 "Photo: Jake Kelly photo")
Preacher Moss spoke to campus Tuesday about racism during his “End Racism Tour.”
The lecture was put on by GSBA and took place in front of a small audience in the Wolff Auditorium.
Moss started the night telling a joke about an exchange he had with the African man he sat next to on a plane. “Is that snow on the ground?” asked the African man. “Nah man, those are people,” Moss replied. “We’re flying over Idaho.”
The jokes kept on coming after that, keeping the Wolff Auditorium in a constant state of laughter.
Moss not only visits high schools and colleges around the U.S. but has also appeared on the BBC, VH1 and Comedy Central. He has been a writer for the “George Lopez Show,” “Saturday Night Live” and has gone on tour with Dave Chappelle.
“He was really funny,” freshman Patrick Ronay said. “I wasn’t excepting him to be so comical.”
Moss made it very clear that this was not going to be a politically correct lecture and that some people might find him offensive.
“There will be no hand holding or singing ‘Kumbaya,’ ” he said. “No quizzes or handouts. And there definitely won’t be a Power Point.”
Moss touched on hard-hitting topics such as racism and religion but blended them with his own hilarious and shocking stories.
Junior Pria Kodiath had seen Preacher Moss last year at a National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conference and was impressed with his non-traditional speeches.
“His lectures are given in a way that college students can hear it,” Kodiath said.
Moss attempted to find an answer to the question of where racism originated and what the effects of it are on the people at his lecture.
“Racism is the greatest threat that can ever happen,” Moss said. “Racism comes from oppression, and oppression comes from arrogance, envy and iniquity.”
And yet, Moss said he believes that there is no such thing as race in the first place, since all human beings are connected in one way or another.
“I no longer like or respect or believe in white people, because there is no such thing as white.” - Preacher Moss
Moss gave the example of having to check the African-American box when filling out paperwork at the bank and how ridiculous the idea is.
“If I have to be African-American, then everyone else has to be a Blank-American ... whether it’s Irish-American, Welsh-American or whatever,” Moss said.
Moss ended his speech by saying that even in 2010 racism is still all around us, and that it is time to make a difference.
“We have ample opportunities to make changes for us and other people,” Moss said.
Kodiath agrees with Moss’s message about overcoming racial lines.
“Sometimes the truth hurts, but it’s constructive,” Kodiath said. “We are at a point where we need more strong and active people.”
The “End Racism Tour” concluded in true, Moss style, with the comedian announcing that racism effects everyone, even white people. “After all, there is an African-American heritage month and a Latino heritage month. Why is there no Caucasian awareness month? Now that’s just racist,” Moss said, grinning and laughing along with the students.
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