From the Archive: Charlie’s Debate on Race in America

00:00:03 Speaker 1: My name is Charlie Kirk. I run the largest pro-American student organization in the country fighting for the future of our republic. My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth. If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable. But if the most important thing is doing good, you will end up purposeful. College is a scam, everybody. You got to stop sending your kids to college. You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible. Go start a Turning Point USA college chapter. Go start a Turning Point USA high school chapter. Go find out how your church can get involved. Sign up and become an activist. I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade. Most important decision I ever made in my life, and I encourage you to do the same. Here I am. Lord, use me. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go. Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of The Charlie Kirk Show. a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals. Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble Gold Investments at noblegoldinvestments.com. That is noblegoldinvestments.com. 00:01:17 Speaker 2: I think that this country's view, especially when we're coming now into DEI and we're coming into defunding the Department of Education, we're coming to taking the Tuskegee Airmen out of being taught. 00:01:32 Speaker 1: That has been reversed, just for the record. 00:01:34 Speaker 2: But there's been multiple other things besides Tuskegee, but also the whole debate on critical race theory, teaching slavery in schools, teaching black history, etc. 00:01:44 Speaker 1: etc. 00:01:45 Speaker 2: These are things that are being targeted specifically when it took years and years to even get them in place. I think that this country is built on using the Bible, not even 100 years ago, to defame and to dehumanize black people. There has been use of the Bible specifically when people used to come into the church and talk about how slaves should obey their masters and how that's... what the whole relationship between white and black people were. I think that this country specifically has a lot of racist rhetoric that is built in that is not being targeted. 00:02:28 Speaker 3: I think that. 00:02:29 Speaker 1: So let's try to find some common ground. Is that okay? 00:02:31 Speaker 3: That's fine. 00:02:32 Speaker 1: Can you give me a definition of racism? 00:02:38 Speaker 3: Racism... In terms of... I will say. 00:02:43 Speaker 1: You used the term, so I want to make sure we're talking about the same thing. Is that cool? 00:02:47 Speaker 3: Yes, that's fair. 00:02:48 Speaker 2: I will say that I will state that I am biased because I will be speaking as a black person specifically from the United States of America and not anywhere else. But I will say racism is a discrimination against people of a minority. 00:03:09 Speaker 3: That does not have a Okay, what is racism? Racism, without using the word. 00:03:20 Speaker 1: Can't use the word racism. 00:03:21 Speaker 3: Can't use the word. I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying. 00:03:26 Speaker 2: A discrimination against a minority class of people in order to... create an unbalance in the society or a hierarchy based on something that is undetermined as of color, race, I mean, the color of your skin, or maybe even color. 00:03:45 Speaker 3: Of your skin. 00:03:47 Speaker 1: Can you be racist against Asians? Yes. Can you be racist against white people? 00:03:57 Speaker 2: I believe that you can have prejudice against white people, but in the way that this country was built and the way that this country has been founded and the way that there are many laws that have taken place, specifically like where you were talking earlier with the whole reparations debate, there are many legacies of white people in this country that. 00:04:18 Speaker 1: Guys, just... Okay, let's just all take a breath. 00:04:22 Speaker 2: Gigi's talking, which I also would like. I feel like that kind of comes into. Yes, we're not all from this. We're not all from this country. This is a country of immigrants. This is a country of people. 00:04:33 Speaker 1: So let me give you an example. 00:04:34 Speaker 3: Yes. 00:04:35 Speaker 1: If a group of black individuals, which happens, unfortunately, so often say we want to go beat up whitey and they go beat up a white person. Was that a racist thing that they did? 00:04:48 Speaker 2: I would have to ask for further context, but yes, yes. Based off of that, yes. 00:04:53 Speaker 1: Cool. But then let's go back to your definition. That's fair. Because your definition was that it had to be the exercise of power. I'm going to make your definition better for you. That's fair. The exercise of power against a minority group. Yes. But in that case, it wouldn't be because it would be a group of black individuals versus a white individual. 00:05:12 Speaker 2: Correct. 00:05:12 Speaker 1: So wouldn't a better definition of racism be a human being or institution... prejudicing, or stereotyping against anybody else because of their race. 00:05:24 Speaker 2: I do agree that that is a better definition in terms of how racism is used in society, in terms of setting people behind, not having equal amounts of opportunities in these institutions, specifically colleges, jobs, etc., etc., hospitals. But that is my point. I feel like In this country, we don't talk about enough, and I think that under this presidency... Don't. 00:05:55 Speaker 1: Talk about what enough? 00:05:56 Speaker 2: We don't talk about the history and the impact of long-term racism in this country against minorities. 00:06:03 Speaker 1: Can I just press pause? Yes. That's all we've talked about the last five years. I mean, but hear me out. 1619 Project, we have entire black dedicated channels online. on Pluto and Hulu and Netflix. We have reoriented the entire national dialogue to have nonstop race obsession. So I think we've talked about it thoroughly and properly. 00:06:30 Speaker 4: Gentlemen, let's get real for a second. Are you frustrated with today's woke dating scene, the apps, the games, the endless swiping? It's a waste of time. Finding a woman who shares your values, faith, family, patriotism, if it feels nearly impossible, it doesn't have to. Selective Search, America's leading matchmaking firm, is changing the game. 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Go to SelectiveSearch.com slash California and start building the future you deserve. 00:07:55 Speaker 2: So do you think that black people in this country have equal opportunity and are treated equally. 00:08:01 Speaker 1: As white people? Absolutely. So let me prove it to you, okay? So Gigi and Charlie, what can Charlie do that Gigi can't do? 00:08:10 Speaker 2: Okay, I don't know anything. I don't really know much about you. I don't know what you're capable of. 00:08:15 Speaker 1: No, no, no, just on the law. What am I allowed to do on the law that you are not allowed to do on the law? 00:08:21 Speaker 3: On paper, nothing. 00:08:22 Speaker 1: That's equal opportunity and equal treatment, right? 00:08:25 Speaker 2: Yes, that is true. I was born under this country. I am a citizen of America. 00:08:31 Speaker 3: I am an American. I am a black American. I am a father. I am a child of God. We all are. I 100% stand on that. But I think that. 00:08:42 Speaker 2: Basically, what I'm trying to get at is I feel like in order for us to have these conversations and to keep having these conversations, we need to have a specific platform that we're able to meet each other on the common consciousness of this society. And I don't think we can have these conversations if we do not understand that black people... specifically because I really can't talk about Asians I'm not Asian I can't talk about other people of color but black people in this country specifically have never had the opportunities to bring themselves back up when you're talking about the destroyment of the black family that also came with a big chunk of the Reagan administration which was forever. 00:09:25 Speaker 1: And whatever ago how is it the government's fault of why dads aren't around I mean, we could. 00:09:32 Speaker 2: Get into the whole rhetoric of crack babies and crack drug dealers. 00:09:36 Speaker 1: But isn't it a decision to take drugs? 00:09:40 Speaker 3: No, 100%. 00:09:41 Speaker 1: And it's a decision to commit crimes? Yes. Okay, so the government didn't do that to them. People decided to take drugs. 00:09:49 Speaker 3: That's true. 00:09:50 Speaker 1: So here's my contention. So you have a population that dads are not around, that is very, very murderous per population, capita, that is very violent, more likely to be involved in gangs. And we, as conservatives, look at that and we say, wait a second, the problem is within the community. The problem is not the government. The problem is not the culture. The problem is not the history. Instead, really what needs to happen is is black leadership, black pastors and black dads need to go into the black community and say, we're better than this. Cut the killing, cut the violence. You know, do you know the most? One more point. Who is outside of heart disease and all that? What is the number one killer of black people in America? I know about like diabetes, but fellow black people. A black person is far more likely to be killed by another black person than anything else. Black people are a greater threat to their own people than any other community. So it's not like white supremacists coming into these communities and they're mowing down. It's black-on-black gang violence. 00:10:57 Speaker 3: But that's not. 00:10:57 Speaker 2: Okay, I'd just like to go back to something that you said earlier about how it has nothing to do with the government. 00:11:03 Speaker 3: History.... 00:11:05 Speaker 2: History of black people in this country has everything to do with the government. At one point, the government allowed and pushed and raised for slavery. That was something that this government did. They made laws in the improvement of segregation. So in terms of the long history, you can't take out the fact that government has played a major institution. 00:11:23 Speaker 1: Of course, government plays a role. Gigi, let me ask you a question. 00:11:26 Speaker 4: Go ahead. 00:11:27 Speaker 1: How did that legacy of slavery prevent you from getting to this school and having a great career? 00:11:35 Speaker 3: I think that, okay, I'm sorry. I got kind of distracted. 00:11:39 Speaker 1: Can you please restate your session? So, Gigi, what I'm trying to do right now, I'm going to give you a warning, is prove that your own life experience is actually at odds with some of the things you're saying. Is that cool? So here you are at the University of Tennessee, correct? You're a student. You have the whole world as your oyster in front of you. You could study hard. You're going to graduate. You're going to do better than most people in probably the community you came from. Just guessing. I don't know your background, but based on how you're talking. How did the legacy of slavery get in your way? 00:12:08 Speaker 2: I will say the legacy of slavery got in my way in the way that I am not a legacy child here. 00:12:14 Speaker 3: I will say that it got in my way in the way that. 00:12:18 Speaker 2: My parents, my grandparents were not afforded the same, were not at one point even allowed to be on the property of this school. I think that that is one of the things that has. 00:12:28 Speaker 3: Gotten into this way. 00:12:29 Speaker 1: But you're here. It didn't get in the way. So here's the attitude I want you to adopt, Gigi, and I'll close with this. Instead of just looking at everything in the past that's wrong and bad through a victim lens, say, you know what? 00:12:39 Speaker 3: It's still going on. 00:12:40 Speaker 1: One sec. Say, you know what? I'm an American, and I'm going to use my mental energy to say, despite all of that, I get to succeed and flourish and prosper as a black American at the University of Tennessee. You are a living embodiment, Gigi, that you can still succeed as a black individual. 00:12:59 Speaker 3: I would, okay, I would. 00:13:00 Speaker 2: Just disagree from the simple fact that I feel like there are a lot of barriers, there's a lot of obstacles, there's a lot of prejudice just in somebody might look at me and not even assume that I. 00:13:11 Speaker 1: Could even get into the university. 00:13:12 Speaker 3: How do you know what they're thinking? I'm not saying that I know what people, I don't know what people are thinking. 00:13:15 Speaker 1: You just said that. 00:13:17 Speaker 2: I'm saying I can assume from prejudices that I know exist in this country. 00:13:20 Speaker 1: Hold on a second. I've got to go time out. And you know what? If you walk around here and you go see, this happens all the time, and you see a white boy with the short shorts and kind of acting, you might say he's only there because of his parents. 00:13:33 Speaker 3: I don't think so. 00:13:34 Speaker 1: Oh, it happens a lot at these southern schools, right? 00:13:37 Speaker 3: I mean, I was raised in Michigan. 00:13:39 Speaker 1: So everybody has to overcome some form of bias, prejudice, or stereotyping. What's most helpful, let's stop talking about it so much and talking about how we can apply ourselves to become better people and better citizens. Thank you so much, Gigi. Thank you. Thank you. For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to charliekirk.com.