“We didn’t invent race, so I don’t know where we got the card from.” Michael Harriot dives deep into some widely-held beliefs that white people have about race and identity. Michael Harriot addresses white concepts like race-baiting, playing the “race card,” Black people playing the “victim,” and more.
Full transcript below.
Panama Jackson [00:00:00] You are now listening to theGrio’s Black Podcast Network. Black Culture Amplified.
Michael Harriot [00:00:05] Sometimes we can’t ignore the things that need to be said. We have to respond to criticism. We have to acknowledge that sometimes there are people who know better than we do, and sometimes those people are white. And that’s why I want to welcome you theGrio Daily, the only podcast that will say the things that white people wanted me to see. Today’s podcast is a special episode. So for as long as this podcast has existed, for as long as Black people have been here on Earth, for as long as we have been Black, there have been people who have leveled criticism about the things that Black people need to do and the things that Black people need to say. Well, today’s episode is dedicated exactly to that. Today, I’m going to say all of the things that white people wanted me to say, and that’s that. There is no hook, there is no loophole. I’m just going to say them right.
Michael Harriot [00:01:04] The first thing I want to say is that murder is bad. Look, people don’t kill people. I know that white people will defend murder because when we complain about police brutality, they’ll say, well, what about, I don’t know, he should have complied. What about all the Black thugs? Why don’t ya’ll talk about Black on Black crime? Now, look, I know that there are Black people listening right now who have heard all the grandmothers and the preachers and the barbershop people say Black people need to stop killing each other. But for the sake of this podcast, we’re going to pretend that all of those Black people who never say anything about murder don’t exist. And we’re just going to say, don’t kill people, don’t commit crime, don’t be a criminal. Of course, I have met criminals, a few of them in my lifetime. And I don’t think there are sway that much by people saying don’t kill people. But I mean, white people be saying, why don’t we speak out about it? I’m speaking out about it right now. Don’t kill people.
Michael Harriot [00:02:00] Another thing that I need to say on this podcast or this special episode theGrio Daily is that we should learn things. I think that is important to say. Now, white people say that we don’t value education. I’m not going to argue with them because I could say that how do you know? You’ve never given Black people a shot at equal education for a nanosecond in the history of America. Black schools are underfunded. That whole segregation thing, there were laws that prevented Black people from learning to read, and the reason they had to pass them laws and pass those segregation statutes and to pass to underfund those schools is because Black people wanted to learn so bad. And we’ll still go to school if it’s underfunded. We’ll still learn to read, even if it’s against the law. We’ll still let white people spit in our face for a shot at equal education. So that should prove that we value education. But look, I’m doing this one for the white people today, y’all, so please learn things. Learning is fundamental. I think it’s reading is fundamental. I’m just saying the stuff that white people want me to say.
Michael Harriot [00:03:05] The next thing I want white people to know is that I hear them when they talk about Black people’s need to stop being divisive. So I want to say stop being a victim. Stop playing the victim Black people. We got to stop doing this if we want, I mean, I know the white people cry when they say this because they’d be playing the victim. And I know that Black people have actually been lynched, slaughtered, oppressed, disenfranchized, targeted by policing, the criminal justice system, the federal government. We have been poisoned. We have been massacred. But y’all got to stop playing the victim. Y’all got to stop bringing up the stuff that white people did to us. Wait, hold on. I might want to take that one, because that means that white people get to do stuff to us, and we don’t get to see anything. Scratch that one. Scratch that one.
Michael Harriot [00:04:02] Hey, how about stop playing the race card? Yeah, I’m going to do that. I’m like, I want Black people to stop playing the race card. White people want me to say it. They’ve been asking me to say it for years now, and I’m finally willing to step up and say, Stop playing the race card. Now, we didn’t invent race, so I don’t know where we got the card from. White people invented the concept of whiteness and the concept of Blackness. They invented white supremacy, the invented race based chattel slavery. They invented white supremacist government, they invented the Constitution. They embedded it into that Constitution. They invented Jim Crow. They invented segregation. They invented redlining. But apparently Black people need to say, stop playing the race card. I don’t know. Look, I’m not here to see this stuff that I’m saying is logical. I’m just here to do a white people want me to do. So Black people stop using the race card. I have never seen it, but I assume that y’all have because I’ve heard a lot about it.
Michael Harriot [00:04:58] Which brings me to the next thing we got to stop doing. We got to stop race baiting. Race baiting is when you say stuff that is true and other people agree, I think that’s the definition. You know, Al Sharpton is a race baiter because he, I don’t know, protests against injustice. Jesse Jackson was a race baiter. Obama was a, as moderate as he was, apparently to some people, Obama was a race baiter. I’m a race baiter. And I got to admit, right, I am technically a race baiter because I be trying to bait racists into showing their stupidity. But regardless, it doesn’t have to make sense. I don’t want to make sense in this episode. I’m just here to say the stuff that white people want me to say.
Michael Harriot [00:05:40] The next thing that I need to tell Black people from white people is that not all white people. That’s it. That’s the end of the sentence, not all white people. Not all white people are racist. I don’t think that or I’ve never met a Black person who thinks that all white people are racist. I’ve never seen anyone say it. But, you know, like when you say white people do something, even if it is a statistical fact, white people for some reason have to say, but not all white people like white people voted for Donald Trump. The majority of white Americans wanted a white supremacist for president. See, there was no all in that sentence. But for some reason, some white person right now is screaming not all white people at his telephone or his earbuds or however white people listen to podcasts. Not all white people though. But apparently it needs to be said, not all white people. I don’t think there’s anybody out there who thinks all white people, but you know.
Michael Harriot [00:06:34] And finally, the last thing I want to say that white people told me to tell y’all is that that’s racist. Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know what that means. Like, apparently white people believe in reverse racism. So you’ve heard the sentences, how those sentences begin. Well, what if a Black person said that? Yeah, I know, I know. First of all, you’d have to go back 400 years. You’d have to enslave white people. You’d have to make up a word like the N-word that relates to white people. You’d have to disenfranchize them. You’d have to economically disadvantage them. You’d have to beat, whip, massacre, murder, kill, brutalize, oppress and rape them. And then if Black people said something like what I’m saying, it would be very, very bad. But like, we’re living in a real world that doesn’t have time machines and inversion clauses in the time space continuum. So all I got to say is stop being racist towards white people, stop making them feel bad. Like how racism makes you feel. Stop blaming them. Stop playing the victim. Stop killing people. Stop rejecting education. Just stop being Black.
Michael Harriot [00:07:48] But don’t forget to download that Grio app. Don’t forget to tell a friend about us. Don’t forget to subscribe on every platform from Apple Music. Amazon. I don’t know. How do we put this in Google Play? Is that still a thing? The Android store. Wherever you get your podcast, subscribe TikTok, I guess, maybe Spotify. And finally, I want to leave you with a Black saying, and today’s Black saying is, “White people said, that Black people said, that white people said, ‘Stop doing that.'” We’ll see you next time on theGrio Daily. If you like what you heard, please give us a five star review. Download theGrio and subscribe to the show and to share it with everyone you know. Please email all questions, suggestions and compliments to podcast at theGrio dot com.
Panama Jackson [00:08:37] You are now listening to theGrio’s Black podcast network Black Culture Amplified.
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