Will Smith Recalls Being Called The N-Word By Cops On More Than 10 Occasions

Will Smith Reveals Cops Have Called Him The N-Word On “More Than 10 Occasions”

Will Smith recently spoke on his past experience with cops while touching topics on the current shenanigans regarding systematic racism and police brutality in the country. The actor told political activist Angela Rye on her podcast, On One With Angela Rye, about his upbringing.

“I grew up in Philadelphia,” he begins. “I grew up under Mayor Rizzo. He went from the chief of police to becoming the mayor, and he had an iron hand.” Frank Rizzo was elected mayor four years after Will was born in 1968, and was notorious for pushing an anti-desegregation platform.

According to HotNewHipHop, the rise of police brutality under his hateful reign as both police commissioner and mayor was the subject of a Pulitzer Prize–winning exposé. “I’ve been called n****r by the cops in Philly on more than 10 occasions,” Will recalled.

 

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“I got stopped frequently. So I understand what it’s like to be in those circumstances with the police.” Since Will grew up in a suburban neighbourhood and attended a Catholic school, he was able to observe firsthand the vast disparities between white folks’ relationship with police versus Black folks and other people of colour.

“We are in a circumstance that we’ve never been in before. The entire globe has stood up and said to the African American people, ‘We see you and we hear you. How can we help?’ We’ve never been there before.”

He continued, “Rage is justified under oppression. But it also can be really dangerous,” he explained. “You got to be careful not to be consumed by your own rage, and that’s something that I’ve worked really hard on. Peaceful protests put a mirror to the demonic imagery of your oppressor.