Many NFL players, coaches, and owners—along with some veterans and other entertainers—took a knee over the weekend after President Donald Trump attacked players who kneeled during the national anthem. But the original message from the protests has been distorted by critics and allegedly whitewashed, which led Daily Show host Trevor Noah on Monday to figure out just when it’s acceptable for Black people to peacefully protest.
It’s a question he’s asked before that’s been answered in many different ways—Noah joked that for him the perfect time is right before lunch—but in the wake of this past weekend’s protests it’s become relevant once again. He showcased some of the criticism from members of the Trump administration and Fox News, who’ve called the protests disrespectful and the protesters ungrateful. (They are fundamentally mischaracterized as being against the anthem.) One commentator even said that Black people are free from the worry of “being shot in the head for taking a knee,” but as Noah pointed out, that’s the reason they’re protesting in the first place.
Noah found that there’s basically no right time for Black people to protest, according to critics.
“It’s wrong to do it in the streets. It’s wrong to do it in the tweets,” Noah said. “You cannot do it on the field. You cannot do it if you’ve kneeled. And don’t do it if you’re rich, you ungrateful son of a bitch. Because there’s one thing that’s a fact: You cannot protest if you’re Black.”
