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  • [laughter]

  • So I was having an interaction with, like, this homeless dude, right?

  • He was, you know, begging for money, and I took out $5, and I gave him $5.

  • He looked at me, and we were having this moment where we talked.

  • He was telling me about his life story. His parents were abusive

  • and he ran away from home, got hooked on drugs.

  • And he looks at me, he goes,

  • "Hey, man, tell me more about yourself. Where you from?"

  • I said, "I'm from South Africa." He said, "Where about in Africa is that?"

  • -I said, "In the south, as suggested..." -[laughter]

  • "As suggested on the title, on the title of the..."

  • [chuckles]

  • So he looks at me,

  • he goes, "Are you from Africa, man?" I said, "Yeah, I'm from Africa."

  • He says, "You're from Africa Africa?" I said, "Yeah, I'm from Africa."

  • Then he, then he gave me my $5 back, and was like, "No, it's fine." Like...

  • [laughter]

  • He just looked at me like, "No, you know, just take your money.

  • My whiteness will sort this out, don't worry."

  • [laughter]

  • You know what I mean? And I told this to my friend,

  • and my friend was like, "That's such an offensive thing to happen to you!"

  • And I said, "No, that was a special moment,

  • 'cause this dude was aware of-- of his privilege as a white dude."

  • He was fully aware. He was like, "Listen, this is a fucked-up situation,

  • but trust me, I do not want to be African."

  • Do you understand what I mean? And it was a beautiful thing,

  • and it's such a hard thing to understand, so I appreciate that dude, right?

  • And here's the thing, I am gonna try to explain what white privilege is

  • in a room full of white people. So wish me luck.

  • This-- This is what white privilege is.

  • White privilege is starting a band with your friends,

  • and calling it "The Killers" and everyone goes, "Yeah, that's a great name!"

  • [laughter]

  • [chuckles]

  • You know very well there's no black band that would call themselves "The Killers."

  • Forget about it! Forget about it!

  • When black people come up with a band, they have to think outside the box.

  • "What we gonna call ourselves?"

  • -"Earth, Wind and Fire." -[laughter]

  • "What does that even mean?"

  • "It means we're not The Killers, that's what it means."

[laughter]

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