Will Smith opens up about why he's choosing to speak about his experiences with racism now

In a podcast called Pod Save America, Will Smith spoke about his experience with racism and the importance of his new docuseries.

Will Smith is currently promoting his new docuseries on the 14th Amendment, “Amend: The Fight for America.” The series was created as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement being reignited in 2020 following the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

In the interview, Will stated, “I’ve been called n***** to my face five or six times. Fortunately for my psyche, I’ve never been called n****** by a smart person."

He continued to say that he grew up unafraid by racists, as he dismissed them as stupid. "I grew up with the impression that racism and racists were stupid, and they were easy to get around; I just had to be smarter. While they were very dangerous, I had never looked into the eyes of a racist and saw anything that I perceived as intellect,” he said.

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Will continued to say that as his perception has now changed with age and he can see the danger that racism poses. “As I got older, I saw that was less and less true, and I went into Hollywood I started seeing the ideas of systemic racism. But at the core of it, I saw the difference between ignorance and evil. They are twins for sure, but ignorance can be educated, and evil is a much more difficult problem.”

The actor continued to suggest that much of the racism in the US is due to ignorance and he felt ‘encouraged’ that education and understanding could alleviate some of the more problematic elements concerning racism in the US.

Fans are loving this message from Will, and many have supported the actor for using his platform to speak about important issues. One fan said, “That was the best interview of Will Smith I've seen in a long time. Thanks for letting him speak. Very intelligent and wise while still staying pure. I could see him in politics if he could maintain that.” 

Another fan agreed and said, “Big respect for Will Smith always like him as an actor glad he's doing good with his platform.”

Will also gave a message of hope to people in the US that are frustrated with the speed of racial equality in the US. Will told fans, “we are in an unprecedented place in American history right now that really demands delicate attention to the movement of what’s happening.” 

He spoke hopefully about the Black Lives Matter movement and tried to encourage viewers that although these times can be dangerous, there are also a lot of “new possibilities.”

Will’s docuseries, Amend: The Fight for America launched on Netflix on 17th February 2021.