During a wildly offensive segment on Friday’s CBS This Morning, both the hosts and their left-wing guests repeatedly accused all white people of being born with racial “privilege” and taught to be racist as children. The discussion then turned to demanding white people “stop denying their racism” and admit to practicing discrimination.
The conversation occurred late in the 8:00 a.m. ET hour as part of CBS’s one-hour special, Race for Justice, examining race relations in the United States. It was particularly astonishing to watch wealthy co-host Gayle King – Oprah Winfrey’s best friend who once vacationed with the Obamas on a yacht – lead a segment lecturing others about their “privilege.”
“Nationwide protests against inequality are encouraging more people to have discussions not only about race but also white privilege,” King proclaimed. She then eagerly introduced two far-left authors to rant on the topic: “Robin DiAngelo is a sociologist and she’s author of this book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. I love this title. She joins us with the author of How to Be an Anti-Racist, CBS News contributor Ibram X. Kendi.”
“I would like you to explain what white privilege is exactly and why white people have such a hard time seeing it. Because it’s so clear to most black people I know,” King scolded. DiAngelo not only delivered the predictable left-wing talking points on the subject, she made sure to declare that dissent would not be tolerated:
White privilege is the automatic taken-for-granted advantage bestowed upon white people as a result of living in a society based on the premise of white as the human ideal, and that from its founding, established white advantage as a matter of law and today as a matter of policy and practice. And it doesn’t matter if you agree with it, if you want it, if you even are aware of it, it’s 24/7/365. And one of the reasons why it’s so hard for white people to see it – well, there are many reasons – but one is that it serves us not to see it. We come to feel entitled to that advantage. We’re told that we deserve it and that we earned it. And we take great umbrage when that is challenged.
King followed up by matter-of-factly citing an outrageous claim in DiAngelo’s book: “You write, too, Robin, in the book, that kids from the age between 3 and 4 are intuitively taught that being white is better, that you are superior. I thought that that was an interesting thing.” The supposed “journalist” didn’t even question the disgusting claim.
On Monday, the broadcast turned to radical “experts” to insist that white Americans have been “taught” to have “contempt for black life.”
Later in the discussion, fellow co-host Anthony Mason turned to Kendi and fretted: “Ibram, you’ve said that to get – to end white privilege you have to deal with racism first, right?” Kendi – who has excused the anti-Semitism of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and argued that common phrases like “blackmail” were racist – launched into a tirade convicting every white person in America of racism:
And I mean, as Robin, you know, talked about, it is critical for white people, for people in general, to stop denying their racist ideas, to stop denying the ways in which policies have benefited them, to stop denying their racism, and to realize that actually the heartbeat of racism itself is denial, and the sound of that heartbeat is “I’m not racist.”
Rather than challenge the nasty charge, Mason simply turned to DiAngelo and worried: “Robin, do you believe that white folks actually care about racial injustice?” She replied:
It doesn’t appear that we do. If you look at what it takes to wake us up, when you look at the explosion of umbrage white people take from the simple claim that Black Lives Matter, from somebody respectfully going down on their knee, all of the outrage about that. And then it takes us literally seeing a man being murdered in front of our eyes to wake us up. You know, that’s a really high price to pay for our enlightenment....I mean, the status quo of our society is racism and it’s comfortable for white people.
So CBS’s answer to racial turmoil in the country is to automatically assume the absolute worst about an entire group of people based on the color of their skin?
Here is a full transcript of the June 5 segment:
8:38 AM ET
GAYLE KING: Our special coverage of Race for Justice continues with a new CBS News poll showing how Americans’ view on racial discrimination are shifting. More than half of Americans believe that white people have a better chance of getting ahead in today’s society, that’s compared with black people. And now that’s up 13 points from 2015.
Nationwide protests against inequality are encouraging more people to have discussions not only about race but also white privilege. Robin DiAngelo is a sociologist and she’s author of this book, White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. I love this title. She joins us with the author of How to Be an Anti-Racist, CBS News contributor Ibram X. Kendi. Both of them join us this morning. Good to see you both.
Robin, I’m gonna start with you. In your book, you write this, “Unless white people have ongoing and intentional study, their opinions will be uninformed and ignorant.” I read that and I thought, whoa, very blunt language. So I would like you to explain what white privilege is exactly and why white people have such a hard time seeing it. Because it’s so clear to most black people I know.
ROBIN DIANGELO: Certainly. Thank you for having me. White privilege is the automatic taken-for-granted advantage bestowed upon white people as a result of living in a society based on the premise of white as the human ideal, and that from its founding, established white advantage as a matter of law and today as a matter of policy and practice. And it doesn’t matter if you agree with it, if you want it, if you even are aware of it, it’s 24/7/365. And one of the reasons why it’s so hard for white people to see it – well, there are many reasons – but one is that it serves us not to see it. We come to feel entitled to that advantage. We’re told that we deserve it and that we earned it. And we take great umbrage when that is challenged.
KING: You write, too, Robin, in the book, that kids from the age between 3 and 4 are intuitively taught that being white is better, that you are superior. I thought that that was an interesting thing. I find many white Americans today say, “Listen, I struggle, too. I don’t have white privilege. What are you talking about?”
DIANGELO: And I’m really clear that I’m not saying that white people don’t struggle or face barriers or work hard. But there’s a major barrier in this society, racism, that we don’t struggle with. And not struggling against that barrier actually helps us navigate the barriers that we do struggle with. You grew up in poverty, how has being white shaped how you experience poverty and how you get out of poverty, if you do get out of poverty? Again, it’s not saying that white Americans don’t work hard, but it’s a bit like being a fish in a current that impacts the outcome of that work. There’s a kind of moving along that amplifies that work. And for people of color, for black people, you’re swimming against a current. And we’re both working. We’re both swimming, but there’s such a different impact on the outcome of that effort.
KING: Yeah, yeah. Ibram, what are the questions that you think white Americans should be asking these days? And I say this because I don’t know any black friend of mine that hasn’t gotten calls from white people all around, saying “I don’t know what to do, I want to help, I want to be supportive.” A black male friend of mine in Texas said for first time he was invited on the company retreat. And he’s been there ten years with, you know, his co-workers seeking him out. What are the questions white Americans should be asking?
IBRAM X. KENDI: Well, I think many white Americans claim they believe in racial equality. And so the way you put that to the test is by asking questions, questions about racial disparity. So why is it that unarmed black people are killed by police too many times and armed white people are simply arrested? Why is it in Minneapolis that black people are 20% of the population but 60% of the victims of police shootings? Why is it that the black unemployment rate is twice as high as the white unemployment rate? And there’s only two answers. Either there’s something wrong with black people, there’s something superior about white people, or racism.
ANTHONY MASON: Ibram, you’ve said that to get – to end white privilege you have to deal with racism first, right?
KENDI: Yes. And I mean, as Robin, you know, talked about, it is critical for white people, for people in general, to stop denying their racist ideas, to stop denying the ways in which policies have benefited them, to stop denying their racism, and to realize that actually the heartbeat of racism itself is denial, and the sound of that heartbeat is “I’m not racist.”
MASON: Robin, do you believe that white folks actually care about racial injustice?
DIANGELO: It doesn’t appear that we do. If you look at what it takes to wake us up, when you look at the explosion of umbrage white people take from the simple claim that Black Lives Matter, from somebody respectfully going down on their knee, all of the outrage about that. And then it takes us literally seeing a man being murdered in front of our eyes to wake us up. You know, that’s a really high price to pay for our enlightenment.
And its just – you know, I wonder what will happen when all the cameras go away and there’s another issue in front of us. You know, if we don't put something in place to keep our attention and our focus here. I mean, the status quo of our society is racism and it’s comfortable for white people. And so we’re not going to get there from a place of white comfort. We’re going to have to get mighty uncomfortable and inconvenienced. And it appears to me that in, you know, 20 years of working with white people, that if it requires anything of us like discomfort or inconvenience, we don’t seem to be particularly motivated to do anything.
MASON: Robin DiAngelo, Ibram X. Kendi, thank you both for being with us.
