We have all heard “I’m not racist, but…” then there is a racist comment afterward. That is exactly what happens in rapper Joyner Lucas’ viral video, “I’m Not Racist,” that was released on Nov. 28th.
The video is about the disconnection between white and black people in the United States. Both sides are rapped by Lucas from the conservatives' and liberals' perspective on race. Two men featured in the video is lip-syncing to Lucas’ voice about racial and controversial topics. The video features two men, one young black man and one white man with the familiar red ’Make America Great Again’ cap, sitting across from each other.
CNN calls it “the brutal race conversation no one wants to have”. Lucas’ lyrics are brutal and uncomfortable to listen to. Both men give excuses for their actions and their beliefs about their own race and the opposing race.
The white man giving his thoughts on double standards of saying the N-word, Black Lives Matters, NFL Protests, and the lack of working black people. The video becomes more unsettling with the rigorous use of the N-word multiple times. He excuses police shootings of black men because of their sagging pants and do-rags on. He speaks about the stereotypes of black people being lazy and using up the government’s welfare money. The man raps about how black people blame their reason for living in poverty is because of white privilege.
Lucas points out the racial stereotypes and critiques that black people of America deal with daily. The white man blames black people for using up most of the government’s welfare, but according to the Washington Post, working-class whites are the biggest users of government assistance.
The black man rebuttals with counter-arguments towards the white man. He replies with why there is a double standard with the N-word and racial profiling among the police. He states how white people are appropriating black culture.
We see through both viewpoints that they blame the other race for the hardships that they are in. Lucas shows that there are flaws on both sides and no one is innocent.
The video blatantly indicates that this conversation needs to happen. Talking about race and the issues over it could be an uncomfortable conversation that could easily be a heated argument, full of ignorance, or could end with a civil solution. This topic could be exhausting after past and present activists fighting against racism for more than a century, but we will stop talking about it once change occurs. Arguing about it like in the video is not going to solve the problem and end with a forceful hug. We are going to need to dig deep into the problem and have a civil discussion of why bigotry is still strong in 2017.
But as CNN stated about the video: “the brutal race conversation no one wants to have”, we must have the conversation first to make progress. We must face the racial problems of not only black and white people but also other minorities that are being targeted in the United States.
