justice and Policing Act, and let's keep fighting because we cannot let her prayers
go in vain that a greater good
has to come out of this and I know they're gonna say well they're not gonna
do anything but we have to strike a match rather than curse the darkness we
got to go to the mayor do it on the local level we got to do it with the
state level if we can't get to the federal government we got to win
the battles we can because every
battle we win might just save your child's life.
There you go, Ben.
There you go, Brent.
I am a...
You epitomized perseverance, I'm proud of you, man.
You make me so proud.
Attorney Ben Crum. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right.
We're going to take a really quick break and we're going to be right back after
this. Welcome back to the Daily Show.
It's such a great honor. Y'all must be union. Jesus.
This is my next two guests.
This is my next two guests. They have collaborated on a new book for young readers
called How to Be a Young Anti-Racist.
Want you please welcome Dr. Ibrahim X-Kindy and Nick Stone. So how to be a young anti-racist, that means you're already banned in Florida.
So, how to be a young anti-racist, that means you're already banned in Florida. So, it's funny when we talk about race, because we live in a country that the Congress and
Senate voted for Juneteenth bill, but with the same nations, they don't want to talk about
slavery.
They'll have Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee on the same days.
So I think when it comes to racism, I think that a lot of people believe that if they're not actively saying the n-word or doing and saying bigot things that means they're not racist. So how can we start a
conversation about being anti-racism when you're not quite sure how to
quantify racism? We are but I don't think a lot of people are. And I think
that's the very point because if you're not doing anything to
challenge all of the injustice and all of the inequity in our society, then what happens? It persists.
So therefore, you're reinforcing it.
So therefore, you're being racist.
And so we're encouraging people to actively try to dismantle
this structure, including young people.
But what is their incentive?
Like, what would they be?
Nick, what is their? If this system is working for you or not, it doesn't, it doesn't, it, if, it, it, it, it, it, it, it, if, it, it, it, it, it, it, to, to, to, th.. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. to to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, thi, to. to, to, to, to, to, to, the, to, to, to, to, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the.... 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. to. to. to change the system it doesn't seems to be going just as you intended
but is it actually working for you right it seems to be it clearly is not
clearly is not working one of us I'm talking about yes I think for me it's
all about children right like even though this is a system that might
seem like it's working for you, the world is actively changing.
If your children are not prepared to live in a world and move through a world that have people
that are different from them in positions of power, they're going to be in trouble.
Yeah but then they try to remake the world.
You see that.
Literally, we're a nation that is run by the fling stones and the, the, the Jetsons. And the F-Shton stones are winning.
You have to understand that I don't believe a lot of people, for instance, I don't believe
white people, a lot of white people are actively racist.
But I do believe that the notions of white supremacists, they don't agree with their methods,
but they agree with their goal, which is to keep white people in charge. And so if that is the premise, thememememememem, them, them, tho, tho, that, that, that is tho, tho, them, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the, the, thi, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for, for, for, for their, for, for, for their, for, for their, for, for, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, for their, I I I I I is their, I is their, I's, I's, I's their, I's the, the. the. thease. theatease. thease. theat, thease. toease. thease. toease. the. thease. the. then what incentive seriously would there be to make these changes
that only destabilize what you know works for you?
I think one of the things we've been showing in studying racism is that it's actually harming
white people too. It's not harming them at the level, it's harming people of color.
But there are actually white people who are dying of police violence. They're not dying at the level of black and brown people, but more white people are dying
of police violence in this country than other countries.
More white people are incarcerated in this country than other countries.
More white people are struggling to vote in this country compared to other countries.
There were 5 million about poor whites in 1860 whose poverty was directly connected to the
enslavement of black people. But I think a lot of white people don't get this.
When you poor, you're a niggot you. You are. You are. You are. I don't think people understand. Generally what hurts me, what is good for me is good for you. And I think that but there is that thing. And, uh, but there is that thin. the the thing. 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 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 things things things things things things. things. things. things. things. things. the the they. the the the the the the the the the, hurts you, what is good for me is good for you.
And I think that, but there is that thing where people will give their last dime to keep things
a certain way as long as it hurts you.
Like, look at what happened with the Obamacare Act.
A lot of those people in those poor states are being hurt by that, but the sense of optimism is in what you said earlier children because in children you have not mine's there that whole different
thing but but in our children we can see the potential of things that we hope
to never will so that is an angle I think that it's probably
subsidy. Yeah I think when it comes to children I have two of my own and it's important for me that they enter a world that they feel empowered they'll the the the the the the they they they they they their 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 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 they they they they their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their their th th th the the the the. the the tel tell the the. the the. the. the. the. the. they're their their the it's probably substantive. Yeah I think when it comes to children I have two of my own and it's important for me that they enter a
world that they feel empowered to change which is why we wrote this book right
so Dr. Kendi wrote his memoir years ago and I latched on to it slid into his
deans and asked if I could do a young reader's version because it's important that young people have the tools I get to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the to to the to the the the the to their. the the the the they. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the tho. I they. their. I the. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I their. I they. I they. I they. I th. I th. I th. I th. I thin. I thin. I thin. I thin. I thin. I te. I te. I te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. tell. I tell. I the. I people have the tools. I get so many kids who are asking, well what do I do? How do I help? What do I change?
How can I get into this fight and do something about it? And so creating a text like how
to be a young anti-racist, we're giving them information where they're learning these definitions,
they're learning what racism actually is. So racism is a system of idea. So you have racist ideas and they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're they're their definition. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give their, their, their, give, give, give. Give, give their, give their, give their, give. Give, give. Give, give. Give, give. Give. Give, give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. Give. their, give. Give. their, give. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. to. to. to. to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to. to. to. to. to. te., so you have racist ideas and they are basically
they're made to keep inequities going, right? Right? Right. So the whole purpose of a book like
how to be a young anti-racist is to give young people terms that we can all agree on that way we know
what we're standing against. Like what? Like racism. Having a term at definition for racism helps them see, okay, this is what we're trying th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. their. th. th. th. they. th. thi. they. they. thi. th. thi. thi. th. thi. they. the, thi. thi. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. th. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their. their. their. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. they. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. te. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. So, the. th. definition for racism helps them see, okay, this is what we're trying to fight.
Because one of the things that happens is people who have historically been racist
refused to define that term. Of course. Because it allows them to exonerate themselves consistently and constantly.
And even young people, therefore don't know what it is so they can't even assess themselves and guide themselves. How would they know? We have they have them them 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 their their their their their their their their their their their h. their h. their h. their h. their their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. their. tho. the. the. te. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. tea. thooooo. thoo. tho. tho. th't even assess himself and guide themselves. How would they know? We have a lot of people who are raised by people who moved out of places that black people
were moving into.
Right?
That was a predicate.
We're going to move out of places that black people are moving into.
But those are the people who have the conversation with the people who are now having
the conversation with't quite quantify. It is, and indeed, I, you know, the heartbeat of being racist is denial.
And this denial is consistent and constant and insidious.
You know, it does give me hope when I see people, like, your book beat my book on the
New York Times bestsellers.
Sorry, I'm sorry.
Get the f-sette to say.
No, I'm just gonna say. Get the f-b-fledged out of the set.
No, I'm just going.
And it's interesting because it came along at a time and you had written it a good while
back but it resurfaced when the George Floyd protest was coming on.
There really seemed a moment and that seemed these inflexing points when we can generally,
well people are, it really open to listen, but the problem is it's so fast. You can only get attention so fast and then we're on to the next thing. And
I think that's not even a purpose for I think it's just the function of how we live. But
if you could say a substantive thing that people could do every day, like in practice,
every day where they could be an example because every time somebody said something, if somebody deems hurtful, they automatically stop.
I don't want to hear it anymore.
I'm tired of this already.
We were a slave of 400 years, but Jim Crowman around 50 years,
we're like trying to not be a slave,
it's not, we haven't had to put as much
a group of that.
But books like this and having conversations are really the crux of what we need to be doing. And for young people it's so much easier to like it is to learn a language.
It's got to be easier to learn a love language, right?
It's got to be easier to learn.
And what do I, because I get angry.
Like when black people do it, it's called righteous indignation. But it's really hard to come from a place of anger and try to be, to to to to to to to to to cheat to cheat to cheat to cheat to cheat to cheat to cheat 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 to to the their, the the, to learn, to learn, to learn, to learn, to learn, to learn, to learn a to learn a to learn a to learn a to learn a 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, toeatreathea, toeathea, toeathea, toeatheaugheathea, their, their, their, their, the of anger and try to be, try to cheat somebody
something.
So I think, at least on me, the onus has to be lowering the temperature and listening, right?
Yeah, and I mean, look, the book is really all about first turning inward.
I think part of the issue is that we don't do a good job of humanizing ourselves. We don't give ourselves the space space the space the space the space the space the space the space to the space to the space to the space to to the space to the space to to the space space to to the space to to to the space to to to to to to to to to to to to to the space to change to to to to to to to to to to to to to to somebody somebody somebody somebody somebody somebody somebody somebody some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some some to first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first first We don't give ourselves the space to be angry. We don't give ourselves the space to be sad. We don't give ourselves the
space to have unpopular opinions, right? Like we do, we're all you do. But even
that, you know, the fact that you're like, I'm angry and I don't, you know, I
don't know how I feel about being angry. Like it makes sense that we're angry. So taking the time to look inward and figure out,
the beauty of how to be an anti-racist, the adult book,
was that you get Ebrom's whole story,
where he is very open about the racist ideas
that he was holding.
So taking that and distilling it down for young people
so that they can see, oh dang,
this thing that I'm thinking is probably a teen moderator, that was the first question she asked us.
She was like, I read the book and it pointed out to me
all of the ways that I have racist ideas.
And it made me feel away about myself,
what am I supposed to do?
So then having that self-compassion where you can see,
okay, yes, I am a product of a racist environment. I probably have some racist ideas. Taking the time to give yourself some grace, you'll give other people some grace too. And that's how we
kind of like get to a point where we're working together to dismantle things.
At least hearing each other. Yeah. The thing that's so frustrating for me is
our stories tend to start in the middle. Like we were something
before this and our stories te start the middle. So, and it's just like even what's going on in Florida,
you don't even want us to learn our history.
Like there was a time when the slave people couldn't learn,
and now it's illegal for us to learn about enslaved people.
Yeah.
So, it just...
You know, you're spitting more. And you would have heard that had you not beat me on the New York Times bestseller list.
That.
And I think that we have a lot to learn about how things work and to really have constructive
conversations because it's so much more fulfilling to me to shout at somebody, but it doesn't really
accomplish anything. And I'm really very proud that you write books like this. And I think to me to shout at somebody, but it doesn't really accomplish anything.
And I'm really very proud that you write books like this.
And I think the younger you start,
I mean, you gotta not be an anti-racist baby.
You have the babies too, you have the baby?
Yeah, we got the baby.
What's the f-what is a baby gonna do?
Hey, look, you learn it somewhere somewhere, you learn, you learn, you learn, you learn, you learn, you learn, you the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the right? I don't want chocolate milk. I want... I want...
I'd be a young anti-racist and the young anti-writions
workbook are available now.
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