Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night (January 18) and turned the tables on the host, sort of. The insightful conversation covered police brutality, the radical Martin Luther King, Jr., white privilege and even staying “woke.”
Their convo on “white privilege” was easily the best portion of the interview. Colbert was open to the concept when the topic came up, joking, “I might have the most privilege of any white person you’ve ever met.”
At Colbert’s behest, Deray explained how Colbert’s show and money grants him privilege, and how he can identify it.
“It’s about role, and it’s about access, and what you can do is extend that privilege so that you can dismantle it, right?” explained McKesson. “So you can create opportunity for people, you can amplify issues in ways that other people can’t, and you can use your resources to create space for people.”
To show that he was serious, Colbert and McKesson switched seats. An honest conversation; that’s where all that “white guilt” can be dealt with, seriously.
Deray often gets flack about his motives—more times that not from people who would like all the attention he gets—but you can’t front on the man’s ability to organize and relay the movement’s goals, eloquently.
Also, if Patagonia isn’t blessing Deray with at least some free jackets, they’re hustling backwards.
Watch the full segment below
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Photo: screen cap
