Chris Rock talks race, Ferguson, Cosby, Obama
Chris Rock shared his thoughts on everything from race relations in America to Ferguson, Missouri, and Barack Obama's presidency in a wide-ranging new interview.
The comedian spoke with New York Magazine's Frank Rich ahead of the release of his new film "Top Five," which he wrote, directed and also stars in.
Their interview touched on race, Hollywood, politics - even his desire to be a "60 Minutes" correspondent (a wish he also expressed in a "Sunday Morning" interview that aired this past weekend) and what he'd want to cover.
Here are some highlights from their conversation:
On the reaction to the grand jury decision in Ferguson: "Here's the thing. When we talk about race relations in America or racial progress, it's all nonsense. There are no race relations. White people were crazy. Now they're not as crazy. To say that black people have made progress would be to say they deserve what happened to them before."
On race relations in America: "To say Obama is progress is saying that he's the first black person that is qualified to be president. That's not black progress. That's white progress. There's been black people qualified to be president for hundreds of years. If you saw Tina Turner and Ike having a lovely breakfast over there, would you say their relationship's improved? Some people would. But a smart person would go, 'Oh, he stopped punching her in the face.' It's not up to her. Ike and Tina Turner's relationship has nothing to do with Tina Turner. Nothing. It just doesn't. The question is, you know, my kids are smart, educated, beautiful, polite children. There have been smart, educated, beautiful, polite black children for hundreds of years. The advantage that my children have is that my children are encountering the nicest white people that America has ever produced. Let's hope America keeps producing nicer white people."
On President Obama, who Rock says he's met "a couple times": "[He's] kind of cool. I always say, cooler than most politicians, not as cool as actual cool people. He's not cool like Jay Z's cool. He's not Eddie Murphy. But in a world of politicians ... "
On Obama's presidency: "I'm trying to figure out the right analogy. Everybody wanted Michael Jordan, right? We got Shaq. That's not a disappointment. You know what I mean? We got Charles Barkley. It's still a Hall of Fame career. The president should be graded on jobs and peace, and the other stuff is debatable."
"Do more people have jobs, and is there more peace? I guess there's a little more peace. Not as much peace as we'd like, but I mean, that's kind of the gig. I don't recall anybody leaving on an up. It's just that kind of job. I mean, the liberals that are against him feel let down because he's not Bush. And the thing about George Bush is that the kid revolutionized the presidency. How? He was the first president who only served the people who voted for him. He literally operated like a cable network. You know what I mean?"
On the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby: "I don't know what to say. What do you say? I hope it's not true. That's all you can say. I really do. I grew up on Cosby. I love Cosby, and I just hope it's not true. It's a weird year for comedy. We lost Robin, we lost Joan, and we kind of lost Cosby."
On Hillary Clinton's potential run for president in 2016: "It's still not a done deal with Hillary. Remember, she was ahead last time. She had all the black people. And she lost to somebody she really shouldn't have lost to."
Rock later added, "I mean, I would love to see Hillary, but there's a part of Hillary that's like the Democratic McCain at this point. As he showed, "It's my time" is not really enough. But you know, I'm absolutely ready for a woman president. I'm ready for a woman nighttime-talk-show host, to tell you the truth. I wonder which will be first."
You can read the full interview at New York Magazine's website. "Top Five" opens in theaters on Dec. 12.