Joe Rogan Says It’s ‘Very Strange’ to Call People Black Unless They’re From ‘Darkest Place’ of Africa

Podcast host Joe Rogan again caused controversy this week when he questioned the racial identity of a prominent African-American professor, saying it was “very strange” for anyone to self-identify. call themselves black unless they come from the “darkest place” of Africa.

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the hugely popular “Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan introduced clinical psychologist and cultural commentator Jordan Peterson, a fellow charter member of the so-called Dark Web Wisdom. While the conversation goes through many hilarious twists – such as Peterson confidently declares that there is no such thing as a climate—It was the couple’s discussion of race that really raised eyebrows.

At one point in the interview, flagged first by Media MattersRogan notes that Peterson has become an extremely polarizing figure in recent years. After pointing out that many on the left accused Peterson of intolerance, bigotry, and hatred, the podcaster then recalled an exchange between Peterson and the liberal academic Michael Eric Dyson.

“What did Michael Eric Dyson call you? A mean, angry white man?! Rogan wondered aloud, referring to a prominent 2018 debate Dyson jokingly calls Peterson “a mean, crazy white man” for “wailing” about how repressed he was despite his personal success.

“Fun. You don’t make any sense,” continued Rogan. “That’s the silly thing about that statement. You don’t make any sense.”

For his part, Peterson took issue with Dyson highlighting his race, insisting “it’s a lie” to call him white.

“I am dark-skinned,” he declared. “And he’s actually not Black, he’s brown.”

From there, Rogan and Peterson talked over and over about their own lack of white skin — all the while asserting that African-American Dyson wasn’t Black because his skin tone wasn’t dark enough.

“If you tan then what the hell am I because I am darker than you. It’s ridiculous,” Rogan exclaims.

“None of us are white,” Peterson replied, adding, “And he’s brown, not black.”

Rogan, meanwhile, brought their arguments about skin color and racial identity to the inevitable conclusion.

“Well, that’s not strange,” he said. “Black and white is very strange because the shades are a spectrum of human shades. Unless you’re talking to a person, like 100% of Africans come from the darkest place, where they don’t wear clothes all day and they’ve developed all that melanin to protect themselves from the sun. sunshine, even the term Negro is weird. “

Rogan concludes: “When you literally use it on people my skin color, it gets really weird.”

Responding to Rogan and Peterson’s remarks, Dyson told The Daily Beast that although both men were “too funny”, he still took them “seriously because they had a big influence on the world.” culture.” Furthermore, he said he would love to have the opportunity to be on Rogan’s show to discuss race.

“Clearly they haven’t kept up with the discussion of how race is not just about skin color or color, but about a range of meanings that are defined in the social world,” he added. “Blackness is not about the shade, it’s about the shade provided by the ideological traditions, culture, and resistance of blacks. But in a way, Blackness is about throwing some kind of shadow. certain shade and I wanted to go on Rogan’s podcast to share my thoughts and shred it.”

Dyson concludes: “I am afraid he might be too scared to communicate directly with me. Better to speak behind my ear than to face me. But see. We’re going to have a blast time! ”

Spotify, which streams Rogan’s podcast, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Rogan’s comment.

Rogan has found himself center of controversy for months, most on his willingness to provide airtime for disinformation and fringe theories about COVID-19 and vaccines. In the first day of this month, hundreds of doctors ask Spotify to implement misinformation policy after Rogan hosted a notorious anti-vaccination virologist who strangely claimed that “mass-forming psychosis” was behind the vaccinations.

Legendary Rocker Neil Young has since asked his team to pull his music off Spotify in response to the “vaccine disinformation” that Rogan sold on his show. “That’s something that’s really important to Neil,” Young’s manager Frank Gironda told The Daily Beast. “He is very upset about this misinformation.”