A$AP Ferg caused some controversy recently when he made comments in an hour-long interview with NPR's Microphone Check where he tried to link race and internet culture saying that "Racism been over." This caused an uproar from fans who accused him of being blind to the plight of African-Americans all over the United States and putting him out of touch with his fan base who still live with racism in their daily lives. The "Doe Active" rapper took to Twitter to clarify his comments, saying "Just to be clear, I am fully aware racism still exists."
Ferg continued his post, commenting, "The point I was trying to make that within the group of like-minded, progressive thinking people that I interact with, racism and separatism doesn't exist to the extent that it did generations ago."
#npr #talkit #fergforever pic.twitter.com/F2CXSp81GF
— FERG (@ASAPferg) March 19, 2015
Ferg made the original comments when asked about the message that people are supposed to take away from his art.
"That's what it is about this culture of the Internet. Is everything is merged," he said. "There's no racism with the Internet. Racism is probably like five generations ago... Racism been over. It's the old people that keep on holding on to it. We don't hold on to that sh*t. We don't know racism... My little brother had white girlfriends. And that's regular."
He continued in the interview, agreeing with the interviewer that there are multiple forms of oppression, saying classism is what is causing the separation -- not racism.
The whole ordeal shows the pitfalls that come when artists speak their minds on social issues. Whether or not you agree with Ferg, it is nice to see him be open and honest about how he feels about race and class in America in a time when we need more artists to speak out against the ills that plague society.
