The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Ibram X. Kendi - "Four Hundred Souls"

Episode Date: July 14, 2021

From February 2021, Ibram X. Kendi talks about helping people challenge racism with "How to Be an Antiracist" and discusses "Four Hundred Souls," which he edited with Keisha N. Blain. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes a second look on Apple podcasts starting September 17. Professor Kendi, welcome to the Daily Social Distancing Show. It's great to be back on the show. Yeah, it's good to be back for you, but technically the last time I saw you was in the studio. A lot has changed since then. I mean not just the fact the fact th th th th th th that th that th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th th for you, but technically, the last time I saw you was in the studio. A lot has changed since then. I mean, not just the fact that people are at home, but the fact that America has seen so many changes, and yet, some may argue, America has seen so much more of the same. Your book rose to the New York Times Best Sellers List during

during the protests. And what many people gravitated to the their their their their their their their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, tha, th. their, th. tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tho, tham, tha, tha, tha, tha, th. And, th. And, th. And, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, tha, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, thatuuu.a, their, their, tha during the protests. And what many people gravitated to in your work was how you laid steps out for people to engage in anti-racism. Tell me a little bit more about that. And firstly, why you felt it was necessary to lay out the steps and the tools that people could use, and why it's so important to be anti-racist as opposed to just not being racist. When racial inequity and injustice is normal, if you do nothing, what's gonna happen to that normality?

It's gonna persist. And so I really wanted to encourage people to actively challenge racism, but also to realize there's a direct opposite to notions of racial hierarchy. And that's notions of racial equality, which are anti-racist ideas. There's a direct opposite to policies that lead

to maintain racial inequity, and that's anti-racist policy. So we can be creating a different type of America with different types of policies and different type of ideas. A lot of people love your work because you delve into the past and you're tired to the present. This project is really special because you are the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the their and you're tired to the present. This project is really special because you are editing a book about the history of being African American and yet instead of just looking at it through the lens of one person, one author, one storyteller, you've gone with multiple stories. Just everyone from every walk of life who fought for black freedom in America, from the slave trade all the way through to the current day. Tell me why you thought

you could re-tell a story that has been told so many times in a different way. Why did you think I'll jump on this project to edit this book? Well, I mean, with the 400th anniversary or birthday of a Black America approaching, I think we wanted to figure out a new way to tell black America's history. We wanted a new way to commemorate this moment. And one of the oldest racist ideas is this idea that we're a monolith, that there is not incredible diversity within Black America. And also, African American history has traditionally been written by a man, oftentimes a black man. And so I think with those two things, we really wanted to bring together a community to

write the history of a community, an extremely diverse community. And that's one of the things we're most proud about in terms of this book, just the diversity of blackness within the book and even the ordinary and extraordinary characters we share. When you look at those stories, do you ever wonder what your dream is for the end goal? Sometimes I'll be talking to friends who will say what is like your definition of white privilege? and I say, th th th th th th th th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi thi thi thi thi, that thi, that thi, that thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's thi, that's th, that's th, that's th, that's th, that's th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thi thi thi thi thi thi thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, Sometimes I'll be talking to friends who'll say, what is like your definition of white privilege? And I say, just for me, personally, I go, for me, white privilege is you have the opportunity

to fail on your behalf and succeed on your behalf and your behalf alone. You know, if a white man launches a rocket to the moon, you know what I'm saying? You know, if a white man thanks is is is is is is is is is is is is th is tha tha tha than is than is than is thus is thus is thus is a thi is a thi is a thia thia thia thia thi, thi, thioliol-a thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thoomoomorrow, th.. th. th. the the the th, the the th, th, th. th. thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, the the the the the the thi...... thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. theea. thea. thea. the the the the the the the the the the the that's what he did. If a black person launches a rocket to the moon, then, I mean, these niggers be launching rockets. Do you know what I'm saying? And so I wonder what your idea is. As a professor who studies race,

what are you hoping that we get to what place do you hope to see us achieve? Well, it's, it, it, it, it, it, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, th. the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks, the, the, the, the, the, the, the I think in the introduction to 400 souls, I wrote about how we're not able as black people to be individuals, right? And so certainly, for me, that would be an end goal. But I also think, you know, justice, you know, equal justice, you know, for all peoples, you know, just something as simple as when I see a member of public safety or police officer or whatever we would have in the future, I don't feel scared. Right. You know, when I haven't done anything wrong, I'm not going to to certainly feel scared. Or something like I walk into a place to apply for a job. And I don't have to look twice. And I don't have to look twice. to look. I'm, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to th, th, the th, th, the to th, to to th, you, you, you, you, you to to to to to the to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th, thi, thi, try, try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. try. to to try. to to th. thi. thi. walk into a place to apply for a job and I don't have to look twice at what I'm wearing, how I'm going to speak, because that's not really

going to matter, you know, especially if, you know, I have the qualifications. I've always wondered, you know, when I traveled the world, you know, I'd be lucky enough, my comedy would take me to different countries. I was always intrigued by how black people specifically would be treated differently when they were not the black of that country. You know, like, black Americans would come to South Africa, and oftentimes, whether it was shopkeepers or, you know, just people in the street, they'd be like, oh, you're a black American, you're very, very different. And sometimes even Africans from other African countries would come and be treated differently. The same I would notice in America. Is there something in the story of race that is also tied to the history of how the country has treated the people of that race in the country? I think so. I think race and racism is simultaneously global and national.

In other words, you can see similar trends across the world, but each of those trends, each of those policies, and each of those racial constructions are distinct to the nation. But what's also consistent is pretty much every nation in the world argues that they're not racist towards black people. Yeah, you see that across the board. Whether it's, you know, the South African apartheid government or through to the U.S. no, no, no, no, we're not racist, we just do these racist things to these people. There's a new administration in the White House.

Many people feel like this is a new opportunity for America. Joe Biden has said on multiple occasions that racism is going to be at the forefront of his agenda, which has drawn him a lot of criticism. What would you hope that he would do, actually do, that could move America forward in achieving that racial equality? Well, one thing he's doing with the coronavirus is he's, he continues to say that he's going to put science before politics. And so as it relates to racial inequity and injustice, if he was to put silence, science before politics, if he was to essentially look at what scholars are saying,

how we can eliminate inequities and injustices, how we can reduce or eliminate police, not necessarily be as concerned about white-wing voters or even Republican voters, then I think he would be able to make some serious advances in rooting out racism. But the fact that the matter is, the irony is, the irony is, is, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thiiole is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to, thi, thi, thi, is, is, thi, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, is, thiiiiiiiiiary thiary thiary thiary thierierierierierierieryyyyy is, is the the the the the the the the the the the the their their their their their their to make some serious advances in rooting out racism. But the fact of the matter is, is the irony is the very folks who support racist policies that drive us apart through inequities, who support racist policies that maintain racial

injustice that causes people to be killed by police, which then leads to mass demonstrations, are the very people trying to claim word divisive? Right? I mean, that's the fundamental fallacy. We want to, equality brings people together last night. Well, I will say this. It will always be a journey. It'll always be a challenging one.

But having somebody like you and people like you, who are writing some of the most amazing works to help us figure it all out, I think helps every single day. So thank you so much for joining us on the show again. Thank you for editing this amazing piece of work and I hope to see you again. Thank you so much, Trevor. The Daily Show with Trevor Noa, Ear's Edition. Subs. Subscribe to the Daily Show on YouTube, to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to the Daily show to the Daily show to the Daily show to the Daily Show to the Daily Show the Daily Show to to the Daily Show the Daily Show the Daily Show the Daily the Daily Show to the Daily Show the Daily Show the Daily Show the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily the Daily to to the Daily to the Daily to to the the the the the the the the the the the the to the Daily to to the Daily the Daily the Daily Show on YouTube to to to the Daily Show on YouTube to to to to to to to to to today to today te Show to to to to toda te to to te today to to the the Daily Show the Daily Show the Daily Show the Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and stream full episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. When 60 Minutes premiered in September 1968 there was nothing like it. This is 60 Minutes. It's a kind of a magazine for television. Very few have been given access to the treasures in our archives.

But that's all about to change. Like none of this stuff gets looked at. That's what's incredible. I'm Seth Done of CBS News. Listen to 60 Minutes, a Second Look, starting September 17th, wherever you get your podcasts. This has been a Comedy Central Podcast.