Tyler Perry Asks: Why Are We Trying To Get White Folks Approval? F*ck That!

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry Asks: Why Are We Trying To Get White Folks Approval? F*ck That!

In a recent cameo on Kenya Barris‘ Netflix “Black AF” series, Tyler Perry questions why some Black people feel they need the approval of white people in the workplace. In the clip circulating on social media, Tyler Perry tells Kenya Barris:

“I’m connecting with us. Let me tell you what you’re doing- trying to get them to approve you. That’s what I don’t get! Why are n*ggas running around trying to get white folks- ‘Oh, please tell me I’m special! Please give me your Oscar! Oh, let me know I’m all of these things that you want me to be!'”

He continued:

“F*ck that! Tell your story. Live in your own life and in your own culture. Tell your own experience. Can’t nobody tell you how to be you!”

However, Tyler Perry has previously said Black people need non-Black allies in order to make a widespread change:

“IT TAKES ALL OF US AS BLACK PEOPLE TO DO OUR PART!! Think about this, please. We’re only 12 to 14 percent of the US population. With a number like that, we need allies that don’t look like us…THERE IS POWER IN TALKING TO THE OTHER SIDE! THERE IS POWER IN BEING HEARD! That’s where we change lives!”

Kenya Barris co-signed Tyler’s both on- and off-air candor, adding that he believes his voice is needed:

“Tyler [Perry] is my brother, mentor and friend. We do different things, and he is way more successful than I am. When I called and told him what we wanted to do, he was down…Tyler does something a lot of people like. Who are we to say the people who enjoy his work are wrong? It should be, ‘We need Tyler. We need Shonda. We need all the voices.’ Tyler knows his sh*t…”

Do you agree or disagree with Tyler Perry’s “Black AF” comments? Let us know in the comments.