Funnyman Chris Rock Gets Serious In Essay He Penned On Racism In Hollywood

Chris Rock has spoken out loudly about racism over the last few days. The comedian, who is best known for his hilarious standup routines and funny roles in movies, such as Grown Ups, is showing his serious side with his openness about racism.

Recently, Rock penned an essay on the subject of race in America and Hollywood. He began speaking out earlier this month during an interview in New York Magazine. He spoke to the magazine about race, as well as the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations. He followed that up with a tweet on the Eric Garner decision. Now he has shared an essay with the Hollywood Reporter. The essay addresses Hollywood’s race problem and the Mexican “slave state,” reports The Huffington Post.

The essay and recent interviews began around the release of Rock’s latest movie, Top Five, which he wrote, directed, and stars in. Rock points out in his essay that he created the movie outside of the “big studio system.” Rock says he worked outside the big studios because of the way the industry views ‘black movies,” report The Grio.

Rock opens the essay reminiscing about working in his first film after Eddie Murphy chose to give the newcomer a chance.

“Now I’m not Murphy, but I’ve done fine. And I try to help young black guys coming up because those people took chances on me. Eddie didn’t have to put me in Beverly Hills Cop II. Keenen Wayans didn’t have to put me in I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. Arsenio didn’t have to let me on his show. I’d do the same for a young white guy, but here’s the difference: Someone’s going to help the white guy. Multiple people will. The people whom I’ve tried to help, I’m not sure anybody was going to help them,” Rock wrote.

“It’s a white industry. Just as the NBA is a black industry. I’m not even saying it’s a bad thing. It just is. And the black people they do hire tend to be the same person. That person tends to be female and that person tends to be Ivy League. And there’s nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, that’s what I want for my daughters. But something tells me that the life my privileged daughters are leading right now might not make them the best candidates to run the black division of anything. And the person who runs the black division of a studio should probably have worked with black people at some point in their life. Clint Culpepper [a white studio chief who specializes in black movies] does a good job at Screen Gems because he’s the kind of guy who would actually go see Best Man Holiday. But how many black men have you met working in Hollywood? They don’t really hire black men. A black man with bass in his voice and maybe a little hint of facial hair? Not going to happen. It is what it is. I’m a guy who’s accepted it all,” Rock said.

“But forget whether Hollywood is black enough. A better question is: Is Hollywood Mexican enough? You’re in L.A, you’ve got to try not to hire Mexicans. It’s the most liberal town in the world, and there’s a part of it that’s kind of racist — not racist like “F— you, nigger” racist, but just an acceptance that there’s a slave state in L.A. There’s this acceptance that Mexicans are going to take care of white people in L.A. that doesn’t exist anywhere else. I remember I was renting a house in Beverly Park while doing some movie, and you just see all of the Mexican people at 8 o’clock in the morning in a line driving into Beverly Park like it’s General Motors. It’s this weird town.”

Photo courtesy of Oprah.com.

Funnyman Chris Rock Gets Serious In Essay He Penned On Racism In Hollywood is an article from: The Inquisitr News