In the wake of the ridiculous right-wing reactions to NFL players who took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racism, Daily Show host Trevor Noah said, “The question that has come up for me, yet again, is: when is the ‘right time’ for black people to protest?”
Noah then walks through a number of the conservative claims that they’re criticizing the method, rather than the very existence, of black protests. He looks at Steve Mnuchin, who told the players to “do free speech on their own time” – a suggestion that conservatives seem okay with …Â unless, Noah points out, “you’re ESPN commentator Jemele Hill, criticizing the president on your private Twitter feed. Then that’s a fireable offense, too.”
And when Stevie Wonder takes a knee, “on his own time, in his own show,” conservatives are also outraged—because it shows how “ungrateful” he is for his wealth. Weird, Noah observes, how to conservatives “it almost feels like white people earn the money, but black people are given it.”
But honestly, the best part of this segment comes at the end, when Noah repurposes the Green Eggs & Ham rhyme to call out the racism underlying all of these criticisms.
It’s wrong to do it in the streets;
It’s wrong to do it in the tweets;
You cannot do it on the field;
You cannot do it if you’ve kneeled;
And don’t do it if you’re rich,
you ungrateful son of a bitch.
Because there’s one thing that’s a fact:
You cannot protest if you’re black.
(Featured image via screengrab)
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