The Late Show's Jon Batiste and (mostly) black celebrities get real about race relations

Jon Batiste gets real about race relations on The Late Show

(Image credit: Late Show)

last updated 29 September 2016

Jon Batiste leads the Late Show band, Stay Human, but on Wednesday's show, host Stephen Colbert said that Batiste also works hard to "heal the racial divide" in America. He said he just learned that Batiste has "created a public service announcement that addresses important misunderstandings between black people and white people," and Batiste confirmed it: "Yeah, it's almost voting season, and I wanted to say something, because the tensions are high right now." So Colbert showed the PSA, titled "Hey White People!"

"Here in America it can be difficult to talk about race," Batiste said in the PSA. "There are a number of reasons why, but mostly, it's slavery." He gave other black actors and TV personalities a chance to weigh in, too — Tituss Burgess, Kevin Hart, Gayle King, Michael K. Williams, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Anderson — and it's kind of a mishmash of good-natured rants and other race-related banter. But lest White People think their voices aren't important in this PSA, don't worry: Batiste leaves room for one voice from the white community (even if he's British) and has a nice shout-out to Chet Baker. (Also, Frasier produced the PSA?) Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.