Matthew McConaughey is doing the hard work of examining his views on race. He recently sat down with Emmanuel Acho for his show, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. The series, which started in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, is Acho’s attempt to have the uncomfortable conversations about race. Matthew joined him in the second installment of the series.
One of the things the two addressed was “White allergies” – or the unconscious prejudices that White people have. The Oscar winner talked about how even after going to high school with a high percentage of Black students, applying to Grambling University – a historically Black college – integrating an Austin blues club, and marrying a non-White immigrant, he had prejudices that he wasn’t aware of.
Matthew said that some White people have “White flu.” A case in point was a woman who said, “None of this stuff would’ve happened to George Floyd if we just wouldn’t have abolished slavery.” Acho pointed out that even though it’s 2020, we’re not that far removed from slavery. The University to Texas, where both he and Matt attended, wasn’t integrated until the late 60s.
Source: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man