Ice Cube says Biden administration has reached out to him
Ice Cube said in a recent interview that the Biden administration reached out to him earlier this week and disclosed a possible meeting could be in the works for sometime later this month. The…
thehill.com
Ice Cube said in a recent interview that the Biden administration reached out to him earlier this week and disclosed a possible meeting could be in the works for sometime later this month.
The music and movie star, who has been making efforts in recent months to discuss his Contract with Black America proposal with the nation's top politicians, made the remarks during an appearance on the "Ryan Cameron Uncensored" show on MAJIC 107.9 released on Wednesday.
"Yesterday they reached out to me," he said, referring to the Biden administration. However, he added that the details for a possible meeting hadn't yet been hashed out. "We haven't talked yet. We're just starting to figure out when we can have this meeting and how we're gonna have it."
"I believe it'll go down sometime this month," he said later.
It was unclear which part of the administration reached out to Ice Cube from the interview.
Earlier in the interview, the musician said he believes the new administration is "really into helping all minorities," but added that "Black people in this country are in a unique position."
"There needs to be things as far as specialty programs. You know me, I'm all about reparations. It seems like a bad word to this administration but we gotta change that. We gotta have them speaking about reparations and add some fairness to this system," he said.
He later pointed out that reparations for Black Americans can "come in different forms," including "programs, grants," and "tax relief."
"We can figure it out," he continued. "It doesn't have to be all or nothing. We'll take something. But you've gotta do something."
During his interview, Ice Cube was also pressed about his past communication with the previous administration on his proposal for Black America, which aims to present "a blueprint to achieve racial economic justice" in the country.
The rapper had drawn criticism last year after a Trump campaign adviser, Katrina Pierson, praised him on Twitter in October for working with the Trump administration on its "Platinum Plan" geared toward African Americans.
At the time, Ice Cube said both parties contacted him after he released his own plan, but he claimed he was told by Democrats that they would address it "after the election."
The former N.W.A. member defended working with the Trump administration on the effort at the time, despite his past criticism of the president and his administration, which he rapped in 2018 treated the White House "like a trap house."
He again pushed back on the criticism this week, saying "at the end of the day, whether a Democrat or a Republican is in the White House, they're still not looking at our agenda in the right way."
"We still gotta get them to acknowledge and remedy the situation. So, right now, they like to acknowledge but nobody wants to do what it takes to remedy the situation," he said. "Everybody want to point out, that, 'Yeah, you guys should be upset about your treatment in America.'"
"But nobody wants to do what it takes to fix it. So, that's the part that we need to get on these politicians about, and they have the power to. They just won't do it," he said.
Remarking on the massive turnout seen from voters in the African American community in the recent Senate runoff elections in Georgia, Ice Cube said: "I think it's great. We always show up."
"We show up for one party right now mainly and so do they show up for us as a whole? You know, not just appointing Black people to positions, but actually giving them the power and incentive to do something for all of us?" he continued, appearing to refer to the Democratic party.
"You know, right now, I feel like there's a lot of symbolism going around, but it's not a lot of tangibles going around," he added.
