Bill Maher Says Racism in America Is Exaggerated

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher suggested racism in America is exaggerated by “radicals,” such as members of the Marxist political organization Black Lives Matter.

“Is the picture of America that’s presented by the radicals, I would say — Black Lives Matter, some of them, the anti-racists — of America 2021, is it an accurate picture? Because sometimes I’m like, ‘Are they talking about 2021?'” asked Maher on his show, according to a report by Daily Beast.

“Am I wrong to not want to see race all the time?” added Maher. “Because that’s how I was brought up. Like, that’s what a good liberal does, is you don’t see race. And now, they switched it all around, and I’m bad because I don’t see it all the time. Is ubiquity even effective? To make people aware of this issue at every turn?”

The Fifth Column podcast co-host Kmele Foster responded to Maher’s question with the following:

You know, one of the first things the Biden administration did is got rid of these prohibitions that the Trump administration had put on this diversity and inclusion training. And one thing that we know — and it’s unfortunate when I have to agree with Donald Trump, because it’s very unpopular — but one thing we have to acknowledge is that this diversity and inclusion training can often increase people’s racial sensitivity, that it can often make workplaces less harmonious, that talking often about racism and discrimination can make people presume that it exists in places where it does not — and I don’t want to be the object of your special concern, or anyone else’s. I’m Kmele, and I’m an individual, and that is what’s important.

“Right,” responded Maher. “I’m so sympathetic to the cause, but don’t gaslight me, you know? And this is what I hear privately from my black friends: ‘I don’t want to be the focal point. I just want to blend in. I want to have a beer like you. Don’t look at me like I have to make a speech about it, or you have to make a speech about it.'”

On Maher’s show, Foster also addressed protesters in Portland who he believes “just do not have a serious grounding” in issues, yet are “out in the streets, screaming about them.”

“They got the bullhorn in their hands, and they don’t know the numbers,” said Foster. “I’m always surprised when I see sort of the outrage in Portland over these issues, when I actually go back and look at the number of police-involved shootings or deaths in custody, for example, the numbers simply do not bear out this genocide against black America. It’s not a thing.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.