Source: Jim Spellman / Getty
Christian rapper Lecrae sat down with the hosts of radio show, The Morning Hustle, to talk about the kerfuffle that transpired when he was witness to a conversation with christian leaders, where a prominent white pastor tried to re-brand the phrase “white privilege” as “white blessing.”
“Black Twitter came at the kid, I ain’t never got drug like that before,” he began.
Lecrae shared that he was asked to be on the panel along Dr. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Pastor Louie Giglio and Dan Cathy, the CEO of Chick-fil-A. However after King dropped out due to health reasons, he was left as the lone Black voice.
“I’m in they house, in they space. I’m not in a good head space, I’ll be honest with you because I was just on the streets the night before after Rayshard had gotten murdered,” he said recounting the protests that spurred up in Atlanta over the killing of the 27-year-old man.
“And you know they burnt the Wendy’s down, it was—I was out there. I’m screaming at police. I’m not in a head space. So I’m just trying to be cool as I’m sitting in there and not spaz.”
“You don’t go in there with your fists up, you go in there ready to reconcile…so I wasn’t on my, ‘Oh I gotta be prepared from some crazy stuff,’” he said.
While he explained he knew the context around what the pastor said, he found himself in an uncomfortable position.
“Lowkey, the slavery part I didn’t really hear,” he said explaining that he was somewhat zoned out, but tuned back in when he heard the phrase “white blessing.”
After he realized what happened, he said he wasn’t sure how to get the conversation back on the right track.
“I was trying to be diplomatic and gracious, I tried to course correct it but I was probably too diplomatic, you know, for Black folks out there,” he continued.
One of the hosts said she felt for him because there were multiple inappropriate comments made during the discussion.
“It was all ignorance. It was like, yo you really don’t—you shouldn’t have had this conversation–first of all you should just be listening. You should be listening and not talking, cause you don’t really know what you’re talking about. That was the worst part about was just like, I couldn’t fix half of the stuff and I’m in it. You know? There’s a half a million people watching.”
“And I’m just like oh my gosh, you know what I’m saying?” he continued. “In my brain I’m just thinking, we talking to all these white people who don’t understand, so let me just try to like course correct it, help y’all understand what this is. And if you listen to the whole thing, I keep on trying to say—I kept saying, ‘I do not speak for all Black people.’”
“I was like bro, my man just got killed. I’m not doing well. I was just screaming at police last night and you’re trying to say, ‘We just want to stand by the police,’” he said.
The day made it evidently clear to him that the church needs a discussion around race and culture.
“The problem is, I centered myself around talking to half a million white people instead of thinking about the Black folks who are voiceless and needed me to represent them in that moment.”
“I’ve gone as far as I can go being safe,” he said. “It’s all love, and if you want to come on the side and be an ally and help cool. But I’m not finna patty cake and accommodate no more.”
“I do believe God is real. I believe white supremacy has crept into the church—not crept in, but just smacked up all over the church,” he said.
Watch the whole conversation below.
