80s rock singer John Mellencamp says that nearly all blacks in America today are no better off than they were during slavery.
Appearing on Bill Maher’s Club Random Podcast, the Jack and Diane singer made the outrageous claim that only “1% or 2% of black people in America” have it any better than the slaves did 200 years ago.
Fortunately, Maher didn’t sit idly by and let the white rock singer make such a ridiculous proclamation without a challenge.
While addressing the issue, Mellencamp claimed he wrote a song he never produced, blasting sports as another form of slavery.
“I wrote a song that I never recorded because I thought it was wrong but it was called ‘From the Fucking Cotton Fields to the Playing Fields’. My point is that, yes, so what? Us as white people love to have black people entertain us,” Mellencamp told Maher.
But Maher disagreed and said that a “playing field” is far better than a “cotton field.”
“I would say that the playing fields are a lot better than the cotton fields. That’s what I would say about that. Maybe I’m crazy John but it seems like making no money as a slave picking cotton, it was not as good as playing left field for the Yankees,” Maher said.
Michael B. Jordan and Bill Maher chats during in Game Six of the Western Conference Semi-Finals of the 2023 NBA Playoffs between Golden State Warriors against the Los Angeles Lakers on May 12, 2023, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
Mellencamp followed with the absurd assertion that only two percent of blacks are better off today than they were as slaves 200 years ago.
“No doubt there is 1% or 2% of black people in America who have a better life,” the “Small Town” singer exclaimed.
Maher was shocked by the radical left-wing singer’s claim and replied, “Oh, stop. That’s what you think? 1 percent or 2 percent?”
“Okay let’s say 10%. I’m just pulling the number out of my ass,” Mellencamp admitted.
Maher joked that Mellencamp’s numbers “belong” in his ass and added, “I’m telling you that’s just not true.”
Maher is right, of course. Indeed, while blacks have reached the middle classes at a lower rate than whites, it isn’t a terribly big gap. According to Pew Research about half of all racial groups are in the middle class in America, with 47 percent of blacks and Asians having achieved middle-class status. In comparison, 49 percent of Hispanics and 52 percent of whites had also reached that economic strata.
With nearly half of America’s blacks living in the same economic conditions as almost the same percentage of whites, Mellencamp’s claim that only two percent of blacks are better off than slaves seems just a bit suspect.
If we take Mellencamp’s blather seriously, for instance, that would mean that half of America’s white people live no better than slaves, either.
You can watch the exchange at about the 29-minute mark.
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