Worcester, Mass. rapper Joyner Lucas released a new video for his song “I’m Not Racist,” which is getting a lot of attention and causing plenty of debate.
Lucas isn’t actually in the clip. He uses a white and black man to sit at a table in an empty room and express each other’s views. The white man, who sports a Donald Trump Make America Great Again hat in the video, begins mouthing the rap first.
“With all due respect I don’t have pity for you black n—–, that’s the way I feel / Screaming ‘Black Lives Matter’, all the black guys rather be deadbeats than pay your bills / Yelling ‘n—- this’ and ‘n—- that’ call everybody ‘n—-‘ / And get a n—- mad as soon as I say n—-, then everyone react / And wanna swing at me and call me racist ‘cause I ain’t black,” he lip syncs.
The white guy lip-syncs other stereotypical parts of the song as well and brings up the subjects of taxes, welfare and class.
“While you party on the road ‘cause you ain’t got not f—– goals, you already late / You motherf—— need to get your damn priorities straight / Wait, it’s like you proud to be fake / But you lazy as f— and you’d rather sell drugs than get a job and be straight / And then you turn around and complain about the poverty rate? F— out of my face,” the white character says.
The black man then lip-syncs the rest of the rap.
“With all disrespect I don’t really like you white motherf——, that’s where I’m at / Screaming ‘All Lives Matter’ is a protest to my protest, what kind of sh– is that?,” he said.
Later in the verse, the black man talks about slavery, unemployment and cultural appropriation.
“You wanna copy our slang and everything that we know / Trying to steal black culture and then make it your own? / F—, I’m exhausted / I can’t even drive without the cops trying to start sh–,” he says.
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At the end of the video, both men embrace in a long hug, as to say they’ve gotten everything off their chest and now have a better understanding of each other.
While some called the video powerful and said Lucas is qualified to rap from both perspectives since he has a white mother and black father, others slammed it and said the dialogue between the men is incomplete.
“Do you think the video was one-sided? asked Twitter user Choni Francis. “Like the offense was better than the defense? Who was the offense and who was the defense?”
“It’s not offense or defense,” one person replied. “It’s truth, simple and plain.”
“Not truth, simple and plan,” Francis shot back. “The only thing that’s plain and truth is how the message is one-sided. The white man’s verbal word play was way more accusatory than the black man’s.”
Some also blasted Lucas for having the black character deliver lines about Kool-Aid and Fried Chicken.
“You don’t know about no fried chicken and no barbecue / You don’t know about the two-step or no loose change / You don’t know about no 2 Chainz or no Kool-Aid, you don’t know,” wrote the Massachusetts rapper.
“[Lucas] could’ve corrected some myths in the first verse, instead went to Kool-Aid and fried chicken,” one person tweeted. “‘Cause that’s what black people’s concerns [are] in today’s society.”
Some folks also disliked the hug at the end and called it unrealistic — especially from two men who were so angry with each other just moments prior.
“He represented any criticism anyone has with black activism as a fat redneck who just hates the blacks,” one person wrote. “Then he seemed to imply that racism can be solved with a hug.”
On Wednesday (Nov. 30), Lucas spoke with CNN and said although he’s gotten some backlash for the video, most of the feedback has been positive.
You can see some of the social media reactions below.
Saying black people sagging their pants and doing drugs is why they’re treated the way they’re treated or trying to say white privilege doesn’t exist are again ignorant because white people and non black poc do all the same shit yet I don’t see white people being treated that way
— Calea (@_crazyvibez) November 30, 2017
The two arguments that these two men are having with each other aren’t even similar. Apples to oranges. How can you hug it out with someone saying, “you do bad things so I should be able to oppress you” while you say, “please don’t oppress me”? Some things can’t coexist!
— Willis Boykins (@BlackAtheistNWA) November 30, 2017
Same old nonsense like that narrative counts for the majority. It’s some. Slavery has side effects that are still visible today.
— James A. Hawkins (@HawkinsAJames) November 30, 2017
personally I dont feel like you went as hard on white people as you did on us… Good song tho!!!
— KindaFresh (@kindafresh) November 30, 2017
It’s not truth, simple and plain. The only thing that’s plain and truth is how the message is one sided. The white man verbal word play was way more accusatory then the black mans. That’s way it’s not simple, nor truth or neither plain. Talking about race never is.
— Choni Francis (@Choni_) November 29, 2017
Yeah that’s a problem for me. The black guy should hold an opposite view lol. I mean guess he doesn’t have to, but I can’t pretend it’s meaningful if they’re both just ignorant stereotypes
— Nitty (@NittyOfficial) November 29, 2017
