D.L. Hughley, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
(laughs): Thank you, man.
I wish I... I wish I'd, uh,
I wish I'd been a little more socially distant myself.
Yeah, man, let's talk about that.
I mean, this was one of the scariest videos I've seen,
because I see you perform... performing onstage
-in Zanies in Nashville. -Right.
The next thing I see, D.L. Hughley, like, fainted onstage
or passed out, people are carrying him off the stage.
-Right. -I was panicking.
In that moment, did you... did you know what was happen...
like, did you... did you feel it happening,
or did you just wake up in the hospital?
No, I knew... I knew what was happening.
I mean, I didn't know that I would pass out,
but I felt faint before I went onstage,
and I was actually trying to tell my opening act
to extend a little longer so I could get it together.
But I guess he didn't hear me, and they brought me on...
they brought onto the stage.
But I was awake the whole time.
I passed out, then we go to the hospital,
where they tell me I'm dehydrated,
my electrolytes were low, and tell me I'm exhausted.
Then they tested, uh, for, uh, you know,
they had a battery of tests, like all the time,
and they told me I was COVID... I was positive for COVID,
which was the most surreal... like, I just,
I didn't understand how, because I didn't have any...
any of the classic symptoms
that, you know, they ascribe to COVID.
There was no... no, you know, flu-like symptoms, no cough,
no... no shortness of breath, no loss of taste.
But I just lost consciousness, so I guess... (laughing)
that might be...
You know, it's not a good thing no matter what,
so I guess, uh, I guess that was, uh, you know,
one of the things...
And then it was funny, because when I got back to the hotel,
when I got-- I had to be in the hospital for a day,
and I got back to the hotel-- and then the hotel was like,
"Nah, we want you to leave," so they... (laughing)
I guess Black Lives Matter, but not in the lobby, they don't.
They don't matter, not in the lobby.
But, D.L., here, on, like, on the real,
like, I wouldn't... I wouldn't ask this of anyone,
I wouldn't say this to anyone else,
but, like, I keep it real with you.
-Right. -Why are you out doing shows
when there's coronavirus?
Exactly.
-You know, I... Literally, I... -(laughs)
Ex... What the hell was I...
But it was actually for a charity that gave masks.
And then, you know, obviously, I missed it, but I had...
I had gotten really sick in January,
and I... and I thought that I'd had it then.
As a matter of fact, I was supposed to test
for the antibodies, uh, this week.
So, you know, I-I really assumed that it would be cool,
and-and, uh, I was obviously very wrong.
So, I think...
You know, I just blew it.
(laughs) I made a mistake.
You know, I understand, maybe, where you're coming from.
Like, I get... It's this invisible thing.
Everyone's like, "Maybe, maybe not."
The government doesn't tell us.
-Like, we don't know anything. -Right.
-Right. -But, like, what would you say to somebody
who thinks like you and goes like,
"Man, I'm just going back out there.
I'm gonna live my life as usual"?
I think that, uh, now, I would say two things.
One, I think that everybody needs to be tested.
Everybody. Because I had no idea what was happening,
and I had no idea what was going on.
And the other... And I think that's primarily because
we don't have, like, a uniform...
Where I live, it's decidedly different
than where I performed in Te...
Like, I could never have performed in Los Angeles,
um, because we're-we're not open for that.
-Right. -But the gig was in T...
I had a gig in Texas, then a gig in Nashville.
So, what I had to do is go to states where
they clearly don't give a damn about their people to perform,
-so I should have known. I should have... -(laughs)
I should have known!
When they... When they don't care about their people,
they're sure not gonna care about a stranger.
-Oh, man. -I-I should have known then.
But I kind of thought, okay, it'll be cool,
and everything was socially distant,
and, you know, we took our temperature
and o... and-and oxygen levels.
And I just thought it would be cool,
and it very clearly was not.
Let's talk about the book.
The title is-is already provocative.
I mean, it's classic D.L. Hughley.
Surrender, White People!
Wh-What are you saying in the book?
'Cause I-I know it's a satire,
and I know you're talking about race relations in America.
You're talking about systemic racism.
You're talking about oppression.
You're talking about reparations.
What do you hope people get from this book?
I mean, that title is-is provocative.
When I say "surrender, white people,"
obviously, it's not in a military sense.
It's this notion of-of supremacy.
Even though, um, we're arguing over monuments, which...
Everybody right now, there's this heightened awareness
because of what happened to Ahmaud Arbery,
and-and, uh, Breonna Taylor
and-and now, uh, George Floyd.
Everybody is keyed up about that.
But we want to keep monuments.
Everybody who has acted... that recoiled in disgust
with what happened to George Floyd
but they want to keep monuments
to men who did far worse to black people.
Far worse. We have...
We have men who performed, um, surgery
on black wo... enslaved black women
with no go... with no anesthesia have statues.
Every dude, uh, that-that has a statue
and riding around on a horse hated black people.
And-and, so, um,
if-if it's no big deal that we want to change,
why do we want to keep the vestiges of what we were
and the ideas of why we are like we are?
'Cause policemen are really doing in our community
what they always have been supposed to do.
They didn't know their mission changed.
They're supposed to keep us where we are
and do that by any means necessary.
So they didn't... they didn't have any notion
that their idea of policing in our communities
was going to change, and it did it on a dime.
And I think we have to let go of these notions,
'cause there are really people who believe
that it is the way that they were born
that made them superior in some way.
And, so, if you believe that,
there's really no way to move on.
There's really nowhere to go if you believe
that it's your inherent, God-given right to be...
have everybody else be subservient.
So... And the book is just, uh, that in a comedic way.
And I'm writing a peace treaty.
'Cause, you know, peace treaties
don't really give anybody anything.
They give the people that win the ability to say
that I did something good and us that...
What they basically get is for us to shut up about race.
(laughs): That's what they get. They get to...
They get to go, "Shut up about it."
-So... -What would... what would you say is the first step, then?
Because, I mean, you know, like, obviously,
people are talking about defunding the police.
People are talking about having conversations in Hollywood,
conversations in corporate America.
But what are some of the other steps
that you'd like to see people take?
Like, where do you even begin
to have meaningful conversations that move things forward?
You'll have, uh, people like Bank of America
said they were gonna give $1 billion,
um, you know, to ending discrimination.
But wouldn't it be better if you just said yes
on a couple of loan... home loans?
You could do that, too.
All these grandiose gestures are best, uh...
You know, and they're placatory at best, I think.
And I think maybe people's hearts are in the right place,
but just be fair.
If you know our schools are terrible,
um, wh-why would you underfund them?
If you know that, you know, uh, we redline areas,
why do we allow that?
If we know that, um, you know, there's a bias
in the medical field, why do we have it?
Um, so, more than just, you know, tearing statues down
and-and wearing T-shirts,
uh, do the right thing.
Just get out there and do the right thing.
Um, before I let you go,
I just want to know what you're doing right now.
Like, are you home? Are you healthy?
Why is your camera shaking like you're gonna pass out?
-Right. (laughs) -Like, what's going on in your world?
-That's what I want to know. -Well, I got to tell you,
I made it back. I was serious.
The hotel didn't feel comfortable
with me staying there, so I had to take a jet
-to come home. -And I don't blame them, D.L.
-I don't blame them. -Yeah. I can't blame them.
If I was staying at that hotel, I would be like,
"I heard there is a gentleman who has coronavirus.
"I would like him to please be prechecked out
-when he comes back." -Right.
And they did, so I came home.
And my wife is the same way.
-She sounded like this: "I don't want it, either." -(laughs)
Um, but last night, again, I passed out again,
so I'm on my way to UCLA, so I don't know. So...
-Man, look after yourself. -I... They think that...
-For real, though, look after yourself. -I will.
Stay healthy. Take it seriously. Please, man.
-Yeah. -And get better Wi-Fi in your guest room, D.L.
Don't... That should be better Wi-Fi for your guests.
How are you gonna have people over and not have good Wi-Fi?
But, man, come on, it's just like,
if you feed them, they'll stay, man.
Like, if you... A lot of people stay for the Wi-Fi.
I can't have that. I can't have...
I have dial-up in this room.
Who knew I would need it.
Oh, man. D.L., thank you so much for being with us.
-I hope everybody reads the book, man. -Thank you, man.
-All right, my dude. -Thank you.