"We got to see a white person who's done real harm to our community say what he truly believes." [View all]

[Miles Archer]

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Bill Clinton's Black Lives Matter Comments Were Revealingly Honest
For once we got to see a white person who's done real harm to our community say what he truly believes
By Lincoln Blades April 8, 2016

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/bill-clintons-black-lives-matter-comments-were-revealingly-honest-20160408



When I was 9 years old, my sister and I snuck downstairs to watch TV after my parents fell asleep and, unbeknownst to us, witnessed an event that fundamentally changed American culture: Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on Arsenio Hall.

To the I-don't-remember-a-time-before-wifi generation, this event means little. But for those of us who are a bit older, we understand the significance of that night: It was the moment the black community fell in love with William Jefferson Clinton — a love that's lasted almost 25 years, despite the excessive harm he's inflicted on our community.

When I saw Bill Clinton this week lose his cool with Black Lives Matter protesters, get emotional and throw caution (and his notes) to the wind, I thought it was the most awesome thing I'd seen all week. Don't get me wrong: What he said was a load of BS, at best mirroring a MADtv sketch ("I'll tell you another story about a place where black lives matter: Africa!&quot and at worst resembling a Trump supporter hopped up on hate, peer pressure and mob mentality. When Clinton said, "You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth. You are defending the people who cause young people to go out and take guns," he sounded less like the man we once lovingly referred to as the "first black president" and more like someone vying for a Fox News show.

But what was so awesome about his rant was the fact that, for once, we got to see under the veneer of white, liberal political correctness — we got to see a white person with power who's done real harm to our community say what he truly believes. And as a black person, there's nothing I appreciate more than white people being upfront and honest about their problematic beliefs.