It was a white cop who saved Lil Wayne’s life when he was 12-years-old that made the rapper say there was ‘no such thing as racism’.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, was being interviewed on Fox Sports 1’s show Undisputed in September when he said he had ‘never dealt with racism’.
Carter cited as evidence the fact that his concerts were attended by a lot of white fans.
‘I thought that was clearly a message that were was no such thing as racism,’ he told host Skip Bayless.
The New Orleans-born rapper came under fire on social media for his comments, but explained on Tuesday they had to do with the man who saved his life.
Carter was just 12 years old when he accidentally shot himself in the chest.
He was lying on the floor when police broke down his door, stepping over his body as they searched for guns and drugs.
The cops who ran into the home were ‘blacker than me’, Carter said, but the one cop who stopped to check on him was ‘white as snow’.
Carter said the man, who was known as ‘Uncle Bob’, chastised his fellow officers for leaving him. He then personally took Carter to the hospital.
‘(He) stood there and waited until the doctor said “He’s gonna make it”‘, Carter said.
‘Yeah, he was a cop, and my life was saved by a white man. I don’t know what racism is,’ he added.
Still Carter acknowledged that despite what he told Bayless on Undisputed, there is such thing as racism.
However, he reiterated that when he looks out from the stage, he sees all colors.
‘It’s the world out there. It’s not a certain part or a certain kind or a certain culture or whatever of people, it’s people – those people out there in that crowd,’ Carter said.
‘I’m blessed to have that opportunity, so with that said I can only be honest with such a thing, I have never witnessed racism.’
Carter also revealed that Bayless’ co-host, Shannon Sharpe, had thanked him after their controversial interview.
He said Sharpe commended him for not making something up ‘to make yourself one of us and to make yourself a victim’.
‘I’m not that,’ Carter told the New York Times. ‘And honestly, I don’t care.’
‘I care what’s going on with me and my kids and my world and my mom and who’s going to pay this next bill. That’s what matters to me.’
Carter, who is currently promoting his memoir Gone ‘Til November: A Journal of Rickers Island, also explained why he has not become involved in the Black Lives Matter movement.
‘I’m trying to make these words stop popping up in my head, I’m trying to make them rhyme,’ the Grammy Award-winning artist said.
‘I’ve got all kind of color lives mattering up in here – green, all kinds of stuff mattering.’
‘I’m trying to make sense of what’s going on in this world up here,’ he said, pointing to his head.
Source : www.nytimes.com
