Kanye West is back on Twitter.
And just like the new Yeezy Slides,
his tweets have people going, "What are those?"
Now, in case you missed it, Kanye tweeted out an endorsement
for a black conservative pundit who argues that black people
complain too much about racism.
Adding: "Self-victimization is a disease,"
and then he added: "There was a time when slavery
was the trend," but now is a mentality.
Now, first of all, I think it's weird
to describe slavery as a trend-- like there are no memorials
dedicated to the horrors of Tamagotchi.
I think trends are very different ideas.
But I have to admit, Kanye got me thinking.
Maybe we're too quick to call stuff racist
when we don't need to.
To help me try and figure this thing out,
we invited our very own Roy Wood Jr., everybody.
(cheering, applause)
Huh.
-Roy. -What's happening?
I'm struggling with this, man. What do you think?
Are black people too sensitive about racism?
Uh, hell yeah, black people are sensitive about racism.
But that's because it's still happening.
You can't tell me to get over something that never ended.
Look, you can't treat sunburn if you're still standing outside.
You got to put on lotion and ice and...
I'm not white, man-- I don't know how you treat sunburn.
The point is...
you don't even have to look hard to find racism.
Here's a story from just a few days ago.
Tonight some new Richmond residents
are calling their neighbors racist.
One family has their display on the front porch
with several Confederate flags, but... that's not all.
NEWSWOMAN: You be the judge.
A black mannequin with painted lips,
these figures with wigs strapped to the porch,
and multiple Confederate flags of all sizes
sit outside this home.
Tonight I spoke to the family who put that display up.
You decide: racist or not?
(laughter)
I decided.
It's racist.
They decorated their front porch with pink-lipped black people,
and then they decorated the black people
with Confederate flags.
It's not just racist, Trevor, it's tacky.
It's like you're mixing your plaids and your stripes.
And what makes it worse is that they don't even have the balls
to own their racism.
No way, shape or form should anybody think it is racist.
What would you say to someone who's driving by this
and says that family hates black people?
I would say, you know,
everybody hates everybody, you know?
It just depends on what you hate, you know?
(laughter)
Yes.
Exactly.
It depends on what you hate.
If you hate a race of people, that's racism.
It's crazy that even people who admit
that they're doing racism
don't want to be labeled racist.
People don't like racists.
Th-They don't like labels, you know? But I get it.
I like being naked all the time
but I don't want to be called a nudist.
People hate nudists.
Yeah, but people call you a nudist
because you walk around your office naked.
I'm not ashamed of my body, Trevor.
Look, the point is...
the whole thing is a disgrace.
It's a disgrace.
I will say this, though,
the wigs that they put on them dolls, on point.
Look at the detail.
The curve, the bangs, that's some artisanal racism,
and the creativity doesn't even end there.
The woman had a whole backstory for the display.
All the baseball players on there are actual, you know,
from the first blacks that played the baseball game.
REPORTER: They were asking, specifically, also,
what the black mannequin is supposed to represent.
Oh. The-- Like the mom of the baseball players, basically.
Oh. Right.
Now it makes sense.
This was a tribute to the trailblazing
black baseball players and they're momma.
'Cause I don't know what you know
about Negro league baseball, but before every game,
Jackie Robinson's momma
would hand him a Confederate flag
and say, "Go get 'em, baby."
-No, Ron. No, Ron... -"Go get 'em."
-No, look... -"Give me that bat.
-"Put this flag in your hand. -No, Roy, look, look.
-And go get 'em." -I feel you. I feel you.
I feel you, but a part of me does feel bad for these people.
I mean, if you can't be racist at home,
then where can you do it?
Well, that's the problem.
Racism never stays at the racist person's house.
Sooner or later, racism catches an Uber
and comes to your doorstep.
The day before we heard about the porch,
there was another story about a black dude
who got run out of a town in Tennessee.
TV REPORTER: A man who used to live at this house
on Depot Street, says he's never felt welcome there.
He says, just Wednesday morning, he discovered
these label slurs spray-painted on the walls of his house.
Now, see, this one is upsetting
because, first of all, there was no need to call him nigger.
He was the only black dude in town.
They could have just used his name.
They could have just said, "Hey, Keith!
Get your shit and get out of town, bro!"
-That's all they had to say. -And, you know,
this story, for me, Roy, seems open and shut.
Like, no one can say that this isn't racist.
Oh, that's exactly what they gonna say.
Mayor Casey Burnett says he was one
of the first people to see the graffiti,
but he says he doesn't consider it to be a hate crime.
It did have a little bit of a racial slur to it, uh,
but it's not--
You know, we're not a racial community at all.
Yeah. Just a little bit of a racial slur, just a little bit.
There were only two words and the other one was "kill."
"A little bit of a racial slur to it."
It sounds like he's sharing a recipe
for some oppression casserole.
Put a pinch of prejudice and some cayenne,
and you stir-- Ooh. We got--
Ooh, now, boy. You got to run.
That's good casserole right-- yeah.
Look, I think I understand
what Kanye was trying to say, but I don't agree.
Just because I'm calling out racism
doesn't mean I'm trying to play the victim.
If I see you being racist,
I'm gonna call you out on your shit,
then I'm going to carry on with my day.
Speaking of which, I've been in these clothes
for more than three minutes.
-Oh, no. No, no, no, no. -I need to be free.
No, Roy, no. Roy Wood, Jr., everybody.