Listen Live
Magic Baltimore Listen Live
Magic 95.9 Featured Video
CLOSE
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 8

Source: NBC / Getty

Daniel Kaluuya is one of Black Hollywood’s most sought-after actors, but after a certain interview many fans were left giving the multifaceted actor the side-eye, but according to the actor it was unjustly so.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OUR APP AND TAKE US WITH YOU ANYWHERE!

During his recent interview with Van Lathan for his Welcome to Higher Learning podcast, the Judas and the Black Messiah actor talked about his previous comment, revealing that the published story was a misquote of what he actually said—noting that it left out the entire message, leading fans to misunderstand the concept.

As previously reported, the Get Out actor was dragged last year after his interview with Radio Times where he reportedly said:

“What is there to talk about race? It’s just boring to me. What’s the debate? I’m more of a doer — I’m just going to do what I want to do,” Kaluuya said. “I’m not going to ignore that I’m surrounded by [racism], but I’m not defined by it. I’m just Daniel, who happens to be Black.”

Of course, the comment had Black Twitter up in arms, which Daniel Kaluuya utilized to clarify his previous comments before explaining how the incident taught him how easily that things can be taken out of context.

“[That interview] taught me the importance of articulation and specificity of articulation,” Kaluuya said. “The sentiment of that [was] Blackness and racism are not synonyms to me. So, when white people are sitting me down and asking me, ‘Yo, how can I figure out this racism stuff?’ Why are y’all asking me?”

The Black Panther star also added an antidote to clarify his sentiments even further, reciting a hypothetical story featuring an elderly woman who is robbed at 2 a.m.

“They always cut [this] from every interview,” Kaluuya began. “In the story, when the woman calls the police to report her stolen items she’s taken into the station and held for hours before being interrogated herself. In this hypothetical situation, the first question the police ask is, “Tell us why you got robbed. Sounds ridiculous, right? Yeah, that’s the point. Under normal circumstances, you’d never “ask the person that’s the victim of a crime why the crime happened,”

Kaluuya then added that his response was rooted in the fact that he as a victim of systemic racism shouldn’t have to answer the question of why it’s happening.

“So, I’m sitting there in this interview impacted by racism and they’re asking me why it happened,” Kaluuya said seemingly frustrated, “I came in this game in ’89. I don’t f**king know. I don’t know why. I’m educating myself and understanding. I can articulate it. And when I articulate why they’re still asking me questions.”

The British actor concluded his statement by adding that white actors who are beneficiaries of the unequal treatment aren’t subjected to the same type of questions, before noting that it was that part was what he was referring to with the “tired” comment.

“So when I say, ‘I’m tired of talking…’ That’s the conversations that are being had, but they’re not highlighting their side of the conversation,” Kaluuya continued. “They’re putting [me] out there and I’m sitting there like, ‘Yo, why are you asking me about this? You don’t ask white people about this.’”

 

The newfound revelation was met with praise from Black Twitter, with many sharing similar experiences.

Check out the full interview below.

Daniel Kaluuya Talks Being Misquoted and Why He’s Really Tired of Talking About Race  was originally published on hiphopwired.com