DeRay Mckesson Spoke With Daniel Caesar About Singer's Controversial Race Comments: 'He's Learning and Growing'

DeRay: "In the end, it is clear that he’s learning and growing."

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Daniel Caesar faced a flurry of criticism this week after his controversial comments about black people's treatment of whites. 

The 23-year-old singer made the statements during an Instagram Live broadcast, in which he was admittedly drunk, while defending problematic media personality Julieanna Goddard, better known as YesJulz.

"Why are we being so mean to Julz?" Caesar told viewers. "Why are we being so mean to white people?"

First, a bit of background information: YesJulz is a white woman who's been hit with countless accusations of cultural appropriation. She added fuel to the fire during a recent appearance on the Easily Offended podcast, where she attempted to defend her an old tweet that featured a shirt with the phrase "N**gas lie a lot." YesJulz also used the opportunity to throw shade at black journalists Karen Civil and Scottie Beam. 

Naturally, Twitter users were quick to drag YesJulz for her comments, which prompted Caesar to come to the rescue. 

The Canadian artist suggested black people were being way too sensitive and were treating white people unfairly.

"Why is that we're allowed to be disrespectful and rude to everybody else, and when anybody returns any type of energy to us—that's not equality," he said in the stream. "I don’t want to be treated like I can't take a joke!" 

He continued: "White people have been mean to us in the past, yeah, but what are you going to do about it? Tell me what you're going to do about that? [...] Are we on top of society? We're not. You can't win the game by choosing to not accept the winning team's strategy. You have to acknowledge the strategy and build a strategy on top of that."

Yikes.

Caesar was immediately criticized for his drunken statements, which were described as "ignorant," "irresponsible," "disappointing," and "trash." Just a day after the video began circulating on social media, black activist DeRay Mckesson told his followers he had talked to Caesar about his comments, and claimed the singer was "learning and growing."

Caesar has yet to respond to the backlash. 

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