-Welcome to "The Tonight Show."
Seeing what is going on
in our country,
I'm not going to have
a normal show tonight.
I'm going to have
a different kind of show.
I'm going to start this
personally and then expand out
because that's where
we all need to start --
with ourselves and looking
at ourselves in the mirror.
And I had to
really examine myself --
really examine myself
in the mirror this week
because a story came out
about me on "SNL"
doing an impression
of Chris Rock in blackface.
And I was horrified.
Not of the fact that people
were trying to cancel me
or cancel the show,
which is scary enough.
But the thing
that haunts me the most was,
How do I say,
"I love this person?
I respect this guy more
than I respect most humans.
I'm not a racist.
I don't feel this way."
And instead,
what I kept getting advised was
to just stay quiet
and to not say anything,
and that's the advice,
because we're all afraid.
And I took it for a minute.
I took the advice,
and thought,
"God, I'm going to do this
wrong. You're right.
I'm going to say something
and get myself
into even more trouble.
I'm going to make this worse.
I don't know what to do."
So I thought about it,
and I realized that
I can't not say I'm horrified
and I'm sorry
and I'm embarrassed.
And what that small gesture did
for me was break my own silence.
And what then I started to do
was talk to some experts,
some of which are here
tonight and this week,
and I realized that the silence
is the biggest crime
that white guys like me
and the rest of us are doing.
Staying silent.
We need to say something.
We need to keep
saying something.
And we need to stop saying,
"That's not okay,"
more than just one day
on Twitter.
I realize I needed
to get educated
about how to stop the silence
and the fear
of saying the wrong thing
by not being silent and
stepping out and stepping up.
But I need to be -- We all need
to be talking about this.
And I spoke to someone
incredible and brilliant
who I think can help us all out
a little bit here
in this incredibly sensitive
and in-our-face subject
that we need to deal with.
We cannot try
to bury this again.
It's not going to get buried.
It's not going away.
We can't just hope that
everyone loves each other.
We can't say, "Be the change,"
and just sit around tweeting,
"Be the change, be the change."
What is the change?
How do I change?
How do I do it? What do I do?
Can I wear a T-shirt?
Is there a color?
Is there a sign?
Is there a way to do this?
I don't know.
So let's start talking
with some people about this
and try to get proactive
and activated
in this love,
in this change cycle.
So let's figure out
how we're going to
get along with each other.
Let's figure out how we're going
to stop this senseless violence
that erupts and disrupts
the entire country
and now the world.
The world is screaming,
and it is angry,
and we all need to figure out
a way to take the anger,
which, of course,
is just sadness and fear,
and do something with it and
try to actually dig this up.
This is such a long root
in the ground.
It is so long and deep,
but we got to get in there,
and we have to dig it up.
I don't know how else to do it.
I'm clearly not an expert.
I'm clearly
a late-night talk show host,
and I screwed it up already.
So let's go. Let's reform.
Let's talk. Let's do it.
My first guest tonight
is Derrick Johnson,
the president and CEO
of the NAACP.
We're going to open the show
with him tonight and just talk.
Here we go.
Derrick, thank you so much
for being a guest
on our show tonight.
I know you must be very, very
busy, so I appreciate this.
-Well, it's a pleasure
to be here,
and I do want to respond
to your opening monologue.
That was powerful,
but most importantly
that's about courage.
In this time of many people
searching for answers
and just the display of anger
and hopelessness and wandering,
more people need to speak about
where they are
with a really authentic voice.
And I think you did that
with the opening monologue,
so thank you for those words.
-With all the things
that are happening right now,
I mean,
there's so much to talk about.
But I personally want to know
how I can do better
and take responsibility
for how I act
both consciously
and unconsciously.
And so we talked about this --
I talked to you --
thank you very much --
about my mistakes
I made in the past,
and I want to move forward,
going forward.
I want to work on
being a better ally.
-You know,
we are all born flawed,
but flawed is part of
the journey that we are on
so we can try
to get to perfection.
And if anyone can stand up and
say, "I haven't made a mistake,"
run, because that person
is clearly a liar.
We have an opportunity
to move forward.
We have an opportunity
to open up dialogue.
We have an opportunity to learn
to understand one another.
-How do we keep
the momentum going?
-You know,
one of the worst things
about these moments
of realization
is people want to have
a quick-fix outpour and then
go back to their corners.
The way we keep
the momentum going
is keeping the dialogue open,
appreciating the uniqueness
we all bring to the table,
and celebrating that uniqueness
and not allowing demagogues
to create otherness
from people
who may be different.
-I know that I'm getting
a lot of advice from you,
but, also,
I think it's important to know
that white people should be
talking to white people
about racism, as well.
-Yeah.
-Can you talk about that
a little?
-So, racism is
a learned behavior.
And for us to unlearn behavior,
we have to be honest about it
and create spaces
where we can talk about it.
And I appreciate you.
But most importantly
be the example we want to see.
And so peer-to-peer
conversations,
using one's platform to promote
a more positive outlook at life
as it relates to other people's
uniqueness and difference
becomes important.
You know, you and I,
we've talked about
building out a campaign
looking forward.
And once we launch it,
I hope others will join in.
The beautiful thing
about where we are today --
media is so democratized
that anyone of us can be
our own news channel,
our own information source.
And for celebrity types
with huge following
on their social-media platforms,
it's really important
that we start amplifying
lines of communication
that opens up the issue
of being anti-racist,
to talk about the uniqueness
of who we are as Americans,
and to really promote
a more positive dialogue
with one another to do better
and then not allow demagogues
sitting in particular seats
to drive a wedge
between communities.
-I've heard that term
"anti-racist" now.
It's, like, kind of a buzzword
now on Twitter.
What does it actually --
What does it mean? Anti-racist?
-It means that you're actually
fighting against racism,
that you are consciously
doing things
to stop the spread of racism.
We also understand
that racism is structural,
it's institutionalized,
and that as much as you benefit
from that structure
and that institution,
you fight to remove
that structure
and those institutions
so others can have
a level playing field.
We have not had a level
playing field in this country
since its inception,
and we need to create a way
that we can all be celebrated
and all the excellence
that we bring to the table
can be appreciated by the
communities across the country.
Think about where we would have
been without a Motown,
with all that creativity.
Can you imagine
what it would feel like
if you never heard the voice
of Aretha Franklin?
Think about that fact
that you have the comedic genius
of Eddie Murphy or Chris Rock,
one of your friends.
That's what this is about.
How do you remove those barriers
so we can have
more Aretha Franklins,
we can have more Eddie Murphys,
we can all get down
with Beyoncé and Jay-Z?
That's what we're talking about,
because there's so much
we are losing
as a result
of the structural barriers
and institutional racism
that currently exists.
-This moment happening now,
would you compare it to any
other moment in our history?
-You know, it's fascinating.
I just spoke earlier
about the last 70 days
is perhaps the worst
in our history in my opinion
since the Civil War.
We opened up the last 70 days
with a global pandemic
and an anemic response
from the federal government
causing mass spread of a virus
gone unaddressed too long.
Then we realize,
for the African-Americans,
that we were being
disproportionately impacted,
we didn't have enough tests,
only to fall into our normal
state of aggressive policing
in our communities,
first in Georgia.
Then to learn that someone
was killed in her bed
in Louisville, Kentucky,
followed by the incident
in Minneapolis,
followed by the woman
in Central Park.
Only for people to stand up
to have peaceful protests
because the district attorney
refused to bring those officers
to justice,
moving that along to violence
in the street
all under the backdrop
of economic collapse.
We have had a rough 70 days,
and we must stand up
against what's taking place.
-And we can take this,
hopefully, this moment
and turn it
into something positive.
-We can.
I mean, it starts today.
It starts with us
having this dialogue.
It starts with us understanding
that we need to drive people
to do something.
For us, you know, you go
on our website, NAACP.org,
and join us as volunteers,
join the organization
because we have to address
the structural racism,
the systemic issues
that's plagued this country
for far too long,
and we must do it together.
It's not just the burden
of African-Americans.
It's the burden of all Americans
and whites to join in.
This is an opportunity for us to
do better so we can be better.
-We should have
everyone watching --
I'd love them to go to NAACP.org
and do what you can,
register in there
and donate and help.
-Navigate the website.
We're going to talk about --
If you want to just donate
and stuff, great.
If you want to join,
we want you to join.
NAACP, we are all races.
Our founding was both
black, white, male, female.
We don't discriminate.
We have LGBT.
We don't discriminate
because we believe everyone
should be afforded
equal protection
under the law, so therefore
we operate that way.
If you want to get engaged
and be a volunteer,
it's all there -- NAACP.org.
We need your support
so we can make democracy
work for everyone.
-I want to work with you,
Derrick, and the NAACP,
so if you don't mind,
I'd like to check in with you
every couple of months
just to see how I'm doing
and what else
I could be doing to help.
Is that okay?
-I'm looking forward to it.
And, Jimmy, historical note.
The Civil Rights Movement was
anchored by some entertainers.
And it was Harry Belafonte.
It was Sidney Poitier.
And it was Dick Gregory.
And they reached
across the aisle,
and they went and got Bob Dylan,
and they went
and got Marlon Brando
and many others to make sure
that it was the type
of support necessary
to move an agenda
that everyone
could benefit from.
To be anti-racist, it means
joining in on this army
to fight against racism.
So join the NAACP so we can
fight against racism together.
-Derrick,
thank you so much again.
I appreciate this.
-Thank you for the opportunity.
