Last week, Chamillionaire made headlines when journalist Niraj Warikoo posted a screenshot of an email the rapper had sent him asking how he could get in touch with Jorge Garcia’s family. Garcia was recently deported back to Mexico and split from his entire family after spending 30 years in this country, and Chamillionaire wanted to help. But the rapper has also apparently been getting lots of attention from that one act of kindness, so he took to Instagram earlier this week to clear some things up. The result was a lesson in compassion and respect.
“Apparently there are a lot of people who have an opinion about me reaching out to the family of Jorge Garcia after he was split from his family and deported after 30 years of being in the United States,” Chamillionaire began. He explains that he was just trying to reach out, but the journalist whom he contacted publicized the email without the rapper’s knowledge or consent. “For those of you familiar with me, you know I’m the last person to chase publicity or attention,” he added.
“My parents are immigrants so I feel some type of way,” he said. Chamillionaire directed all those who feel immigrants are unfairly treated and want to help to Jorge Garcia’s GoFundMe page. “They’re not just fighting for their family, they’ve been fighting for immigrants for awhile,” Chamillionaire added.
In a second video, also posted to his Instagram account, Chamillionaire went into more detail. “A lot of people here don’t understand why a black man would want to help a Mexican and nonsense like they don’t do nothing for us,” he said. Chamillionaire then schooled anyone who believes “black people should only help black people” and who have been fed the “toxic narrative” that Mexicans aren’t significant contributors to the economy and society as a whole.
Chamillionaire then shared a “history lesson”: his huge 2005 hit, "Ridin’", was produced by two Mexicans. The manager “that took it to the top of the charts” was also Mexican. One of the retailers who sold the most of the rapper’s mixtapes was also Mexican.
“If you don’t have respect for immigrants, or you don’t have respect for minorities, or you don’t have respect for women, it’s gonna be very difficult for you to understand why the other side needs to be treated fairly,” Chamillionaire said.
In another video, also posted to his Instagram, Chamillionaire further explained why he believes all minorities ought to be coming together to fight the system that constantly tries to marginalize them. He believes the African-American community has been indirectly helped by Latinos, and as such everyone should help each other when needed. “Don’t let evil agendas turn us against each other,” he warned.
“For the record, I didn’t just wake up today and decide that I want to be woke,” he said. “Without calling anyone else out or going into my resume, a brother been helping, a brother been woke.”
“We have more power now than we ever had,” Chamillionaire said in a fourth and final video. “I normally mind my own business and don’t social media everything, but fate just so happened to land me here. And now that we’re here, I'm gonna use my platform to talk about something real.”
Many—including the original journalist who publicized this entire situation—seemed somewhat shocked that the same person who rapped the insanely catchy “Ridin’” (you have it stuck in your head right now, don’t you?) could want to help out an immigrant family who lost their patriarch due to Donald Trump’s bad governing. But from these two videos, it seems Chamillionaire is schooling everyone in inclusion and giving back to those who helped him become who he is today.
