“The Masked Singer” host Nick Cannon lit up the internet this past weekend when he said that white people are inferior to black people due to the lack of melanin in their skin.
Speaking on an episode of “Cannon’s Class,” the television host argued that “melanated people” have a natural sense of compassion and soul that white people lack, creating jealousy and fear that causes them to act out in evil ways.
“When we talk about the power of melanated people,” he said on the program. “Melanin is so power[ful], and it connects us in a way, that the reason why they fear black … is because the lack that they have of it.”
Cannon argued that this lack of pigment in their skin leads white people to fear genetic annihilation.
“When you have a person that has the lack of pigment, the lack of melanin, that they know that they will be annihilated,” he said. “So, therefore, however they got the power, they have the lack of compassion. Melanin comes with compassion, melanin comes with soul. We call it soul. Soul brothers and sisters. That’s the melanin that connects us. So the people that don’t have it, and I’m going to say this carefully, are a little less.”
Essentially, according to Cannon, melanin equates to having the power of the sun. Given that white people’s skin negatively reacts to the sun, they brutalize other people out of a deficiency.
“When they didn’t have the power of the sun, the sun then started to deteriorate them, so then they’re acting out of fear, they’re acting out of low self-esteem, they’re acting out of a deficiency,” he said. “So, therefore, the only way that they can act is evil. They have to rob, steal, rape, kill … in order to survive.”
Cannon even went as far as to compare white people with animals and barbarians, referring to them as the “true savages.”
“They had to be savages, they had to be barbaric, because they’re in these Nordic mountains, they’re in these rough … environments, so they’re acting as animals,” he said. “So they’re the ones that are actually closer to animals; they’re the ones that are actually the true savages.”
Nick Cannon says white people are "a little less," "closer to animals," "the true savages," "acting out of a deficiency so the only way they can act is evil." When does he get canceled? pic.twitter.com/vK3TBDW9i8
— Adam Ford (@Adam4d) July 14, 2020
Cannon made these comments to former Public Enemy member Richard “Professor Griff” Griffin, “who was kicked out of the rap group in 1989 for making anti-Semitic comments during an interview with the Washington Post where he was quoted as saying Jews were responsible ‘for the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe,'” according to Fast Company.
Amid mounting backlash, Cannon addressed the controversy on Tuesday and refused to apologize while inviting people to come on the show and debate him.
“There’s no malice or negative intent, but in a time like 2020 we got to have these conversations,” said Cannon. “And if there’s an assumption that is perceived as ignorant, let’s debunk it right away.”
“My podcast is specifically an academic podcast to have tough and difficult conversations based off of text. And if we read something and something’s not accurate, let’s do away with it,” he continued. “I can’t wait to sit down with some people that can help educate me and help further this conversation. I want to be corrected.”