Jon Stewart Clashes With Andrew Sullivan Over Race in America: ‘You’re Not Living On the Same F*cking Planet We Are’
Jon Stewart and writer Andrew Sullivan clashed over the extent to which America has been shaped by systemic racism and a history of white supremacy.
On the The Problem with Jon Stewart, Sullivan took the position that white supremacy doesn’t exist within America’s institutions.
“What the f*ck are you talking about?” Stewart asked. He accompanied the question by pointing out how Black people were discriminated against through redlining, excluded from the benefits of the New Deal, the Homestead Act, the G.I. Bill and other policies throughout American history.
Sullivan said that “no one is denying this awful history” with race in America. When Stewart reiterated that the U.S. has an “awful” history, Sullivan countered, “we also have a great history, Jon.”
“But I think you’re minimizing it,” Stewart countered.
“I think by calling today ‘white supremacy,’ you are minimizing actual white supremacy,” Sullivan continued.
When Sullivan asked Stewart to explain which systems in America are racist, Stewart referred back to his previous examples, namely redlining, Sullivan retorted “That’s one thing. I want to know about these systems.”
“I just explained it,” Stewart answered. “Andrew, you’re not living on the same f*cking planet we are, honestly.”
“You are not living on the planet most Americans are,” Sullivan shot back. “Which is why this kind of extremism, this anti-White extremism is losing popular support, is creating a backlash, is gonna elect Republicans, and undo a lot of the good you think you’re doing.”
Lisa Bond — a White woman known for starting a company that charges other White woman thousands of dollars to be told they are racist — interjected to accuse Sullivan of pushing “racist dog-whistle tropes.”
“I did not come on this show to sit here and argue with another White man,” Bond said to Stewart, who, like everyone on the panel, is also White. “That’s one of the reasons that we don’t even engage with White men at Race2Dinner.”
Bond’s commentary drew loud applause from Stewart’s audience.
Sullivan tried to say he is not responsible for America’s history with racism, but Bond rejected his explanation.
“I’m shutting you down right now,” she said.
Watch above, via The Problem with Jon Stewart.
