Trevor Noah: Lost in Translation Page #6

the focus shift--

The focus shifted,

and now it was Africans

being pulled aside,

Africans waiting.

Middle Easterners were cruising

through security.

And then almost as quickly

as it started,

it flipped back overnight.

And I'll never forget

when it happened.

Right after the "Charlie Hebdo"

attack in Paris.

That attack happened,

and almost the next day

Ebola wasn't a thing anymore.

Middle Easterners were back

in the spotlight.

Normal service had been resumed.

'Cause after "Charlie Hebdo,"

I would walk through airports

and no one gave a damn.

They didn't care about me,

where I was from,

nor the bananas in my bag.

[laughter]

[applause]

I just--I just cruised

through security.

"Charlie Hebdo."

"Terrorist attack in France."

Everyone led with it.

CNN, "Breaking news.

Terrorists have attacked

'Charlie Hebdo' headquarters."

BBC, "And in breaking news,

unconfirmed report says--saying

12 people have been killed by

terrorists who've attacked"--

Everyone said

they were terrorists.

It was weird to me

'cause we didn't know

that they were terrorists.

We just knew that

they were Middle Eastern.

But immediately

we went to terrorist,

because if you're Middle Eastern

that's a terrorist.

That's the world we live in now.

Yeah, if you're Middle Eastern,

terrorism is your trademark.

It's so crazy how easy it is

to get people

to hate a group of people,

'cause that's what happened.

"Charlie Hebdo," and then

everyone started saying things

about Muslims.

"These damn Muslims. These

damn--We gotta stop Islam.

"That's what we gotta do.

We gotta stop these Islamists.

"These Muslims.

"Now, I'm not saying all Muslims

are terrorists,

but all terrorists are Muslims."

It sounds really smart,

doesn't it?

Sounds really smart,

but it's not.

It's stupid

and it's hate speech.

That's what it is. It really is.

[cheers and applause]

Terrorism is not a race,

it's an act.

It evolved over time.

Yes, right now we're dealing

with extremism,

Islamic terror in some parts

of the world.

But if you go to other parts

of the world

and ask them

what a terrorist is,

they'll show you

a different face.

You go to England 20 years ago

and you said,

"What's a terrorist?"

They'd show you

a drunk Irishman, right.

I didn't need to say drunk.

I could have just said Irishman.

[laughter and applause]

There was a time when--

when Nelson Mandela

was labeled a terrorist.

Like, terrorism is an act,

it's not a face.

People say these things,

"Well, these Muslims,

"you gotta admit,

there's an awful lot of them.

Awful lot of them

doing the same thing."

I'm like, "Yeah, but you know

who's not terrorists?

Most Muslims."

Yeah, most Muslims

are not terrorists.

I'm not even Muslim,

but it gets to me,

because I'm like most Muslim

people are not terrorists.

You know how you know this?

Because we're still alive, yeah.

They've had ample opportunity

to take us out, people.

There's a billion Muslim people

on the planet.

They've had every chance.

They could have killed us

using those falafels

they sell us after midnight

when we come out of the club.

They could have

wiped us all out

with their killer kebabs.

They've had the means.

It's so weird to see

our prejudices, you know,

the way people are labeled

in the media, in society.

It's not just Muslim people.

You see it with black people

as well, you know.

People saying these things like,

you know, I remember

when the--when the riots

were happening in Baltimore.

People quickly jumped,

"These thugs.

"These are a bunch of thugs

running around. These thugs.

"You know, I'm starting to think

that black people like crime.

"That's what I'm starting

to think.

"Is that the only way

they can deal with it?

Black people like crime."

No, no, black people

don't like crime,

because you know

who's not a criminal?

Most black people.

Yeah, most black people

are not criminals.

[cheers and applause]

Black people hate crime

just like everybody else.

It's not like black people

are cheering crime on.

It's not like they're watching

a black guy do some sh*t.

Like, "Yeah, Darnell,

you steal that sh*t, man.

You steal that sh*t. Yeah!"

No.

When black people see

a black person doing a crime,

they're also looking

at the person like,

"That n*gger crazy!"

You gotta fight the act,

not the face,

not a face that you put the--

It's not the--

It's not the same thing,

and everybody has it, you know.

If you're Middle Eastern

and you do something,

if you're a black person--

black person gets shot

in a bad neighborhood, the first

story they always lead with--

Always lead with the same thing.

"And today in Compton, a man was

shot in what is suspected

to be gang-related violence."

It's always

gang-related violence.

It never says anything else.

They were just two guys.

Gang-related,

probably gang-related.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, because, you know,

in this area there's...

hip-hop."

Why is it gang-related?

It's always gang--

It doesn't matter who it is.

Could be two kids,

someone got shot,

"A three-year-old was shot today

by a four-year-old

in what is suspected to be

gang-related violence."

"But they're kids."

"Yeah, they recruit very young."

"It wasn't a mistake?"

"No, it's not a mistake.

It's never a mistake."

But if it's in a rich

neighborhood, the story changes,

'cause you'll never hear them

reporting the same thing

about the Hamptons.

"And today in the Hamptons,

a man was shot

"in what is suspected to be

gang-related violence.

"The Burberry gang have been

known to operate

around these parts

and recently"--

They never say those things.

In fact, you're more likely

to see the police commissioner

going, "A lot--We've just

conducted an investigation.

"We found out that a firearm was

discharged earlier today

"and the bullet left

the--the weapon...

"penetrating a victim,

and we're gonna investigate

whether--whether

it was misfired or"--

"I'm sorry, did you say--

Did someone shoot the gun?"

"Well, we're not--we're not

ruling anything out right now,

"but--but we're checking to see

if there was a mechanism failure

or"--

"What about the person?"

"Well, we--we don't think that

this was intentional.

We don't"--

"So wait, we live in a world

"where you investigate a gun

before you investigate

a rich white man,

is that what you're saying?"

"No, no, no. No, that--

That's not what we're saying.

"But I mean, you must remember,

the gun is black,

"but that's not the point.

The point is"--

[cheers and applause]

It's so weird

how our prejudices

have given everyone their lane.

Middle Easterner does something,

they're a terrorist.

Black person does something,

they're gang-related,

they're a thug.

But if a white guy walks into a

church killing nine people dead,

what do they lead with

on the news?

"And today

in an isolated incident

"a lone gunman

walked into a church,

opening fire

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