On the Tuesday ‘Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ hip-hop artist and social/racial justice activist Michael Render aka ‘Killer Mike’ sat down with Colbert for a discussion on racism, barbershops, and why he supports Bernie Sanders. To applause he urges white college age students to get out of their comfort zones by getting to know marginalized young-people of different races and religions in their neighborhoods, to help them use the system to their advantage to help their communities.
You can watch the entire appearance below:
Colbert: Do you think there is a systemic attempt in the united states to isolate poor and minorities in this country to put them in communities to be controlled?
Killer Mike: It is not an attempt at all it is successful. If you look at Daley he built the highways to segregate people. Absolutely.
Colbert: What can we do to bridge the gap between the commuties of color? You own barbershops, should white people start getting their hair cut at black barbershops? There are conversations going on there that we are not part of?
Killer Mike: And white people pay $50 for a haircut, I’d like that. (laughter).
I speak at colleges often and when I speak at black colleges and white colleges it is a slightly different message. The message I preach to white kids in Tallahassee, Georgia Tech, New York, is to get out of the college environment. Find a child who is marginal or doing exceptional in school, who is a minority and doesn’t look like you. Not of the same religion, not at the same school. Help that child matriculate into college. Help that child. Mentor them. Don’t give them gives to make yourself feel good.. like giving away some sneakers. Teach them a path to help them be a successful human being. What you are going to get out of that experience is another human being that is taking full advantage of an education system that can help their community. But more importantly it helps you have empathy and apathy for someone who is not from your cultural identity or background.
Colbert: Speaking of culturally, not from your background.. you are #FeelingTheBern. You like Bernie Sanders. As quickly as you can tell me why Bernie Sanders is the man?
Killer Mike: Doctor King in his last two years of life talked about a poor peoples campaign, organizing unions on the behalf of poor workers and against a war machine perpetuating violence in Vietnam. Bernie Sanders is the only politician who has consistently for 50 years taken that social justice platform into politics. Right now we have an opportunity to elect someone who is directly out of the philosophy of King-ian non-violence. We can directly elect someone who cares about poor people, women, gay, black rights. People that don’t look like his. This opportunity in history is not going to come in another 20 years
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