Comedians W. Kamau Bell and Joe Rogan think the so-called "white power" movement is full of "redundant f*cks," and the duo is not too happy about the cartoonish depictions of black people in mainstream movies, either.
During a discussion on Rogan's podcast, Rogan recalled that he and his friends had gotten "high as Jesus on the space shuttle" and then gone to see the movie The Planet of the Apes in an all-black neighborhood in Philadelphia.
"But here is the thing, man, when I was in that movie theater, I was acutely aware, first of all, that we were the only white people in there, and I was also acutely aware that every f*cking ad for every preview was white people -- it was all white people," he said. "Being high as f*ck made me super sensitive to it. And there was only one white guy that interacted with a black guy in all the previews."
That one interaction was between Jonah Hill and a black doorman who spoke in grotesquely exaggerated slang, Rogan explained.
"Every white person should get that high and go live in the world," Bell joked. "Everything you said, I'm like, uh huh, yes, not surprised."
After Rogan showed Bell a clip of "the cartoonish, buffoonish representation of black people" in the Jonah Hill movie, Bell responded: "And the funny thing is, people will say, why are some black people so angry?"
"I feel like the people in that theater didn't get angry because we have to let shit wash over us or else we'll be angry all the time," Bell continued. "We will be outwardly flipping tables all the time. We just have to wait for Planet of the Apes. We can't turn this into a Change.org petition. We've gotta let this go."
White is considered normal in U.S. culture, he added.
"White is the default," Bell said. "People magazine is about white people, for the most part, but Essence says it's a black magazine."
He suggested white people should talk more about their whiteness, and even put "white" on their magazines. But Rogan said that was impossible.
"If white people say, 'We're going to have the White Actors Awards,'" Rogan remarked, "dude, that shit would not fly."
Bell said that was because the use of the word "white" was historically linked to segregation and racism.
"Good white people like yourselves have to take whiteness back," he said.
Rogan and Bell also discussed the difference between "black power" and "white power."
"The reason why white power is hard for people to take is cus white people already got the power," Bell said. "When (UFC heavyweight) Cain Velasquez's tattoo says 'Brown Pride' it is because brown people don't feel like they've got enough power, and it's a way to invoke a feeling of power. Brown people have been shit on, and I'm going to take the power back. Black power came out of people going, 'We're tired of being shit on.' White power? You got it."
"You don't need a tattoo," Rogan interjected. "You redundant f*cks."
"So when white people put 'white power' (tattoos) on it feels like, wait, how much power you gonna take?"
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