Life and Def by Russell Simmons

Author:Russell Simmons
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780676905120
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2001-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

THE R WORD

One key example of how I view the world is my feeling about the word racist. I don’t use the word racist much. It’s not productive. It doesn’t help me to say, “Oh, yes, white people are racist. That’s why I can’t get ahead.” You see, I realized a while ago that I have the ability to stomach racist white people and accept the rest of them for what they are.

The supermodel Naomi Campbell and I were talking about race one night, and she told me about how she transcended the “black thing” in a hundred ways and does it all the time. “I could be bitter,” she once told me, “but I’m not.” She went to a white school where some of the students would say shit that was racist to her. But Naomi also knew other white people at school who weren’t racist. Those who were racist could be racist all day, but she’d still deal with them the same as she dealt with everyone else. That’s why she doesn’t mind living, through her work and celebrity, in a predominantly white world—she’s accepted that some white people are the way they are. When a cab doesn’t stop for her, she calls a Rolls-Royce to pick her up, which I’ve done, too.

I don’t get as upset as my white liberal friends when a cab doesn’t pick me up or some other minor racist shit happens. My friends have a fit about that kind of thing, but I take it in stride, since it is just one of those everyday slights black people expect. I was on a plane talking with one of my best friends, Bobby Shriver, and a flight attendant said something to me like “shush.” Bobby said to the guy, “Wait a minute. You didn’t shush him, did you?” I said, “It’s all right, Bob. I haven’t been insulted. Bobby, he didn’t shush you—he shushed me.” Bobby said, “He did it because you’re black.” Bobby got madder and madder.

He was shocked because he wasn’t aware that I had to deal with that shit all day. He brought it up two weeks later. I said, “Bobby, I don’t give a fuck about it. I don’t have time to worry about it.” Well, Bobby went and got the flight attendant fired—that’s how upset he was.

Many white people are shocked by the racism that goes on. They don’t see it. I try to get angry, but my anger makes no difference. There’s nothing I can do with that anger. So when I say, “I can stomach racist white people,” it’s because their small-mindedness doesn’t mean shit to me. I just go with my agenda and continue building relationships. Anger can sidetrack you. It takes a lot of energy to be mad all the time. Some people can do that and still get things done. I cannot. I have to be moving forward or I fall into the trap of letting the anger control me.

I deal with white people

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