by Shanelle Genai —
Picture it: Sicily 1922 Picture it: South Central Los Angeles, 2023. Rapper Ice Cube and conservative talking head Tucker Carlson taking a midday drive through the hood as they wax poetic about their ideologies and opinions—chief among them Cube’s anti-COVID-19 vaccine stance.
If it sounds too bad to be true, and too WTF to be believed, then I regret to inform you that that’s exactly what went down in the latest episode of Carlson’s Twitter show “Stay In Your Lane,” released Tuesday. The former (read: fired) Fox News host was joined by the “Straight Outta Compton” rapper, and they discussed hot-button issues as Ice Cube highlighted different areas in the neighborhood that were pivotal in his career.
We’ll pause here to note that Cube – as he and many other prominent Black folks have often stated – has every right to tell his story to whomever he pleases. He’s more than earned it as a pioneer in music and film. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with talking to someone who shares a different political ideology than most of your fans.
But…this guy? For fans who remember “Straight Outta Compton Cube,” “No Vaseline Cube,” the guy whose gangsta-turned-militant-Black-nationalist raps scared the s— out of a generation of cops and suburban white parents, it might just be understandable if serving as a ghetto tour guide for the literal face of white supremacy in modern media is a bridge too far. Carlson spent the last decade as Fox News’ most arguably most right-wing and racist host, a guy who so routinely trafficked in anti-Black content that the New York Times did an entire project on it.
It’s literally called, “How Tucker Carlson Stoked White Fear to Conquer Cable.” One of the ways he did it is by routinely holding up Black men like Ice Cube as threats to respectable white folk.
Speaking to his refusal over getting the vaccine – which, as previously reported by The Root, resulted in him losing out on a $9 million film role opportunity as shots were mandated at the time – the “Friday” actor explained that he didn’t feel safe taking it because he felt that it was a “six-month kind of rush job.”
After Carlson retorted that he was told the vaccine was safe, Ice said: “I know what they said (laughs). I know what they said, and I heard them. I heard them loud and clear, but it’s not their decision. There’s no repercussions if they’re wrong, but I can get all the repercussions if they’re wrong.”
When asked if making the decision was a “tough call,” the “Ride Along” star said: “No, it wasn’t a tough call. I wanted to be an example for my kids, really make sure they wouldn’t take it either, show them that I want to stand on my convictions and that I was willing to lose $9 million and more because we’ve probably lost more since then.”
Well, I certainly didn’t have Ice Cube and Tucker Carlson taking a cruise through the hood on my 2023 BINGO card but you know what? To hell with the card, I want out of this game entirely.
