Samuel L. Jackson’s racial politics

last updated 8 January 2015

Samuel L. Jackson had a very simple reason for supporting Barack Obama for president in 2008, said Kevin Powell in Ebony. “I voted for Barack because he was black,” says the 63-year-old actor. “That’s why other folks vote for other people—because they look like them. That’s American politics, pure and simple. His message didn’t mean s--- to me.” Not all black men, Jackson thinks, could win over white voters like Obama did. “When it comes down to it, they wouldn’t have elected a nigga,’’ he says. “Because, what’s a nigga? A nigga is scary. Obama ain’t scary. Niggas don’t have beers at the White House. Niggas don’t let some white dude, while you in the middle of a speech, call [them] a liar. A nigga would have stopped the meeting right there and said, ‘Who the f--- said that?’” Jackson doesn’t apologize for using the N-word, nor does he see it as an insult. In fact, he uses it to describe himself. “I’ve said to white Hollywood folks, ‘First thing you need to understand is, I am a nigga. I’m a nice guy, but there are certain things that go “click,” and I become that guy y’all worry about at night. That’s why y’all hire me.’ I bring something genuine about that type of guy who scares white people they can safely watch on-screen.”