The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Trump Flip-Flops on the Republican National Convention | Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Episode Date: July 28, 2020Trevor gives a rundown of COVID-19 news, Desi Lydic helps white people become anti-racist, and "Begin Again" author Eddie S. Glaude Jr. discusses the life of James Baldwin. Learn more about your ad-c...hoices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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the smartest way to hire. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
You're rolling.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. the S. the S. th. the 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. to. to. to. to. to. 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. th. th. th. th. th. th. to. to. to. to. to. the. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to. the. the. the. the.'s what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News.
Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look
on Apple podcasts starting September 17th.
Hey, what's going on, everybody?
Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
I'm Trevor Noah.
Today is Monday, July 27th.
And if you're one of those lucky people who have been able to go back to their jobs, just remember something.
Unlike Zoom, there's no mute button in real life.
Your boss will hear it when you call him a f-
F.
Anyway, on tonight's episode, did Corona just strike baseball out?
Dizzy Leidic helps us to be anti-racist, and Donald Trump makes the hardest decision of his life.
So let's do this, people. he racist and Donald Trump makes the hardest decision of his life.
So let's do this people.
Welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
From Trevor's Couch in New York City to your couch somewhere in the world.
This is the Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah.
the ears addition.
Let's kick things off in Florida.
The state's America dropped on its head as a baby.
You may remember that two years ago, the state passed a referendum allowing ex-convicts
to have their voting rights restored. But then, Republican officials passed a law saying
that most felons had to pay all their court fines and fees before registering to vote.
And even though critics said that this amounted to an illegal poll tax,
the US Supreme Court refused to overturn the law.
But now, someone is stepping in to help the people power forward.
NBA Superstar LeBron James is advocating for ex-felons to return to the voting booth in Florida.
James's voting rights group, more than a vote is donating $100,000 to help pay court debts,
keeping Florida voters from casting ballots in the election. As the law stands, now more
than 700,000 Floridians with felony convictions have financial obligations that render them
unable to vote. Welcome to 2020, where politicians dunk on people and athletes try to improve
their lives. Only in government can you mess up your job and an NBA player does it for you.
Because you know it'll never work the other way around, right?
If LeBron fouls out, Mitch McConnell is not going to run onto the court and score 78 points.
Although he would be an asset on defense, I mean, the dude blocks everything.
Oh, get that bill out of here. Not in my house. Well, actually, thoke. And thoe. And thoe. And thoe, thiiii. And thi. And thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, thi, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thin, thin, thin, thin, th thin. And, t togeeeeean, togu. th theean. thean. thooooo. And, the. But get that out of here. No. Not in my house. Well, actually, my Senate.
And this is great for both democracy and LeBron, because it's going to help ex-felons exercise
their right to vote, and it's going to make Lebron's next stat line look insane. But this
whole process has been so unfair to those ex-cons. I mean, first of all, they weren't allowed to vote because they were their their their because they have outstanding court fees? I feel like even if they do get that LeBron money, Florida Republicans
are just going to invent some new random reason to stop them from voting. I'm
sorry ex-con, you can't vote unless you pass this really difficult test. Okay, I'll
try. Person, woman, man, camera, TV. All right, you were lucky. Let's see if you can do it again in 20 minutes. And speaking of overachievers, here's some good news from the world of book publishing,
or as I like to call it, boring YouTube. It's a story out of England about a very
surprising new author. A very young man, very, very young lands a book deal.
His name is Nadine and he is just four years old and is from the UK.
A poet and teacher shared his poetry on social media
and he gained a lot of attention.
Walker Books saw the poems and decided to publish his work next summer.
The book will be called Astonishing,
his poems are about feelings like love and loneliness.
That's right.
A four-year-old is publishing a poetry book about love and loneliness.
And I for one am surprised a four-year-old even knows what loneliness is.
I mean, they're supervised 24 hours a day. First they're with their family, then they're with their teachers.
Then when they go to sleep, there's that monster under the't be too careful. But still, congrats to this kid.
I'm sure it's very exciting to be published at such a young age.
At the same time, though, if I was an actual adult poet,
I'd be pissed off.
You work your whole life to get in the Paris Review,
and now you're in the same conversation rhyme, every four-year-old became a poet. Because all they do is babble nonsense, which is basically what poetry is.
I went to the candy store, and there was an elephant there, but he wasn't at the candy
store.
But let's move on to another four-year-old, who's way less articulate, Donald Trump.
Because we're now just 99 days until election day, which also means it's just 99 days
days until the presidential campaign season, the th............ And the. And the. And the. And the. And to to the. the, the, the, the the, the, the the the, the, thiiolomeomeomeomeomeomeomea's the, the the the the, thioli-a' toe, toe, thi, 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.... And, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, theananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananneeanananneeanannee, theanan what he really thinks of democracy. And one of the big political events of the presidential campaign season is the party convention.
In normal times, it's when thousands of delegates gather in an arena to vote on a nominee,
listen to speeches and spend the week calling a candidate who will lose the next president of these United States.
But after weeks of saying Corona won't stop his convention,
the Donald is finally th, of saying Corona won't stop his convention,
the Donald is finally caving to the reality
that these are not normal times.
President Trump's campaign team is scrambling this morning
to try to figure out the Republican National Convention
after canceling the Jacksonville portion of the event earlier this week.
A stunning reversal from President Trump.
So I told my team it's time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida component of the GOP convention.
The decision, coming after months of insisting he would deliver an acceptance speech in front of a massive crowd.
Going as far as moving the bulk of planned events from Charlotte to Jacksonville when North Carolina's governor raised public health concerns.
The president, now echoing those concerns. To have a big convention is not the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the right the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the to the to the the the the to the the the the the the the the the. The president now echoing those concerns.
To have a big convention is not the right time.
It's really something that for me,
I have to protect the American people.
In April, the president mocked Democrats for deciding to hold a virtual convention.
Tweeting of Joe Biden, now he wants a virtual convention, one where
he doesn't have to show up. Gee, I wonder why.
Many Republican leaders said they would not attend the convention.
That's right. President Trump is grudgingly accepting that his big convention will need to
go virtual. And you know this must be eating him up inside because if there's one thing
we know about Trump, it's that he loves to put on a show.
Do you remember the insane entrance this man had in 2016?
You remember that?
When he looked like an out-of-shape God descending from heaven?
You can't do that on Zoom?
What is he going to do?
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome.
Me?
Oh, shit, am I on mute? Okay, let's do that again.
Now, Trump says he's doing this because he's taking the risk of coronavirus seriously,
but you can't ignore that many Republicans had already said that there was no way in hell that they were going to go to this thing.
And it just shows you how differently some Republicans treat coronavirus when their own health is on the line. All right? Because most of the time they're like, this coronavirus is just a hoax
to hurt our great president.
Oh, so are you guys going to go to the convention?
You're going to go there to a crowded convention hall
with no mask?
Ha ha ha, I'm kind of busy that day. To be honest, thrown, throwne, their their. Tthis the problem, their. their. their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th th tho, thii. their, too, too, too, to, to, to, to, 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 the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi. thi. thi, and, and, and, and, and, and, throwne. tttttttttttttte. te. te. te. te. te. te. to te. to. to., he's still promising the same things.
He's going to build the wall, bring back jobs,
and get the country out of the mess the current president put it in.
In other news, recently some school districts have decided
that they'll be teaching a unit on early American history based on the New York Times
1619 project, which illustrates how the founding of this country is inextricably tied to the institution of slavery.
But now, there's one US senator who is objecting in the strongest and also, possibly stupidest terms.
Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, getting backlash for saying that the founding fathers thought slavery was a quote, necessary evil.
Tom Cotton wrote, as the founding fathers said, slavery was the necessary evil upon which the union was built.
The comment came during a conversation about race at education.
Senator Cotton wants to defund the 1619 project curriculum, a New York Times program with the goal of reexamining the legacy of slavery in our country.
He says the curriculum is racially divisive.
Hold up, hold up, hold up, hold up.
So Senator Cotton thinks that this curriculum is racially divisive?
Really this curriculum?
You know what's really racially divisive?
Slavery.
Why would you play that now?
What do you do?
This guy acts like racial division doesn't exist until slavery gets taught in school, as if the black and white kids are in school
like, la la la we love everybody. All right everybody, today we're gonna learn
about slavery. Yo, what the fuck did you do to us? And here's the thing.
People are upset because when Cotton says that slavery was a necessary evil on which the Union was built,
it sounds like he's defending slavery, right?
And that's not something a US senator should do, even if his name is Cotton.
I mean, how's he going to stay objective? I get it. But if you dig deeper and you take Cotton
at his word, right? He believes that the United States could not have become the country that it is
without slavery. Well, that's the same thing thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the country that it is without slavery, well that's the same thing that the 1619 Project says.
So why is he fighting them?
You guys don't need a fight, you agree on the same thing.
This is like when Ken and Ryu would fight in Street Fighter.
I mean, you both agree on Haddo Ken, you both agree on Sure You Can.
I mean, why are you even mad? And you might be thinking, if Senator Cotton wants schools to teach a less racially divisive version of slavery, then why doesn't he introduce his own lesson plan?
Well, good news.
With our help, he already did.
Are you tired of school lesson plans that teach slavery in a racially divisive way?
Then introduce your school to the Tom Cotton lesson plan for slavery, the only
lesson plan that teaches slavery without mentioning race.
With Senator Cotton, your students will learn that in 1619,
some Americans were slaves to other Americans.
That over time, more slaves were brought from one of the seven continents chosen at random,
and that the Civil War ended slavery for both blacks and whites.
Students will also learn that this all happened a long time ago,
which means it has no relevance to anything happening today.
So buy the Tom Cotton's Slavery Lesson Plan today.
Order now and we'll include Tom Cotton's lesson plan for the Civil Rights Movement,
letting whites sit in the back of the bus.
All right, we have to take a quick break, but when we come back, we'll tell you why
you should enjoy baseball while it lasts.
Stick around.
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to hire. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been
given access to the treasures in our archives.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at.
That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News.
Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17, wherever you get your podcasts.
Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
If you're wondering why we're still social distancing,
then it must be time for another installment in our ongoing segment,
keeping up with Corona.
Let's begin with Major League Baseball,
America's leading metaphor for how far you went during a hookup.
Just four days after the season started with a record 4 million viewers tuning in, it looks
like the season is already at risk.
With a report today that at least 14 players and coaches on the Miami Marlins have tested
positive for coronavirus.
And this is a real blow, because the League had been trying literally everything it could think of to try and stay safe.
There's so many things different about Major League Baseball this season as the pirates,
as the pirates look to wrap up their first series of the season at St. Louis on Sunday
and check this out. Your home plate umpired tosses a player from the pirates.
So new manager Derek Shelton goes out there and new rules, you have to social distance and mask up to
argue.
Corona's really changed our lives.
Hand me my mask is the new hold my earrings.
I mean, seriously, props to these two because this is an expert demonstration on what it
means to take coronavirus seriously.
Because yes, these guys wanted to fight, but they also know that coronavirus is waiting
to beat both of them up. And if these guys can remember to put on their mosques before a fight, you have no excuse when
you're going into Walmart. Plus, it definitely slows down a fight when you have to purel
after every single punch. Akishier.
Akishish. If you ask me, managers and umpires should have always been arguing from six feet away.
Because have you seen how they normally argue?
I mean, look at that.
This dude is literally inside the other guy's cap.
He looks like a really insane dentist who's angry because his patient forgot to floss.
Why aren't you going beneath your gum line?
Now, unlike the MLB, the NBA has decided to reduce the risk of corona infections by forcing all the basketball players to live in Disney World for the remainder of the season, what they're calling the bubble.
And as of the last round of testing, not a single player has coronavirus.
So as long as the players stay in the bubble, everything should be okay.
The only issue is, one player decided to visit another magical kingdom. In the NBA Clippers Guard, Lou Williams has been placed at a 10-day quarantine and will
miss the first two seating games of the restart.
Williams was photographed at the Strip Club Magic City in Atlanta, Georgia last Thursday.
Williams had been excused from the NBA bubble by the team to attend a funeral.
He tweeted on Friday that Magic City was his, quote, favorite restaurant in Atlanta, and he was not there to their excuse to their excuse to their excuse to to their excuse to to their excuse to to be their.... Wea. Wea. their. their. to be their. to be their. their. to be to be to be to be the th. the the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thea. 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 thi. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. te. tweeted on Friday that Magic City was his quote favorite restaurant in Atlanta And he was not there to party but to get some wings
You have got to be kidding me
This guy was allowed to leave the bubble for a family emergency
But then the NBA found out he went to a strip club? How did they bust him? Did he come home with glitter on his coronavirus? And I love that his excuse was that he was only at Magic City for the wings. Not for the strippers, just for the wings.
Look, there are excuses out there, but guys, there are tons of places you can get wings
in Atlanta. Something tells me, he was actually there for the breasts and thighs.
Okay, who keeps doing? Like, now with the pandemic continuing to wreck havoc across the U.S., many people are wondering
when President Trump will finally help his country get it under control.
But from the looks of things, he can't even seem to get the virus under control in his
own office.
And breaking today, Fox News has confirmed that President Donald Trump's national security
advisor Robert O'Brien has tested positive for the coronavirus.
There is no evidence that either President Trump or Vice President Pence came in contact
with Robert O'Brien, but this does make him the highest ranking U.S. official to have contracted
the coronavirus.
He recently returned from Europe, or he and his top deputy met with officials from the UK, France,
Germany and Italy.
Yep. President Trump's national security advisor has tested. he and his top deputy met with officials from the UK, France, Germany, and Italy.
Yep.
President Trump's national security advisor has tested positive for COVID-19.
And I love how they're saying, there's no way Trump got infected.
Of course Trump won't get infected.
There's no way Trump has had any contact with his national security advisor.
I mean, we all know that. Now, obviously, other staff members can get infected. But what's crazy is that apparently some of them didn't even know
about the positive test until they read about it in the news. Yeah, imagine that. The national
security advisor got coronavirus. They didn't know about until they read it in the news.
Sort of like the same way some people discover from Instagram that they're now single. Oh, cool, dude, dude, dude, dude, th th th th the the the the the the the the the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same the same 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. thi, th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. theeeeat. theeat. theat. theeat. the the the theat. the the the the the thi. they're now single. Oh cool, dude, look, Cynthia went to a wedding.
Wait, why is she kissing the groom?
Ah!
So, at this point, almost every other place in the world is doing better than the United
States.
In fact, there's actually one corner of the world that has been untouched by the
pandemic. North Korea. South Korea's Wario. And yeah, I'm not sure that I quite believe that they've never had Corona,
but in any case, North Korea has now officially blown its perfect game.
North Korea is reporting what it calls its first suspected case of COVID-19.
A state-run news agency says Kim Jong-un ordered a lockdown for the border city of Kaesong
after a defector returned from South Korea
last week, apparently infected with coronavirus.
I mean, it's a little redundant for North Korea to order a lockdown.
Their national motto is already, no one can leave.
Welcome to North Korea.
But still, I'm impressed that North Korea got one coronavirus case, and Kim
Jiang the immodiun immediately ordered a lockdown.
Kim was like, we can't have Corona killing North Koreans. That's my job.
Now, one part of the story that's really weird is that a defector left North Korea, went into
South Korea, but then came back into North Korea. But apparently there's a really good reason for it.
Yeah, he didn't leave. He just went to South Korea for some chicken wings.
Coming up after the break, Desiletic goes full kente cloth.
And we talk to one of America's top historians.
Stay tuned.
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When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have
been given access to the treasures in our archives. Rolling. But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of
CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17.
Welcome back to the Daily Social Distancing Show. The Black Lives Matter movement has raised a lot of awareness about systemic racism
and how everyone can play a part in dismantling it.
But some white people still have questions.
White people, like our very own, Desilightic.
As the Black Lives Matter movement spreads
across the world, many of us white people are wondering, okay I've watched all
the Netflix documentaries, how else can I fight racism? Luckily for us, there's
Dr. David Camp, a racial dialogue expert who teaches white people how to be more
effective anti-racists. David's basically the white people whisperer.
Hey Desi. Hi Dr. Camt, how are you?
What are you wearing?
Oh, this.
Oh, this is an indigenous Ghanaian textile.
It looks like kinske cloth?
This is a kentake law?
So I'm just telling you, I'm not offended by it.
But some people might feel like you're just wearing that to, you know,ation. Done it's off. Consider it like it never even never even happened. No it's on the floor.
That's disrespectful so sorry. Where were we? Well we were just checking in since it's been 18, 19 months as I talked to you last.
I think that the good thing is we just have one of those friendships where we just pick right up where we left off. You know? Uh, well, I'm not sure we have one of those, but how have you been?
I'm doing, I'm doing okay. I have been, uh, checking in on all my black friends?
Do you have a lot of black friends? Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I've never counted,
but I mean, there's Trevor, Roy, Dulce, Djibouki.
You work with all them, right?
Yes, they're friends who I also work with.
How many black friends you have outside of work?
Well, there's you.
Well, I would be careful because you're not the only white friend that might be calling.
A lot of what some people are doing, they're going to their black friends, expecting them them them them them them them them them them them them them them them them them them to do them to do them to do them to do to do to do to do to do to do their to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do to do 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 what some people are doing, they're going to their black friends expecting them
to do all that education and people are tired of doing that. Yeah I would I would
never, I would never do that. Or if they're kind of over-concerned and are
expecting people to really have a traumatic experience because they're
having one, don't start out by you showing emotion
and trying to get them to join you in that emotion because they're not holding
it the same way you are and that feels weird. Yeah that would be weird.
It's just so it's just so sad. It's just like oh my god I can't even imagine.
I guess I didn't think about it in this way before and now.
Oh my God.
Listen, we're gonna let you have this moment by yourself.
By yourself, girl.
Don't call your black trans crime.
Yeah, I see your point now.
I love your commitment to being an ally, but how are you dealing with people in your family
who don't think racism
is real?
Well, okay, so start off with why are you so f-fixing racist?
That is a question.
What you want to try to do is to ask a question that is less judgmental than that, about
some experience they had.
Like, what happened in your life to make you see it that way?
Okay.
So, like, what happened in your life to make you such a f-racist?
Okay.
First of all, the F-Bomb thing is probably, again, not as useful, but...
What if I don't agree with what they're saying?
Because I do have one extremely racist relative and I'm not
going to say his name but if there is one thing that I know about my cousin Biff
it's that he's just not going to change. I think the most important is talking
to Biff or whoever else in your family has racist views because I can't
talk to them. Well I had you know his name was Biff. I think it's important that we make efforts at using the the the the the the the the the the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th 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. the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the. the. the. theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. the. the. the the talk to them. Hold on, how did you know his name was Biff? I think it's important that we make efforts at using good methods before we give up on people.
One of the ways that people elinate is they do mic drops.
They make some sort of profile statement they think sounds good, and then they're like, boom, drop the mic.
Wala, and expect the person to just like crumble in their billions. That doesn't keep things open for more conversations. What can we do to make sure people continue to do this work
and that these conversations continue to happen?
Well, start talking to your problematic friends and neighbors.
So what we need y'all to do is to keep the channel open.
To really try to move somebody might take a series of conversations.
So you want to engage them. You want to ask questions.
You want to find some agreement
before you try to invite them to new thinking.
People don't like being corrected,
but they don't mind learning.
Great advice.
Thank you so much, Desi.
When weae, today,
I'll be talking to historian Professor Eddie Glord Jr. for America. Stick around. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968,
there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
You're rolling? But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listenedto 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September
17th, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the Daily Social
Distancing Show. Earlier today I spoke with Professor Eddie Glord
Jr. He's the author of the New York Times bestseller, Begin Again, James Baldwin's
America and its urgent lessons for our own.
Check it out.
Professor Glord, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show.
It's my pleasure.
It's my pleasure.
First of all, can I just say how impressed I am that you're at home but you're rocking
that suit like you are in a studio somewhere.
It's really impressive. You know, if you ask me to stand up it'll be a different question, but I appreciate
that. I appreciate it. People always ask me about the books that are behind me here and yours
has been here almost from the very beginning I think. You write about race and you write
about race and the stories it tells itself about race.
James Baldwin is notorious for being a writer who wrote and spoke his mind and in many ways
taps into the consciousness of what it means to be black in America.
Your new book delves into his life, but it's part biography, part analyzing his writing
and how it applies to what we're going through today. In all the time since those books have been written., has th. Has th. Has has th. Has has th. Has has th. Has has th. Has has th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thoom. tho-in. thi. thi. thoom. tho-Bol-Bol-Bol-Bol-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. You. I, th. You. You. You. You th. You thi. You thi. thi. You thi. You thi. You thi. thi. thi. thii. thi. thii. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi applies to what we're going through today.
In all the time, since those books have been written, has anything changed?
Well, you know, Bolton has this wonderful line.
America is always changing, but America never changes.
There's this sense that the country is dynamic, but there's this ongoing
through line. And this through line is the value gap that I mentioned in democracy in black, the, their, their, thape, thape, thape, thia, thia, 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, is, is thi, thi, is thi, is, is, is thi, is, is, is, is, is, is, is thi, is, is, is, is thi, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is thi, is, is thi, is, is thi, is thi, is thi, is thi, is throwne, is a throwne.a, throooooooooooooooooomoma, thi.a.a, thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, is a thi, the value gap that I mentioned in democracy and black, and that is this belief that white people matter more than others, and that belief evidences
itself, Trevor, in our habits and our dispositions and our practices, and then we tell a whole host
of lives to protect those beliefs, right?
And so even as we change, you know, having Barack Obama as the president is not the same as being enslaved, but the through line line, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thine, thine, thine, thine, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thrown, thrown, thrown, the, the, tho, thrown, thrown, the, tho, tho, the the tho, the the the the the their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, the, thr, thr, thr, thr, thr, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, thrown, the thrown, thrown, in Jim Crow, which is not the same as being enslaved. But the through line is why people have valued more than others.
And so that's what Baldwin understood.
And I think he's our most insightful writer about democracy and race in this country.
And I think that's why his work is like an evergreen.
But what I do in this book is I focus on the latter work, the later writings. And that's what's unsettling a the th thi the the the the the the 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 why that's that's wo that's wo that's wo that's wo 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 that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's thatthe latter work, the later writings, and that's
what's unsettling a lot of people.
This is stuff that was written, so it was out there, but it really seems to unsettled
people when you delve into Baldwin's work and almost delve into what it means.
Why do you think it's so unsettling?
The later Baldwin is a Baldwin that's trying to come to terms with America's betrayal. Most folks say he's bitter, he's angry, his rage is overwhelmed his art.
But Baldwin is trying to come to terms with the fact that the country has assassinated Martin
Luther King Jr.
He's collapsed.
In 1969, he tries to commit suicide.
Failed relationship.
The country is on the road to electing electing Richard Nixon, you know, but it's on the road to electing Ronald Reagan.
And for many people, they don't understand.
Ronald Reagan was as notorious as George Wallace for black folk in this country.
And so I was interested in Baldwin, who was trying to make sense of our trauma, our pain,
our wound, trying to pick up the pieces in the face of America's betrayal. And here we are in our our our our our our our our our our our our our our the moment the moment the moment to to to to to to to to to the to to to the to to the to to the to the to to to the to to to to to to to to to to toea. toeck. 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 toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. toe. 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. the the the the the the the the the theau. the the theauooooooooooo. tooeau. too up the pieces in the face of America's betrayal. And here we are in our moment, after Barack Obama's presidency,
and then the vitriol of the Tea Party,
voter suppression and voter ID laws,
and then we vomited up Donald Trump.
I was trying to deal with my own despair and disillusionment,
and so I turned to him in that moment.
Was there even a glimpse of hope in Baldwin's work? Was there something you looked at where you said, wow, okay, at least that's changed
or that's gotten better?
Or this is one part of life for a black person in America that has maybe not held up in
the text?
Or is it just pretty much prophetic and also at the same time relevant?
Yeah, I found hope. Because one of the things I was trying to do is to do to do to his rage and his faith in us, right?
How could he be angry and still have, hold on to the belief that we could still build
a new Jerusalem?
And there's this wonderful line he dropped in 1970, man.
He said, hope is invented every day.
And you know, that idea of hope being invented every day in the context of one having
to battle for one's life, having to struggle just to
find the space to smile, the space to just simply imagine that tomorrow could be better.
You have to invent hope in that context. And that becomes the precondition for you to join the battle again.
Even when he embraced the anger and rage of black power, he never gave up the question that or the claim that it was a moral issue at its the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thiiiolol.. to smile. to smile. to smile.. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to smile to smile to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile, to smile. Right, the space, the space, the space, the space, the the the the the the the the the the the the space, the the the space, the space, the space, the space, the space, to to to to the space, to to to to smaia, to smile, to smile, to the space, the space, the anger and rage of black power, he never gave up the question that,
or the claim that it was a moral issue at its heart.
And so at the end of the day,
he wants to insist that we be true to ourselves,
that we tell the truth about what we've done,
so that we can free ourselves
into imagining being together differently.
And as an artist and a poet, he tried to make that as clear as possible
and as powerful and provocative as possible.
Let me ask you about this.
One thing I pick up in Baldwin's writing is
he oftentimes feels almost guilty
that he's living in France for a certain amount of time
where he's away from the strife of his fellow Black American.
And he acknowledges that he's living a better life
as a Black American in France.
What's interesting is I remember Black Americans who would come to South Africa,
and although apartheid was happening,
they would comment on how they weren't subjected
to the same racist laws as Black South Africans were.
And it's a really interesting dynamic where it feels like, if black people go to a country where they don't have a history in that country, the people in that country seem to get along
with them easier or in a different way, do you think part of it goes back to what Baldwin
was saying about the guilt and the burden of that guilt?
Is that when people don't have to deal with the history of what peoples have done to other peoples, they can then, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th. th. th. th. th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, thee, thee, thee, the, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, seem, seem, seem the, seem the, seem the, seem the, seem the, seem the, seem the, seem 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 thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, they can then engage in a forward-looking discussion? You know, I think Baltimore always grappled with survivors' guilt.
He watched Medgar get murdered, he watched Malcolm get murdered, and Malcolm get murdered, and
Sammy Young and Jimmy Lee Jackson, and he saw so many of his young friends from Howard
and Fisk, their eyes darkened.
So he wanted to write about all of those who did not
survive and those who survived but who were broken. But he needed the space. You know, when I,
when I was in Heidelberg, I didn't, you know, I was in Heidelberg for an hour. And I saw
four white police officers were their knees in the back of a black man who was screaming at the top of his lungs help. I wasn't in Heidelberg for an hour.
But the thing is that I didn't have to comment on it.
I didn't have to account for it, right?
In some ways, I could go back to my flat and breathe.
It was like a moment when I was away out of the country,
I could exhale, you know, because I wasn't thu and I was You know, I was the American, walking around with my American passport, you know. Right, right.
And when I was at the,
I gave lectures at the University of the North.
When I was there, I wasn't there.
You know what I mean?
I looked like folk, but it wasn't,
I wasn't, how can I put it. Because when you're here, you have to navigate so much of this nonsense. And
he left America in 1948 because he said, if I don't get out of this country, I'm either
going to kill somebody or I'm going to be killed. So right here on Route 1, right here
in Princeton, New Jersey, in Lawrenceville, our waitress refused to serve him and he hurled a glass at her head and shattered the glass behind her and
then had to run for his life. He knew the rage and anger was consuming him. He was becoming
his stepfather. So when he chose Paris, he had the space to create himself, to will himself, into being a writer. Sometimes it's all we need is the space to breathe
so that we can be, man.
What is the one thing you hope that they will get from this?
So if somebody says to you, Professor,
why would I want to read this book,
what is the one thing you hope to give them
in this new analysis of Baldwin's life? Yeah, I mean, at the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart the heart tha tha tha tha thromank is thrownk is thrownk is thrownk is throwne is thananananananananananananananan's the is the is the is thoes. thoes. thoes. thoes.. thoes.. thoes.. thoes..... that's is that's is that's is that's is that's is that's is that's is that's............. thanananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananananana that's that we have to tell the truth and stand be courageous enough to tell the truth and once we tell the truth about what we've done and who we are,
then we can free ourselves into imagining a different world and imagining ourselves differently.
We're shackled by our lives.
We're trapped in this fantasy. You know, America thinks of itself as the never, as never never, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, as a, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, thi, to, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, and, thi, and, the, their, and, and, and, and, and, their, 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, is is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is. And, is a. And, is, the the the the the the the tr the true, the the true. the the true. true. the true. the true. true. true. true. true. true. true, the never-Neverland. It's always, you know, we're full of lost boys and lost girls.
We don't want to be responsible and held accountable for anything. So we have to tell the truth,
and here we are in a moment of moral reckoning where the country can be otherwise. But every single time
we try to give birth to a new nation, the umbilical court of white supremacy is wrapped around its neck.
So we have to to to to to to to to to the the th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the the, theck the, thi, theck, theck, theck, theck, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thi around its neck. So we have to tell truth. We have to be truthful and be really responsible midwives so that we can give birth finally to a new country that is a genuinely multiracial democracy.
Our history says we're not going to do very well, but I have faith because wherever human
beings are, again, we have a chance. There is always hope.
Professor Claude, thank you so much for joining us on the show.
Thank you, Doc.
I appreciate you.
Well, that's our show for tonight.
But before we go, I just wanted to remind you
that America is facing a nationwide poll worker shortage.
And because most poll workers are over 60,
and COVID is still in the air,
they are understandably not showing up. But fewer poll workers means that they're going to be fewer polling stations open and it means there's going to be longer lines that not
everybody can afford to stay and wait in, especially in underserved communities.
The good news is most poll working is paid and in some states you can be as
young as 16 if you want to do it. So if you're interested and you have the time, this is your opportunity to save your granny, protect democracy and get paid too..... to. to. to. to. to. to. to. to to to to to to to to to their their their their. their their. the time. This is your opportunity to save your granny, protect democracy, and get paid too.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there, wash your hands, and remember, never meet with your national security advisor.
Oh, it's my new doorbell.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Ears Edition. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11, 10 Central on Comedy Central
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content and more. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.
When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968, there was nothing like it.
This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television.
Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.
But that's all about to change.
Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible.
I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a second look, starting September 17th,
wherever you get your podcasts.