♪ ♪
2016's been a stressful year for black folks, man.
You got two candidates nobody want to vote for.
You got chaos in the streets.
And, for the most part, most black people get to emote
the way they want to.
But there's one group that can't,
the black journalists.
(blows landing, indistinct crowd chatter)
When you're black and on TV, people say awesome stuff to you
-like this. -The postcolonial victim (bleep)--
-I don't get it. Sorry. -(bell rings)
Yeah, no (bleep) you don't, fake Gary Busey.
And that ain't even the worst of it.
Say you're a cocaine dealer-- and you kind of look like one
-a little bit-- uh... -He just said that out loud.
Most people would've cussed that dude out,
but if you're a black journalist,
you got to keep your cool.
As do you. You look like... you look like a cocaine user,
-so we're even. (laughs) -Yeah.
Black journalists constantly have to bite their tongue.
They come close to the line, but-- God bless 'em--
they never cross it. 'Cause if they do,
then they'll be labeled an angry black man.
You can't be emotional about anything,
especially if you're a black anchor.
Look at Lester Holt.
This brother had to sit right across from Trump and not react.
He had a front row seat to the bull(bleep).
African-Americans, Hispanics are living in hell.
-What makes your... -I did not support the war in Iraq.
-The record does not show that. -Why was... is-is your judgment
-any... -The record shows that I'm right.
Look right there. Look, look, look.
The man blinked 87 times.
-(echoing): ...record shows that I'm right. -(screaming)
If I was moderating that debate, oh, please believe
it would have gone down differently.
African-Americans, Hispanics are living in hell.
-Wait, what? Wait... (stammering) -You walk down
-the street, you get shot in Chicago. -No, no, no. Uh-uh.
I'm out. Better get Billy Bush.
Arguing on TV back in the day used to be simple.
You are wrong, I am right.
I am right, you are wrong.
How do you defend yourself from these people
fighting all new styles? And Trump, (bleep)!
All lives matter! Republicans freed the slaves!
You can't defend yourself from all that (bleep)
just doing this. You'd get your ass whupped on TV.
-One second! One second! One second! -(indistinct arguing)
One second! One second!
"One second! One second! One second!"
How you let somebody yell at you on Skype?
I would've closed my laptop. Get out of my face.
The best of black journalists are being pushed to their limits
during this election,
sometimes even by your own people.
-These people preach vile... -Well, if you'll let me get a...
Are you gonna let me get a word in? We'll be right back.
We're gonna go to break. And we'll be right back.
Are you gonna let me talk?
Don Lemon wanted to slap the (bleep) out of that dude.
And what's worse than being labeled an "angry black man"?
An angry black woman.
CNN's Angela Rye never breaks on TV,
but you damn sure know what she's thinking.
That girl could have her own emoji keyboard.
Donald Trump's done great things in his private time, too.
RYE: I am a black woman. I do roll my eyes.
If someone says something, frankly, that's crazy as hell,
I don't think that you should have to remain composed.
WOOD: And that's just her silent game. Her verbal game--
oh, man, that's a whole other level.
Tell me about those tax returns, Corey, while you're at it.
WOOD: Why don't you take down Trump's campaign manager
with a Beyoncé lyric?
Corey, in this moment, I'm gonna Beyoncé you. "Boy, bye."
You wouldn't even see it coming.
You'd just be having a conversation, and pop! Beyoncé!
You need to just be glad she didn't hit them with Solange.
-(bell clangs) -(crowd cheering)
Nobody's come closer to the edge than Marc Lamont Hill,
and for good reason.
Racist Mr. Magoo...
I mean, CNN pundit Harry Houck--
he ain't to be messed with.
This not gonna be no easy win for Hill.
-It's non-systemic. -But you said that black people are prone
to criminality. I wasn't able to respond to that, okay?
-Well they are. -But you think
black people are prone to criminality?
-The statistics here show this. -You don't mean to say that.
I'm gonna give you a chance to correct it.
Oh, this... What does this say?
You don't mean that black people are prone to criminality.
If Harry's here, I was, like, right here.
Like, he almost got them hands.
He almost got them hands?
And I would reinforce the thing that he's saying,
which is that we're prone to criminality.
I'm telling you, 75% of all shootings are black.
I'm hoping you just don't know...
WOOD: He's literally praying to God on national television.
HILL: It's like,
"light bill, car note, mortgage."
Jesus was the only thing
that saved Marc Lamont Hill that night.
(angelic singing)
Black journalists keeping their (bleep) together
is one of the few things
moving the conversation on race forward.
So I salute the brave men and women of cable news
'cause, best believe, if I was in your shoes,
I wouldn't be able to hold myself back.
I'm just tired of the police getting the brunt of everything
that's going on inside the inner city of Chicago.
You people who live in Chicago...
-No. No, it's not "you people." -What?! You people?!
Harry, now, come on.