November 22, 2023 • 47 mins
Get ready for a conversation that begs to spark a debate. We welcome the renowned Larry Elder to the show, a figure stitched into the fabric of American media and a bestselling author. Larry gives us an insight into his motivation to run for president, breathing life into his father's inspiring journey from the Jim Crow South to the Marines and eventually to Los Angeles. Larry's father, a symbol of perseverance, faced racial discrimination yet remained steadfast in providing for his family.
On a thrilling trail of this episode, Larry recounts his audacious run as a Republican candidate in a predominantly Democrat state, California. He underscores the double standards encountered by people of color who identify as Republicans and the hurdles he jumped during his campaign. With contagious passion, Larry advocates for policies that advance sensible law enforcement, affordable housing, and solutions to homelessness. Brace yourself to digest Larry's perspective on these pressing problems.
As we reach the finale of the episode, Larry presents his view on issues affecting the black community and offers his proposed solutions. He staunchly champions the significance of the family unit to a robust America, and how we can tackle the issue of fatherlessness.
Get set to be intrigued by a national author, media figure, and political leader who boldly questions established narratives and puts forth innovative solutions to contemporary issues. His spirited conversation promises to leave you inspired and rethinking America's most pressing problems.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelly Tshibaka (00:07):
Hello America and hello Alaska.
Welcome to Stand where we learnfrom inspiring people who are
standing boldly for theirconvictions and ideas on how we
can improve our communities, ourcities and our country.
I'm Kelly Tshibaka.
I'm joined with my husband andco-host, Niki Tshibaka.
I cannot wait to introduce youto our fantastic guest, but
(00:27):
first remember to join ourcommunity of standouts by
subscribing to our show at thestand show on YouTube.
That's, at the stand show onYouTube.
You can also find us on ourwebsite, standshow.
org, or follow us on socialmedia.
Kelly for Alaska.
Remember to invite your friendstoo.
The greater impact we have willbe when we stand together.
(00:48):
And now let me introduce you toour fantastic guest for the day
.
Today we have Larry Elder, alsoknown as the Sage from South
Central.
He's a New York Timesbestselling author,
award-winning documentaryfilmmaker and one of the
best-known media figures inAmerica today His flagship daily
(01:09):
radio program, the Larry ElderShow.
The Larry Elder Show was heardevery weekday in all 50 states,
including here in the lastfrontier of Alaska, and on more
than 300 stations.
In 2021, larry ran a nationallyrenowned, bold and inspiring
campaign for Governor ofCalifornia.
In the recall effort againstGovernor Gavin Newsom, he took a
(01:33):
common sense and courageousstand for policies that promoted
sensible law enforcement ratherthan proliferating crime, and
booming housing rather than theballooning homelessness that
we're seeing.
And today, larry is taking abold stand again.
He is running for President ofthe United States.
He's also written a bookentitled as Goes California my
(01:56):
Mission to Rescue the GoldenState and Save the Nation.
And, larry, we totally love thepicture on the cover of your
book.
It's the best.
So we're truly honored to haveLarry Elder on our show today to
talk about his presidential run, and I want to emphasize this
If you want to support Larry,you can go to LarryEldercom.
That's LarryEldercom, larry.
(02:16):
Welcome to stand.
When more people hear yourmessage, I think the more
momentum you're going to gain.
Niki Tshibaka (02:21):
Speaking of people hearing your message, our
oldest daughter is in collegeright now and I was telling her
last night.
She's up at odd hours, so shewas calling us at around 11
o'clock and she was talkingabout stuff in college and I
said well, you know we're goingto be talking to Larry Elder
tomorrow and she said the LarryElder yes, larry Elder.
(02:43):
She said the Larry Elder yes,she's like I'm so jealous, and
the reason I share that with you, larry, is I think what struck
me about that is that your voiceis having a generational impact
, and so to hear a youngergeneration right, she's 19 years
old saying that she's beenimpacted and influenced by and
(03:07):
inspired by the stands thatyou've taken, by the policy
prescriptions that you've putout there, I think says a lot,
and so just wanted to encourageyou with that, that the people
who are listening it's acrossgenerations that that you're
impacting.
Larry Elder (03:25):
Well, you know, Niki, that is so flattering.
I've been on radio and TV foralmost 40 years.
I've had a column since Aprilof 1998.
That's around 12,000, 1200columns, rather about 30,000
hours of radio, new York Timesbest selling.
Often I've been debating theseissues for some 40 years and
every now and then a youngperson will come up to me and
say you know, my dad used tomake me listen to you while I
(03:47):
was being driven to and fromelementary school and little by
little I began saying dad, canyou cut on Larry Elder?
So it's really flattering tohear that.
Can I give you a little story?
I have often asked what aresome of the interesting things
that happened on the camp intrail.
This just happened.
Yesterday.
I was in DC and getting readyto come back to LA.
So we're at the Reagan NationalAirport and I'm in the restroom
(04:12):
Now.
My dad, as we may talk about inthe next few minutes, used to
clean toilets.
When we grew up my dad had twofull time job cleaning toilets
at the Bisco brand bread andthen he got another hookup at
another brand company calledBarbara and bread, where he also
cleaned toilets for almost 10years.
And so whenever I'm in arestroom and I see a janitor
there.
I always give the janitor a tip.
(04:33):
Nobody else does that.
I'm not saying thank you tomean anybody else, I'm just
saying I've just noticed nobodyelse does that.
So I'm in the in the bathroom,the janitor there, who happened
to be black and he appears to beabout 40 years old and he's
sweeping up and it's a verycrowded bathroom and I finished
my washing my hands and I withmy ball, and I pulled out a $20
bill and I gave it to him.
I said thank you, I startedwalking away and he went wow,
(04:57):
wow, you know it's gonna go.
It's gonna go right in thepocket of my daughter.
And I said well, that's why wehave no money.
And he said wait a minute, youdid.
You did got it running forpresident.
I see you on Fox Real loud.
I'm a Republican, I think, formyself.
I, like you, stand for.
By the way, I was listening toSteve Bannon podcast yesterday.
Other day he brought your nameup and it was a very positive
(05:18):
mind of a taken selfie.
Niki Tshibaka (05:20):
So we had a guy our picture.
Larry Elder (05:22):
All this happened in the bathroom at the Reagan
National Airport.
I have no idea how the otherpeople in the bathroom felt
about it.
Quite an experience.
Niki Tshibaka (05:30):
Hopefully they all have their backs to you.
That's fantastic.
And, speaking of your father,I'd like to start off by asking
the question about sort of yourupbringing in your background.
You grew up in a bipartisanhome, a mother who was a
Democrat and a father wasRepublican, and your father is
(05:52):
impressive figure to in and ofhimself, Staff Sergeant Randolph
Elder.
Back when FDR allowed all theraces to come and serve in the
military in 1941, your dad wasamong that initial force of
African American Marines whoenlisted at Camp Lejeune to
fight for their country and inso doing he became a pioneer for
(06:15):
racial equality.
So you have an amazing legacyof military service and the long
march to racial equality, andyour father in fact posthumously
won the Congressional GoldMedal.
So I'd like to ask you just twoquestions.
First of all, how did growingup in a bipartisan home shape or
(06:40):
influence the development ofyour political views and what?
was it like to receive, on yourfather's behalf, that
Congressional Gold Medal I meanit's the highest civilian honor
and to see him recognize as animportant figure in the history
of our country in the pursuit ofracial equality.
Larry Elder (07:01):
And not only did my dad get the Congressional Gold
Medal posthumously, but DanaWarbacher, republican
Congressman out here, arrangedfor him to have his medal
delivered to him at a ceremonyat Camp Hamilton.
All these stress marine colorsguys were there.
It's on YouTube.
It's Google Larry Elder, staffSergeant, larry Elder.
You can watch the wholepresentation and it was amazing
(07:22):
to all have all these peoplehonor my father like that.
It was extraordinary.
And my dad, as you pointed out,he was a lifelong Republican.
My mom was a lifelong Democratand, oh, it'd be a fly on the
wall during dinner or duringbreakfast when we were able to
have it together to hear themtalk.
And my mother had very strongviews, my dad had very strong
views.
They argued them verypassionately, but nobody called
(07:44):
anybody a fascist, nobody calledanybody a Nazi.
Nobody said you only care aboutthe rich, you don't care about
the poor.
They argued everything very,very aggressively but civilly
and I don't know why we can't.
We can't do that.
And, as I mentioned, my fatherclean toilets.
My father never knew hisbiological father.
My last name is elder, that wasthe name of some man who was in
(08:05):
his life the longest, who wasan alcoholic, who physically
would beat up his mom and whenmy dad tried to stop it, he beat
up my father, and his mom wasvery irresponsible.
He was the only child and shecouldn't either read nor write.
So my dad doesn't even know hisbirthday.
He knows a year, but it'sanother day, because she
couldn't even write it down inthe family Bible, because of
course, he wasn't born in ahospital and my dad came home at
(08:26):
the age of 13.
And he starts quarreling withmy mom, with his mom's then
boyfriend, and his mother sideswith the boyfriend and throws my
father out of the house, neverto return.
A 13 year old black boy.
Athens, georgia, jim Crow,south.
At the beginning of the GreatDepression, my dad said he
picked up trash, he cleaned outbarns.
Ultimately he became a poohmanporter on the trains.
(08:49):
They were the largest privateemployer of blacks in those days
.
So this young man from thesouth was able to travel all
around the country and he cameto this place called California
and a city called Los Angeles.
My dad was blown away, kelly.
He could walk through the frontdoor of a restaurant and get
served and sit down and getserved, and my dad always had
packages of crackers and tincans of tuna with him because in
(09:10):
the south never knew whetherhe'd be able to get a meal.
So my dad made a middle notemaybe Sunday I'll relocate to
California, pearl Harbor.
My dad joins the Marines.
And I asked him why and he saidtwo reasons.
They go where the action is andI love the uniforms.
So my dad was stationed on theisland of Guam and you mentioned
about my dad being a pioneer,nicky.
(09:31):
I gave a speech one time at aVeterans Affairs and I talked
about my dad a little bit andwhen the speech was over, this
man came up to me.
He's about maybe 95 years oldand he says I probably served on
the island of Guam with yourdad.
I said well, my dad was incharge of cooking, so my dad
(09:51):
probably served you a meal.
And he says no, he wouldn'thave because the military was
segregated in those days.
The black Marines were servedby black Marines and the white
Marines were served by whiteMarines.
So I went home that day and mydad was in the back of the house
, mom was in the front and Isaid mom, when dad was in the
military and he was in charge ofcooking facilities, did he
(10:12):
serve both black Marines andwhite Marines.
She said yes, both black andwhite Marines.
So I went in the back room Isaid, dad, when you were in the
Marines and you were cooking,were you serving both black
Marines and white Marines?
He said no, no, just blackMarines.
My mom didn't even know, Ididn't even I never explained
that this man that I didn't evenknow came up to me and said no,
I don't think so because ofthis, that and the other.
So my dad gets out of theMarines.
Kelly Tshibaka (10:33):
Wait, larry, let's take a short break.
We want to hear the rest ofyour story.
We'll be right back with LarryElder in a minute.
Stay tuned.
Music, music, music, music,music, music, music.
Larry Elder (11:11):
Music, music, music .
Another one and goes to anotherone.
He's told the same thing allthree times.
We don't hire niggers.
My dad goes to an unemploymentoffice.
The lady says you went throughthe wrong door.
My dad goes out to the hall.
She's colored, only goes tothat door to the very same lady
(11:32):
who sent him out.
She's wanted him to know whatthe rules were.
So my dad came home to my momand said this is nonsense.
I'm going to LA, where I wasbefore the war, and I'm gonna
get me a job as a cook and I'llsend for you.
So my dad comes out to LA.
He walks around for half a dayand he's told at every single
restaurant you don't have anyreferences.
My dad said I need referencesto make ham and eggs.
He even offered to work forfree to get a reference, a
(11:54):
written reference, and nobodywould do that.
So he treated him the same wayin LA as in Chattanooga, maybe a
little more polite.
He goes to the unemploymentoffice, this time just one door
Lady says I have nothing.
My dad says what time do youopen?
She says nine.
What time do you close?
She says five.
My dad said I'll be sitting inthat chair until you have
something.
My dad sat there for a wholeday, came back the next day.
She calls him up.
She says I have something.
(12:14):
I don't know whether you'regoing to want it.
My dad said, of course I'mgoing to want it.
I'm starting a family.
What is it?
She says a job cleaning toiletsand a Bisco brand brand.
My dad did that for 10 years.
Second full time job, as Imentioned earlier, with another
brand company, cook for a familyin the weekend.
Because he wanted to makeadditional money, because he
wanted my mom to be a stay athome mom, which she was until
the youngest of us was in middleschool and he went to night
(12:36):
school to get his GED.
And after getting that he wentback to night school to learn
how to operate a smallrestaurant.
Saves his nickels and dimes.
Age 47, starts a smallrestaurant near downtown LA.
When my dad retires he owns thatrestaurant the property below
it, little piece of propertynext door to it, plus the home
that's still in our family, nottoo shabby for an eighth grade
dropout after the Georgia JimCrow, when systemic racism was
(12:59):
systemic racism and myRepublican dad always told my
brothers and me Democrats wantto give you something for
nothing.
When you try and get somethingfor nothing, you almost always
end up getting nothing forsomething.
They used to drive my mom crazy, and he also brought my
brothers and me the followingHard work wins.
You get out of life what youput into it.
You cannot control the outcome,larry, but you are 100% in
(13:20):
control of the effort.
And before you moan or groanabout what somebody did or said
to you, go to the nearest mirror, look at it and ask yourself
what could I have done to changethe outcome?
And finally, no matter how goodyou are, how hard you work,
sooner or later bad things aregoing to happen to you.
How do you deal with those badthings?
Will tell your mother and me ifwe raised a man, and that's my
philosophy, that's what drivesme, that's what drives my
(13:42):
brothers and that's why, frankly, I have so little tolerance
when I hear this stuff aboutsystemic racism and how the man
is holding people back.
This is the only majority whitecountry that's ever voted, let
alone reelected, a blackpresident.
You can go from nothing tosomething faster in America than
you can in any other country inall of human history.
As you and I are speaking,there are Haitians and Haiti,
(14:04):
lining up for a shot at alottery to come into America.
Yet many people are deluded intobelieving that they're held
back by certain kinds of systems, when in fact, the formula to
escape poverty, as outlined by aleft-wing think tank called the
Brookings Institution, finishhigh school.
Make sure, by the way, you cangraduate from one where you can
read, writing and put it atgreat level.
(14:24):
That's why I support schoolchoice.
Don't have a kid before you're20 years old.
Get married first, get a job,keep a job, don't quit until you
get another one and avoid thecriminal justice system.
If you do that, you will not bepoor.
If you don't do that, there's areally good chance you will be.
That's the formula that weought to be telling people,
particularly so-called blackleaders like Barack Obama, al
Sharpton, jesse Jackson,farrakhan, when in fact, they're
(14:47):
doing the opposite tellingblack kids they're being held
back because of racism, and itdoes a great deal of damage to
race relations.
Plus, it is not true and you'reundermining the enthusiasm that
people ought to have towardsattacking life and doing the
kinds of things you need inorder to get ahead and your
personal story shows us that youknow.
Kelly Tshibaka (15:05):
going from what you told us about your dad of
facing real systemic racism, tohis son running for president
and being the front-runner forthe Republican Party for
governor in the recall againstGavin Newsom, what did you learn
in that incredibly difficultbattle?
The whole nation had its eyeson you.
Larry Elder (15:25):
It sure did.
In the hotel room the night ofthe election, kelly, we had four
TV sets One was on CNN, one wason Fox, one was on MSNBC and
one was on local ABC News, andseveral times all four of the
channels was talking about therace.
That's kind of out of body.
You're sitting in your hotelroom and you're just got off the
campaign trail and they'recounting the results and all
(15:48):
four of the three, the majorcable networks are talking about
you, plus the local news.
It's out of body.
What I learned is it's almostimpossible to win as a
Republican in California.
One has not won in almost 20years.
The reason I did the recall isbecause I figured if the ball
carried him the right way, Icould conceivably squeak in with
(16:08):
a little at 25% of the totalvotes cast, giving me about a
year and a half before he has torun, for I have to run for
another four years and betweenthen and the next time I have to
run, I could explain to peoplethat I don't have a horn, I
don't have a tail, and maybe,just maybe, their lives might
have improved a little bit and Ican get a fresh four.
But no one's won in Californiain almost 20 years as a
Republican, we're outnumberedthree to one registered
(16:32):
Republicans versus those who areregistered as something else.
And even in LA, where I live,we just had a mayoral race and
the Republican ish opponent.
He's Republican all his lifeand then he turned to be
independent and then, rightbefore he decided to run for
mayor, he switched his party toa Democrat, knowing full well
that people in LA don't pulltheir lever for somebody with an
(16:55):
R at the back of an A.
So he outspent the victoriousDemocrat 10 to one and he still
lost by almost nine points.
It's almost impossible to winnationwide.
In California, democratsdominate the state, which is why
I wrote that book AskelsCalifornia my Mission to Rescue
the Golden State and Save aNation.
Because it shows you whathappens when you have a
(17:16):
one-party state like California,two-thirds majority of
Democrats in the Senate,two-thirds majority of Democrats
in the Assembly, and they passevery job killing brain dead
bill after another, afteranother, after another, to the
point now, for the first time inCalifornia it's 170 year
history people are leaving.
The average price of a home inCalifornia is 175% above average
.
The test scores are near thebottom of all 50 states.
(17:40):
We have a serious homelessproblem, a serious illegal
immigration problem, a seriouscrime problem, all because of
the policies that people inCalifornia have consistently
voted for.
I was asked during the racewhether or not I supported term
limits.
I said yeah.
For voters, you vote two orthree times Democrats, you lose
your right to vote.
I was being facetious, butthere was a headline elder once
(18:02):
voters termed out.
Niki Tshibaka (18:07):
Oh, that race was obviously intense and it
highlighted something that wesee way too often, larry, where
it seems like people of colorwho are conservatives or
Republicans and who developedsome measure of social or
political influence and yours isbroad and deep they often
become targets of some of themost revolting threats and
(18:29):
attacks, which is really ironic,because supposedly we want
people of color to think forthemselves, and so the idea of
just going after a person ofcolor just because they happen
not to follow the, say, democratparty line is just really sad.
But during your run for governor, la Times columnist made an
(18:51):
absolutely horrendous commentabout you.
It's even hard for me to sayright now, but she called you
quote the black face of whitesupremacy, and that was shocking
in and of itself.
What was even more shocking tome was I don't remember seeing a
broad, widespread condemnationof her comments in the national
(19:13):
media, and I think that'ssymptomatic of a problem that is
pervasive, where you have a lotof black Americans, like the
janitor you mentioned at theairport, who actually agree with
your views and convictions butare afraid to take a stand
publicly for them for fear ofthe backlash.
What would you say to some ofthose folks, to encourage them
(19:38):
to get out into the publicsquare and not to be afraid of
taking a stand for what theybelieve, like you have.
Larry Elder (19:44):
Well, Niki, I've been called an Uncle Tom, a
bootlicking Uncle Tom, abug-eyed foot shuffling
bootlicking Uncle Tom theanti-Christ.
I've been called that name thatyou really want to hurt
somebody's feelings.
I've been called Republicaneven before I was a Republican.
But the thing that I fear mostbeing called is you're mistaken,
you're wrong.
I rarely hear that.
(20:05):
I hear a name calling.
When I talk about the fact thatthe police kill more unarmed
whites every year than they killunarmed blacks, very few people
tell me that I am wrong.
They often tell me I amdefending the white man,
whatever that means.
But what I really fear ismistating something, mistating
data.
I don't worry too much aboutthe shrill attacks, because it
shows you that you're completelyand totally out of ammo.
(20:27):
And what's ironic, Niki, aboutthis and about your question
you're asking me is we claimthat we want a diverse country.
I remember one time BrianGumbel was making some
derogatory comment aboutRepublicans.
He doesn't like the WinterOlympics, or he didn't at the
time, and he says something tothe effect of the Winter
Olympics reminds me of aRepublican convention, meaning
that there are very few blackparticipants.
Niki Tshibaka (20:49):
So when there is a black participant as a
Republican.
Larry Elder (20:51):
He then is maligned as a blackface of white
supremacy.
So what do you want?
You want black Republicans ordo you not want black
Republicans?
Which is it?
You can't win.
And Joe, I just the other daywent on the show called
Charlemagne the God.
Charlemagne the God is a verypopular radio host out of New
York.
He's got about four millionfollowers on Instagram, two
(21:12):
million on Twitter or a millionfollowers on Facebook.
He's got a real, real impactand he's what I call a black
victim, somebody who believesthat black people remain
oppressed and the disparitiesthat we can complain about have
to do with racism as opposed tocultural kinds of things and bad
choices people are making.
So I was on his show and threeagainst one and one demeaning
(21:38):
comment after another, afteranother, after another, and most
of the time I would make apoint and the response would be
some sort of emotional dig asopposed to here's why, here's
where you were wrong.
And I tried to explain to himthat this business about
referring to America as beingsystemically racist Not only is
it wrong, not only is itundermining people's initiative,
(22:01):
it's getting people killed,it's called the Furr-Decor, the
George Floyd effect, and that'sa phenomenon of pulling back all
over the country, as they havein the last few years, because
of being attacked, of havingbeen systemically racist.
Even the Democrat mayor ofChicago, rami Manuel, a couple
of years ago referred to theChicago PD as quote having gone
fetal, close quote, followingthat high profile shooting of
(22:23):
black person, meaning theyweren't doing their jobs.
Niki Tshibaka (22:26):
I mean sorry, let me stop you right there, larry.
We'll come right back withLarry Elder running for
president.
Stand by and we'll pick up whenyou come back.
Kelly Tshibaka (22:42):
We're back with Larry Elder.
Larry, you were just finishingup talking to us about your
thoughts on all things withblack America and how there's a
double standard for people whothink for themselves and choose
to be Republican.
Larry Elder (22:59):
Right and I was talking about the rather brutal
hour and six minutes I had withCharlemagne, the God out of New
York, because I'm talking aboutsome of the things going on in
the black community, and he saidto me, what have white people
done wrong?
And I said, charlemagne, whatare we talking about here?
70% of black kids into theworld without a father in the
(23:20):
home, married to the mother.
A young black man aged 10 to 43is 13 times more likely to be
murdered than a young white man.
Same demo the top cause ofpreventable death for a black
person 19 years and under ishomicide, almost always at the
hands of another 19 year old andyounger, whereas the top reason
(23:40):
for death for a white man 19and under is accidents like car
accidents or drug accidents.
Homicide is the fifth largestreason for the death of people
who are white, 19 and under.
5% of white people who are deadat 19 and under are dead
because of homicide.
We're 35% of black young people19 and under are dead because
(24:03):
of homicide.
We have a 50% urban dropout ratein many of our urban schools.
We have schools like Milwaukeewhere 13 public high schools.
0% of the kids can do math at agrade level, another half a
dozen.
Only 1% can.
That's half of all the publichigh schools in Baltimore, all
located in the inner city.
We're 0%.
Now, if you have those kinds ofconditions within the white
(24:24):
community, I'll talk to youabout that.
Right now we're talking aboutwhat's going on in the black
community and rather than saylet's deal with this, you're mad
at me for not outing the badthings that white people have
done.
It doesn't really make anysense.
It's not getting us anywhere.
It's not advancing the ball.
Kelly Tshibaka (24:39):
Those are really good points.
Speaking of advancing the ballyou're running for president, we
want to give you as much timeas possible to talk to us about
your presidential campaign.
We want to start off with twoquestions what would you tell
our audience distinguishes youfrom the crowd of candidates who
are running in thispresidential primary?
And, if elected president, whatwould some of your main policy
(25:01):
priorities be, whether foreignor domestic?
Larry Elder (25:04):
Well, what distinguishes me is that I am a
America first mega guy.
But we have an America firstmega guy running and he's got a
pretty commanding lead.
Why then are you running?
I'm running because I want toput front and center some issues
that the others are not talkingabout very much, if at all.
One of them we already talkedabout and that's the epidemic of
fatherlessness.
As I mentioned, 70% of blackkids into the world without a
(25:26):
father in the home married tothe mother, up from 25% back in
1965.
That's 25% of what I kids do,and the numbers are clear If
you're raised without a dad,you're five times we're likely
to be poor and commit crime,nine times we're likely to drop
out of school and 20 times we'relikely to end up in jail.
And we don't talk enough aboutthis.
All these kids need mentors.
I liken it to alcoholicsanonymous, where every single
(25:48):
recovering alcoholic has amentor.
And I'm urging all the babybloomers my generation who have
retired or about ready to retire.
They're still vigorous, theyraise kids, they nurture
grandkids to get involved andstep up and become sponsors.
And if you can't do that orwon't do that, how about lending
resources?
We're spending a lot of moneyat the federal level on programs
to reduce poverty.
They don't work.
(26:09):
The programs that do work arethe ones that are in
neighborhoods, ones done bychurches.
You ought to be able to takeyour tax dollars that have been
directed towards programs goingto Washington DC and redirect
those money for programs in yourown neighborhoods, and that's
what I'm going to be urging whenI become president.
The other big thing I want totalk about is the lie we talked
about this a little bit earlierthat America remains
(26:31):
systemically racist.
As I said earlier, not only isit getting people killed, it's a
Ferguson effect or the GeorgeFloyd effect.
It's also driving nonsense likereparations, which is my
opinion, is the extraction ofmoney from people who are never
slave owners to be given topeople who are never slaves.
It's driving stuff likerace-based preferences, which,
on the paper, sounds wonderful.
In reality, what it does iscause a mismatch between
(26:51):
students and campus and, as aresult, the so-called
beneficiaries of race-basedpreferences are often dropping
out when they would havefinished fine at a lesser
competitive school.
Then they drop out, they end upwith a lot of student debt,
they end up being angry.
All of it is pointless.
The other way it's gettingpeople killed is.
Take a look at the George Floydor the Black Lives Matter riots
of May of 2020.
(27:11):
They were four months long, 35people killed, largest riots and
protests in American history.
2,000 police officers werewounded, $2 billion of property
damage, maybe another billiondollars or two of uninsured
property damage.
Many of these properties weremom-and-pop restaurants or
businesses owned by the veryBlack and Brown people the
people claiming they care about.
More importantly, there is zeroevidence, however you feel,
(27:35):
about the treatment of GeorgeFloyd, and I thought the verdict
was a just verdict.
However you feel about thetreatment of George Floyd, there
is zero evidence he wasmistreated because of his race.
The lead prosecutor of Blackman took pains in his opening
statement to say the police ingeneral were not on trial.
The Minneapolis PD in generalwas not on trial.
This individual was on trialand Derek Shulin was never even
(27:56):
charged with a hate crime, butpeople are in the streets
because of an assumption thatwhat happened to George Floyd
had to do with his race.
This is the damage that themedia does and the Democrats do
in corrupting the way people seean issue.
For example, there's a websitecalled Policemaagcom and they
discussed a poll where peoplewho self-described as very
liberal and I dare say, of themillions of people who
(28:19):
participated in these protestsin 200 different cities,
probably most of them wouldprobably self-identify as very
liberal.
They asked very liberal peoplehow many unarmed Black men did
the police kill in 2019?
And, by the way, unarmed doesnot mean not dangerous.
Michael Brown was unarmed, buthis DNA was found on the
officer's gun.
But put that aside, how manyunarmed Black men did the police
(28:40):
kill in 2019?
50% of the self-described veryliberal people thought the
police killed 1,000.
Of those who self-described asjust liberal, 39% thought the
police killed 1,000.
The police killed, according tothe Washington Post database,
12.
Now, that's the gap betweenwhat people think is going on
and what really is going on.
And, as I said earlier, thepolice kill more unarmed White
(29:01):
men every year than unarmedBlack men, but most people could
not name an unarmed.
White person.
You can go on YouTube and typein the word Kelly Thomas,
fullerton Police.
It's a White man, homeless,mentally ill, and he was beaten
by the police over a longerperiod than was George Floyd
held.
And there's another one calledTony Tempa, t-i-m-like Mary P,
(29:22):
like Paul, a, dallas, texas, afew years ago, another mentally
ill guy held down.
I can't breathe.
I can't breathe.
Kind of the same scenario asGeorge Floyd and you can't even
name his name because it's notthe right race.
Nobody cares.
A few months ago we had thisincident on the subway in New
York where that retired Marine,daniel Penny, put a chokehold on
(29:45):
Jordan Neely protests on thesubway.
They got in the train tracksand blocked the subways and
ultimately Alvin Bragg broughtcharges against the Marine.
Zero evidence that he would nothave acted had Jordan Neely
been White.
Put that aside.
Three weeks earlier, I kid younot.
Tulsa, oklahoma, a homelessBlack man walks out to a White
(30:08):
man who has his back turned tohim, picks up a gun, shoots him
in the back of the head, killshim execution style.
Goes to another part of Tulsa,walks up to another White man,
pulls out a gun, shoots him,kills him execution style.
At mids.
He did it because they wereWhite.
Now he got caught.
But if it had been the other wayaround, we know his name, we
know the victims, we know theirnames, but because they weren't
(30:30):
the right race, nobody cares and, as a result, people get the
false impression that thishappens all the time, when in
fact, most homicides are samerace homicides.
Most Black people are killed byother Black people.
Most White people are killed byother White people.
By the way, every single yearthere are some interracial Black
, white or White Black homicidesabout 750 each year.
500 Whites are killed by Blacks, even though Blacks are just
(30:56):
13% of the population.
250 Blacks are killed by Whites, even though Whites are 60% of
the population.
So when there are interracialhomicides, it is more likely to
be a Black perp than a Whiteperp.
And if you look at violentcrime between Blacks and Whites
other than homicide by themtalking about attempted homicide
, manslaughter, rape, assaultwith a weapon there are roughly
(31:19):
between 500 and 600 such actsevery single year and 90% of the
case it's a Black perp and aWhite victim, only 10% the other
way around.
And these are the kinds ofthings I was trying to tell
Charlotte Mayn the God, and hishead almost exploded.
So it just isn't true.
Black people are not beingpursued by the police.
They're not being pursued byWhite supremacists.
(31:39):
Even though Joe Biden the otherday at Howard, gave a
commencement exercise, it saidthe number one threat to the
homeland was White supremacy.
Really, 25 people were killedwho were defined as extremists,
according to the Anti-DefamationLeague, last year, whereas in
2020, 11,000 Black homicidevictims, 90% of them were killed
by other Blacks.
I don't think very many of them,if at all, were killed by White
(32:02):
supremacists.
So it's a lie that's gettingpeople angry, and the reason
Democrats do it is because theywant Black people to go in there
and pull that lever for theDemocratic Party, because the
party has successfullycharacterized itself as a party
of social justice and equity,whatever that means, and they
successfully characterized theRepublican Party as a party of
figures and races.
I don't know how they pulled itoff, given the rather sordid
(32:24):
history of the Democratic Partythe party of slavery, party of
the Confederacy, party of JimCrow, the party of Dred Scott,
the party of the KKK, the partythat voted as a smaller
percentage for the Civil RightsAct of 1964 than did Democrats,
the party that is a party of thewelfare state that destroyed
the family and is a party thatopposes school choice, but
somehow they've convinced Blackpeople that they're the White
(32:47):
horse and these people over hereare wearing the black hat and
sitting on top of the blackhorse.
Niki Tshibaka (32:52):
It's amazing.
It's amazing what we're seeing,and you know, having lived
abroad my entire childhood Ithis is just from personal
experience, not data, but I can.
I can tell you one of thethings that surprised me when I
came here as a young man forcollege was wow, america really
treats people of all races somuch more equally and
(33:14):
respectfully than anywhere elseI'd ever been.
I'd experienced far more racismin Africa, south America, in
Europe, all places where I grewup than I ever have here.
That's not to say we don't havework to do, but everything that
you've been saying, larry, isjust common sense.
It's data, and until we, as ablack community and as a country
(33:36):
, can just embrace that and say,okay, the data speaks for
itself, we've got to change howwe're thinking about these
issues.
We're stuck, and so I reallyappreciate the fact that your,
your your voice, is out therebringing these issues to light
and speaking about these thingsreally boldly.
You're a prolific and engagingauthor.
(33:57):
In fact, you've written thatgreat new book as Goes
California my Mission to Rescuethe Golden State and then save
the nation.
I can't wait to read it andencourage our listeners to go
out and buy it too.
But following along those lines.
Let's like, let's take your,your, your writer's pen.
Oh, we're out of time, so we'llhave to save it first of other
time.
(34:17):
Larry, great to have you on theshow to our, to our listeners.
If you want to support Larry,be sure to go to LarryElder.
com.
That's LarryElder.
com.
Larry, thank you so much forbeing on the show.
We encourage you to keepstanding firm and standing fast.
And the same to our listeners.
Take care everybody.
(34:37):
This is Stand.
Larry Elder (34:40):
Kelly, thank you so much for having me, and you
know where to find me.
Niki Tshibaka (34:42):
Thanks, larry, you're always welcome here.
Kelly Tshibaka (34:44):
We wish you the best, Larry.
We're back on stand with Kellyand Niki Tshibaka, just having
ended a great interview withLarry Elder, former candidate
(35:04):
for governor of California, nowrunning for president of the
United States.
I thought that was afascinating interview.
Niki Tshibaka (35:12):
You know it really was.
As I'm thinking about it, oneof the powerful things that that
Larry brought to the table washis personal story and data
facts to support what his viewsare and what his approaches to
(35:35):
how we can improve the situationfor the black community in this
country.
It was, it was.
I mean, he just went like, factafter fact, data point after
data point.
And it's so important because,at the end of the day, in order
to solve a problem, you have toproperly diagnose it, and it's
it's just not helpful to say, ohwell, systemic racism and just
(35:59):
that those are the two words youthrow at every issue, every
problem as it relates to peopleof color.
That's not helping them, that'snot helping us.
I'm one of them.
What's helpful is what does thedata say?
How do you know?
And, taking from that data,what can we then do?
What kind of solutions can wethen put together for the
problem?
(36:19):
And so Larry did.
He said look, 70% of you knowblack kids are growing up
fatherless and we know thatthat's a big contributor to
poverty in the future andthey're more likely to engage in
crime, whether you're black,white or any race, if you grow
up without a father.
It's just that we were seeingan epidemic of this in the black
(36:40):
community, and so he had thedata and he had a solution for
it.
We've got to start working at acommunity level, community
levels across the country, toencourage and help black
families, poor families that arestruggling, say, in this kind
of an area, to fight backagainst the kinds of things that
(37:03):
are keeping them in the placethat they're in.
And I just thought that wasvery powerful and I love the
fact that it was a communitysolution.
Kelly Tshibaka (37:11):
It wasn't.
Niki Tshibaka (37:11):
Dc has to fix this, because what our
politicians will tell us?
Kelly Tshibaka (37:15):
no offense, sweetheart, but hey, I never
elected a lot of politicians.
Niki Tshibaka (37:20):
But?
But you know what politicianswill tell us is they they're the
ones who have the solutions andare the solution.
And really, I think, more oftenthan not, our communities
across the country are the onesthat have the solutions and are
the solution, and that's what Iheard Larry saying is like we
need.
That's why we need to redirectall these taxpayer dollars to
community organizations that areactually doing the work on the
(37:42):
ground and know what needs to bedone.
Kelly Tshibaka (37:45):
Yeah, I think he's I don't know what the word
is like a solutioner, but I likeyour solutionary.
Yeah, exactly the connection youmade that he.
He gave the data, but he didn'tjust stop there.
He then put it into ameaningful solution that could
actually deliver results andoutcomes, which is what makes
for good policy.
It's rooted in somethingbesides just, I feel, leology.
(38:08):
I feel, therefore, it'sdatabase.
But the other thing I reallynoticed is that when we said,
hey, the floor is yours, whatare you focusing on as president
and he could have said anythingthe stuff he chose to focus on
is actually born out of his ownstory and his experience, which
I thought is fascinating becauseit's almost like saying it
(38:29):
worked.
If it worked for me, then it'llwork for the rest of America,
which is true.
And you have someone whosefamily came from experiencing
incredible racism I don't thinkanybody could challenge that and
deep poverty and really had tostruggle to then live the
American dream.
They experienced what a lot ofpeople would say doesn't exist
(38:52):
anymore.
I don't believe that.
I know Larry wouldn't believethat your families live the
American dream, and so is mine,but he would say we could make
that a reality for everybody byputting these things in step in
place, and one of them is family, family values, like you're
saying, the solutions for, Iwould say, parentlessness,
(39:14):
whether that's fathers ormothers we sure are seeing a lot
of single fathers he saysputting solutions in place for
education.
You know, like he said,sometimes people are going out
through all the grades of schooland they're still graduating
without literacy or mathproficiency.
We need to solve that.
What he would say, and thesolutions coming through the
(39:36):
community rather than from topdown capital based solutions,
community oriented solutions,education solutions, family
solutions that's what worked inLarry's home and community to
create a whole different outcomeand reality.
And so then if we could justduplicate, replicate that across
(39:57):
America, wouldn't that work forevery home and every community?
I think logically, the answeris yes is we've talked about the
family unit.
Is the base economic unit inAmerica.
It's the base morality unit,it's the base support unit, is
the base everything.
Stronger families make astronger America.
So I think it's interesting tohear a presidential candidate
(40:19):
not just local candidates orschool board candidates focus on
these grassroots issues andreally refreshing perspective
from somebody who's been at alllevels.
The other thing I thought wasinteresting is right at the end
he started to talk about thecommunication part when he was
kind of comparing andcontrasting across the aisle.
(40:39):
I thought it was great that hedidn't beat up other people in
his party but instead contrastedhimself with who the opponent
would be on the other end of theticket to say it's interesting
that they would say that they'rethe party who does this one.
Actually they did this, butthey communicate something
different.
I think something that wouldsell Larry Elder part is his
vast experience in communication.
(41:01):
To be able you know, we didn'thave to ask a lot of questions,
he just talked but to be able tocommunicate effectively.
This is the history of theexperience of the Republican
Party.
This is what we stand for.
We don't need to sling mud andget into name calling, because
we need to talk about the ideasand the policies and the
(41:22):
solution rather than get intohostilities.
I thought that was interesting.
Niki Tshibaka (41:29):
You're right that that does make his voice part
of what makes his voice uniqueamong the other candidates
buying for the Republicannomination and, to your point as
well, the one being the hisability to communicate so
effectively and so well, butalso, like you said, the focus
(41:49):
on community action, communitygrassroots working together to
resolve our countries issues.
Right, I haven't heard that muchfrom from many of the
candidates and I've beenlistening pretty closely, and so
I think that's that's a uniquething that we need to hear more
(42:10):
about and, as a country not justas a part, as a country think
more about and talk more about,not in a combative way, but
really in a way where we canreally engage in some robust
dialogue and debate on to cometo a good solution.
Right, because ultimately wewant every American, no matter
what race, no matter what gender, no matter what sexual
(42:32):
orientation, we want Americans,all Americans, to thrive and to
be able to experience the fruitsof, you know, the American
dream.
And that seems to be what hisfocus is.
And it's interesting, as Ithink, with all kinds of
solutions to major problems,oftentimes the simpler ones are
the most effective.
(42:53):
Right, you'll have 5,000 pagesof legislation to DC right to
fix the problem, and what Larrywas proposing doesn't amount to
anywhere near that, but will bea lot more effective right yeah,
yeah, like dads, right yeah,kids need dads.
Kids need dads, kids need moms,kids need to finish high school.
(43:16):
Kids need to be able to read,write and, you know, do
arithmetic right.
We.
That should be the focus of oureducational institutions.
K through 12, period.
End of story, nothing else.
Well, when?
Kelly Tshibaka (43:29):
it comes to our audience and the whole question
of how do you take a stand andwhat do you stand for.
Some of the things that I heardhim say that I thought were good
takeaways are know your data,like, know the facts, know
what's true and have some ofthat in your back pocket.
And it was almost like hearinghim say because once you see,
(43:51):
you can't unsee, once you knowthe truth, then you have to do
something about it.
And something else I heard himsay, kind of in between the
lines, is you have to take astand for the things that move
you.
You don't see him out theretaking stands for things that
were that he was unaffected by.
You see him taking a stand inthe things that link directly to
(44:15):
his personal story.
I didn't know how he'd answerthose questions in the beginning
about his own personal story,but he has a fascinating story
and the things he's doing now,later in life tied directly to
experiences that his parents hadand that he had.
So knowing your data and thenthe things that move you, that
you see and you're kind ofshocked by doing something about
(44:37):
it.
And then actions speak louderthan words.
So so, doing something locallyand then don't just talk it,
live it.
He's walking the walk, not justtalking the talk.
Niki Tshibaka (44:51):
Well, you make the great.
you've made this point, I think,really effectively that we're
all products of our story, ofour history, and he's building
on a legacy that his parentsleft for him and it's a powerful
legacy, not just in terms ofwhat his father did, but
remembering what he said at thebeginning about his mother being
a Democrat, his father being aRepublican and them having very
(45:13):
robust and it seems likepassionate debates and dialogues
at you know, at the kitchentable, about their different
views and obviously having avery long and wonderful marriage
.
That's what we want for ourcountry, right?
We want that to be able to havedifferent views, to
(45:34):
passionately be able to debatethose different views and find
areas of agreement and where wedon't not resort to demonization
and division.
And so I thought again, his,his mother and father's story is
one of is powerful in the sensethat it's diversity in and of
(45:55):
itself, that diversity ofthought and perspective, but
unity within it, and that'sAmerica.
Kelly Tshibaka (46:02):
Yeah.
Niki Tshibaka (46:03):
That's who we are .
Kelly Tshibaka (46:04):
That's right.
It was a fascinatingconversation, so that's a wrap
for us All of you who arelistening.
You can find this episode onour website, standshow.
org, or follow us on YouTube atthe stand show.
Of course, you're posting onsocial media under Kelly for
Alaska.
If you are one of our faithfullisteners, we call you the
(46:26):
standouts.
So thank you for being astandout with us and we can't
wait to see you on the nextepisode of stand with Kelly and
Niki Tshibaka.
Until then, stand firm, standstrong and have a wonderful week
.
Hello America and hello Alaska.
Welcome to Stand where we learnfrom inspiring people who are
standing boldly for theirconvictions and ideas on how we
can improve our communities, ourcities and our country.
I'm Kelly Tshibaka.
I'm joined with my husband andco-host, Niki Tshibaka.
I cannot wait to introduce youto our fantastic guest, but
(00:27):
first remember to join ourcommunity of standouts by
subscribing to our show at thestand show on YouTube.
That's, at the stand show onYouTube.
You can also find us on ourwebsite, standshow.
org, or follow us on socialmedia.
Kelly for Alaska.
Remember to invite your friendstoo.
The greater impact we have willbe when we stand together.
(00:48):
And now let me introduce you toour fantastic guest for the day
.
Today we have Larry Elder, alsoknown as the Sage from South
Central.
He's a New York Timesbestselling author,
award-winning documentaryfilmmaker and one of the
best-known media figures inAmerica today His flagship daily
(01:09):
radio program, the Larry ElderShow.
The Larry Elder Show was heardevery weekday in all 50 states,
including here in the lastfrontier of Alaska, and on more
than 300 stations.
In 2021, larry ran a nationallyrenowned, bold and inspiring
campaign for Governor ofCalifornia.
In the recall effort againstGovernor Gavin Newsom, he took a
(01:33):
common sense and courageousstand for policies that promoted
sensible law enforcement ratherthan proliferating crime, and
booming housing rather than theballooning homelessness that
we're seeing.
And today, larry is taking abold stand again.
He is running for President ofthe United States.
He's also written a bookentitled as Goes California my
(01:56):
Mission to Rescue the GoldenState and Save the Nation.
And, larry, we totally love thepicture on the cover of your
book.
It's the best.
So we're truly honored to haveLarry Elder on our show today to
talk about his presidential run, and I want to emphasize this
If you want to support Larry,you can go to LarryEldercom.
That's LarryEldercom, larry.
(02:16):
Welcome to stand.
When more people hear yourmessage, I think the more
momentum you're going to gain.
Niki Tshibaka (02:21):
Speaking of people hearing your message, our
oldest daughter is in collegeright now and I was telling her
last night.
She's up at odd hours, so shewas calling us at around 11
o'clock and she was talkingabout stuff in college and I
said well, you know we're goingto be talking to Larry Elder
tomorrow and she said the LarryElder yes, larry Elder.
(02:43):
She said the Larry Elder yes,she's like I'm so jealous, and
the reason I share that with you, larry, is I think what struck
me about that is that your voiceis having a generational impact
, and so to hear a youngergeneration right, she's 19 years
old saying that she's beenimpacted and influenced by and
(03:07):
inspired by the stands thatyou've taken, by the policy
prescriptions that you've putout there, I think says a lot,
and so just wanted to encourageyou with that, that the people
who are listening it's acrossgenerations that that you're
impacting.
Larry Elder (03:25):
Well, you know, Niki, that is so flattering.
I've been on radio and TV foralmost 40 years.
I've had a column since Aprilof 1998.
That's around 12,000, 1200columns, rather about 30,000
hours of radio, new York Timesbest selling.
Often I've been debating theseissues for some 40 years and
every now and then a youngperson will come up to me and
say you know, my dad used tomake me listen to you while I
(03:47):
was being driven to and fromelementary school and little by
little I began saying dad, canyou cut on Larry Elder?
So it's really flattering tohear that.
Can I give you a little story?
I have often asked what aresome of the interesting things
that happened on the camp intrail.
This just happened.
Yesterday.
I was in DC and getting readyto come back to LA.
So we're at the Reagan NationalAirport and I'm in the restroom
(04:12):
Now.
My dad, as we may talk about inthe next few minutes, used to
clean toilets.
When we grew up my dad had twofull time job cleaning toilets
at the Bisco brand bread andthen he got another hookup at
another brand company calledBarbara and bread, where he also
cleaned toilets for almost 10years.
And so whenever I'm in arestroom and I see a janitor
there.
I always give the janitor a tip.
(04:33):
Nobody else does that.
I'm not saying thank you tomean anybody else, I'm just
saying I've just noticed nobodyelse does that.
So I'm in the in the bathroom,the janitor there, who happened
to be black and he appears to beabout 40 years old and he's
sweeping up and it's a verycrowded bathroom and I finished
my washing my hands and I withmy ball, and I pulled out a $20
bill and I gave it to him.
I said thank you, I startedwalking away and he went wow,
(04:57):
wow, you know it's gonna go.
It's gonna go right in thepocket of my daughter.
And I said well, that's why wehave no money.
And he said wait a minute, youdid.
You did got it running forpresident.
I see you on Fox Real loud.
I'm a Republican, I think, formyself.
I, like you, stand for.
By the way, I was listening toSteve Bannon podcast yesterday.
Other day he brought your nameup and it was a very positive
(05:18):
mind of a taken selfie.
Niki Tshibaka (05:20):
So we had a guy our picture.
Larry Elder (05:22):
All this happened in the bathroom at the Reagan
National Airport.
I have no idea how the otherpeople in the bathroom felt
about it.
Quite an experience.
Niki Tshibaka (05:30):
Hopefully they all have their backs to you.
That's fantastic.
And, speaking of your father,I'd like to start off by asking
the question about sort of yourupbringing in your background.
You grew up in a bipartisanhome, a mother who was a
Democrat and a father wasRepublican, and your father is
(05:52):
impressive figure to in and ofhimself, Staff Sergeant Randolph
Elder.
Back when FDR allowed all theraces to come and serve in the
military in 1941, your dad wasamong that initial force of
African American Marines whoenlisted at Camp Lejeune to
fight for their country and inso doing he became a pioneer for
(06:15):
racial equality.
So you have an amazing legacyof military service and the long
march to racial equality, andyour father in fact posthumously
won the Congressional GoldMedal.
So I'd like to ask you just twoquestions.
First of all, how did growingup in a bipartisan home shape or
(06:40):
influence the development ofyour political views and what?
was it like to receive, on yourfather's behalf, that
Congressional Gold Medal I meanit's the highest civilian honor
and to see him recognize as animportant figure in the history
of our country in the pursuit ofracial equality.
Larry Elder (07:01):
And not only did my dad get the Congressional Gold
Medal posthumously, but DanaWarbacher, republican
Congressman out here, arrangedfor him to have his medal
delivered to him at a ceremonyat Camp Hamilton.
All these stress marine colorsguys were there.
It's on YouTube.
It's Google Larry Elder, staffSergeant, larry Elder.
You can watch the wholepresentation and it was amazing
(07:22):
to all have all these peoplehonor my father like that.
It was extraordinary.
And my dad, as you pointed out,he was a lifelong Republican.
My mom was a lifelong Democratand, oh, it'd be a fly on the
wall during dinner or duringbreakfast when we were able to
have it together to hear themtalk.
And my mother had very strongviews, my dad had very strong
views.
They argued them verypassionately, but nobody called
(07:44):
anybody a fascist, nobody calledanybody a Nazi.
Nobody said you only care aboutthe rich, you don't care about
the poor.
They argued everything very,very aggressively but civilly
and I don't know why we can't.
We can't do that.
And, as I mentioned, my fatherclean toilets.
My father never knew hisbiological father.
My last name is elder, that wasthe name of some man who was in
(08:05):
his life the longest, who wasan alcoholic, who physically
would beat up his mom and whenmy dad tried to stop it, he beat
up my father, and his mom wasvery irresponsible.
He was the only child and shecouldn't either read nor write.
So my dad doesn't even know hisbirthday.
He knows a year, but it'sanother day, because she
couldn't even write it down inthe family Bible, because of
course, he wasn't born in ahospital and my dad came home at
(08:26):
the age of 13.
And he starts quarreling withmy mom, with his mom's then
boyfriend, and his mother sideswith the boyfriend and throws my
father out of the house, neverto return.
A 13 year old black boy.
Athens, georgia, jim Crow,south.
At the beginning of the GreatDepression, my dad said he
picked up trash, he cleaned outbarns.
Ultimately he became a poohmanporter on the trains.
(08:49):
They were the largest privateemployer of blacks in those days
.
So this young man from thesouth was able to travel all
around the country and he cameto this place called California
and a city called Los Angeles.
My dad was blown away, kelly.
He could walk through the frontdoor of a restaurant and get
served and sit down and getserved, and my dad always had
packages of crackers and tincans of tuna with him because in
(09:10):
the south never knew whetherhe'd be able to get a meal.
So my dad made a middle notemaybe Sunday I'll relocate to
California, pearl Harbor.
My dad joins the Marines.
And I asked him why and he saidtwo reasons.
They go where the action is andI love the uniforms.
So my dad was stationed on theisland of Guam and you mentioned
about my dad being a pioneer,nicky.
(09:31):
I gave a speech one time at aVeterans Affairs and I talked
about my dad a little bit andwhen the speech was over, this
man came up to me.
He's about maybe 95 years oldand he says I probably served on
the island of Guam with yourdad.
I said well, my dad was incharge of cooking, so my dad
(09:51):
probably served you a meal.
And he says no, he wouldn'thave because the military was
segregated in those days.
The black Marines were servedby black Marines and the white
Marines were served by whiteMarines.
So I went home that day and mydad was in the back of the house
, mom was in the front and Isaid mom, when dad was in the
military and he was in charge ofcooking facilities, did he
(10:12):
serve both black Marines andwhite Marines.
She said yes, both black andwhite Marines.
So I went in the back room Isaid, dad, when you were in the
Marines and you were cooking,were you serving both black
Marines and white Marines?
He said no, no, just blackMarines.
My mom didn't even know, Ididn't even I never explained
that this man that I didn't evenknow came up to me and said no,
I don't think so because ofthis, that and the other.
So my dad gets out of theMarines.
Kelly Tshibaka (10:33):
Wait, larry, let's take a short break.
We want to hear the rest ofyour story.
We'll be right back with LarryElder in a minute.
Stay tuned.
Music, music, music, music,music, music, music.
Larry Elder (11:11):
Music, music, music .
Another one and goes to anotherone.
He's told the same thing allthree times.
We don't hire niggers.
My dad goes to an unemploymentoffice.
The lady says you went throughthe wrong door.
My dad goes out to the hall.
She's colored, only goes tothat door to the very same lady
(11:32):
who sent him out.
She's wanted him to know whatthe rules were.
So my dad came home to my momand said this is nonsense.
I'm going to LA, where I wasbefore the war, and I'm gonna
get me a job as a cook and I'llsend for you.
So my dad comes out to LA.
He walks around for half a dayand he's told at every single
restaurant you don't have anyreferences.
My dad said I need referencesto make ham and eggs.
He even offered to work forfree to get a reference, a
(11:54):
written reference, and nobodywould do that.
So he treated him the same wayin LA as in Chattanooga, maybe a
little more polite.
He goes to the unemploymentoffice, this time just one door
Lady says I have nothing.
My dad says what time do youopen?
She says nine.
What time do you close?
She says five.
My dad said I'll be sitting inthat chair until you have
something.
My dad sat there for a wholeday, came back the next day.
She calls him up.
She says I have something.
(12:14):
I don't know whether you'regoing to want it.
My dad said, of course I'mgoing to want it.
I'm starting a family.
What is it?
She says a job cleaning toiletsand a Bisco brand brand.
My dad did that for 10 years.
Second full time job, as Imentioned earlier, with another
brand company, cook for a familyin the weekend.
Because he wanted to makeadditional money, because he
wanted my mom to be a stay athome mom, which she was until
the youngest of us was in middleschool and he went to night
(12:36):
school to get his GED.
And after getting that he wentback to night school to learn
how to operate a smallrestaurant.
Saves his nickels and dimes.
Age 47, starts a smallrestaurant near downtown LA.
When my dad retires he owns thatrestaurant the property below
it, little piece of propertynext door to it, plus the home
that's still in our family, nottoo shabby for an eighth grade
dropout after the Georgia JimCrow, when systemic racism was
(12:59):
systemic racism and myRepublican dad always told my
brothers and me Democrats wantto give you something for
nothing.
When you try and get somethingfor nothing, you almost always
end up getting nothing forsomething.
They used to drive my mom crazy, and he also brought my
brothers and me the followingHard work wins.
You get out of life what youput into it.
You cannot control the outcome,larry, but you are 100% in
(13:20):
control of the effort.
And before you moan or groanabout what somebody did or said
to you, go to the nearest mirror, look at it and ask yourself
what could I have done to changethe outcome?
And finally, no matter how goodyou are, how hard you work,
sooner or later bad things aregoing to happen to you.
How do you deal with those badthings?
Will tell your mother and me ifwe raised a man, and that's my
philosophy, that's what drivesme, that's what drives my
(13:42):
brothers and that's why, frankly, I have so little tolerance
when I hear this stuff aboutsystemic racism and how the man
is holding people back.
This is the only majority whitecountry that's ever voted, let
alone reelected, a blackpresident.
You can go from nothing tosomething faster in America than
you can in any other country inall of human history.
As you and I are speaking,there are Haitians and Haiti,
(14:04):
lining up for a shot at alottery to come into America.
Yet many people are deluded intobelieving that they're held
back by certain kinds of systems, when in fact, the formula to
escape poverty, as outlined by aleft-wing think tank called the
Brookings Institution, finishhigh school.
Make sure, by the way, you cangraduate from one where you can
read, writing and put it atgreat level.
(14:24):
That's why I support schoolchoice.
Don't have a kid before you're20 years old.
Get married first, get a job,keep a job, don't quit until you
get another one and avoid thecriminal justice system.
If you do that, you will not bepoor.
If you don't do that, there's areally good chance you will be.
That's the formula that weought to be telling people,
particularly so-called blackleaders like Barack Obama, al
Sharpton, jesse Jackson,farrakhan, when in fact, they're
(14:47):
doing the opposite tellingblack kids they're being held
back because of racism, and itdoes a great deal of damage to
race relations.
Plus, it is not true and you'reundermining the enthusiasm that
people ought to have towardsattacking life and doing the
kinds of things you need inorder to get ahead and your
personal story shows us that youknow.
Kelly Tshibaka (15:05):
going from what you told us about your dad of
facing real systemic racism, tohis son running for president
and being the front-runner forthe Republican Party for
governor in the recall againstGavin Newsom, what did you learn
in that incredibly difficultbattle?
The whole nation had its eyeson you.
Larry Elder (15:25):
It sure did.
In the hotel room the night ofthe election, kelly, we had four
TV sets One was on CNN, one wason Fox, one was on MSNBC and
one was on local ABC News, andseveral times all four of the
channels was talking about therace.
That's kind of out of body.
You're sitting in your hotelroom and you're just got off the
campaign trail and they'recounting the results and all
(15:48):
four of the three, the majorcable networks are talking about
you, plus the local news.
It's out of body.
What I learned is it's almostimpossible to win as a
Republican in California.
One has not won in almost 20years.
The reason I did the recall isbecause I figured if the ball
carried him the right way, Icould conceivably squeak in with
(16:08):
a little at 25% of the totalvotes cast, giving me about a
year and a half before he has torun, for I have to run for
another four years and betweenthen and the next time I have to
run, I could explain to peoplethat I don't have a horn, I
don't have a tail, and maybe,just maybe, their lives might
have improved a little bit and Ican get a fresh four.
But no one's won in Californiain almost 20 years as a
Republican, we're outnumberedthree to one registered
(16:32):
Republicans versus those who areregistered as something else.
And even in LA, where I live,we just had a mayoral race and
the Republican ish opponent.
He's Republican all his lifeand then he turned to be
independent and then, rightbefore he decided to run for
mayor, he switched his party toa Democrat, knowing full well
that people in LA don't pulltheir lever for somebody with an
(16:55):
R at the back of an A.
So he outspent the victoriousDemocrat 10 to one and he still
lost by almost nine points.
It's almost impossible to winnationwide.
In California, democratsdominate the state, which is why
I wrote that book AskelsCalifornia my Mission to Rescue
the Golden State and Save aNation.
Because it shows you whathappens when you have a
(17:16):
one-party state like California,two-thirds majority of
Democrats in the Senate,two-thirds majority of Democrats
in the Assembly, and they passevery job killing brain dead
bill after another, afteranother, after another, to the
point now, for the first time inCalifornia it's 170 year
history people are leaving.
The average price of a home inCalifornia is 175% above average
.
The test scores are near thebottom of all 50 states.
(17:40):
We have a serious homelessproblem, a serious illegal
immigration problem, a seriouscrime problem, all because of
the policies that people inCalifornia have consistently
voted for.
I was asked during the racewhether or not I supported term
limits.
I said yeah.
For voters, you vote two orthree times Democrats, you lose
your right to vote.
I was being facetious, butthere was a headline elder once
(18:02):
voters termed out.
Niki Tshibaka (18:07):
Oh, that race was obviously intense and it
highlighted something that wesee way too often, larry, where
it seems like people of colorwho are conservatives or
Republicans and who developedsome measure of social or
political influence and yours isbroad and deep they often
become targets of some of themost revolting threats and
(18:29):
attacks, which is really ironic,because supposedly we want
people of color to think forthemselves, and so the idea of
just going after a person ofcolor just because they happen
not to follow the, say, democratparty line is just really sad.
But during your run for governor, la Times columnist made an
(18:51):
absolutely horrendous commentabout you.
It's even hard for me to sayright now, but she called you
quote the black face of whitesupremacy, and that was shocking
in and of itself.
What was even more shocking tome was I don't remember seeing a
broad, widespread condemnationof her comments in the national
(19:13):
media, and I think that'ssymptomatic of a problem that is
pervasive, where you have a lotof black Americans, like the
janitor you mentioned at theairport, who actually agree with
your views and convictions butare afraid to take a stand
publicly for them for fear ofthe backlash.
What would you say to some ofthose folks, to encourage them
(19:38):
to get out into the publicsquare and not to be afraid of
taking a stand for what theybelieve, like you have.
Larry Elder (19:44):
Well, Niki, I've been called an Uncle Tom, a
bootlicking Uncle Tom, abug-eyed foot shuffling
bootlicking Uncle Tom theanti-Christ.
I've been called that name thatyou really want to hurt
somebody's feelings.
I've been called Republicaneven before I was a Republican.
But the thing that I fear mostbeing called is you're mistaken,
you're wrong.
I rarely hear that.
(20:05):
I hear a name calling.
When I talk about the fact thatthe police kill more unarmed
whites every year than they killunarmed blacks, very few people
tell me that I am wrong.
They often tell me I amdefending the white man,
whatever that means.
But what I really fear ismistating something, mistating
data.
I don't worry too much aboutthe shrill attacks, because it
shows you that you're completelyand totally out of ammo.
(20:27):
And what's ironic, Niki, aboutthis and about your question
you're asking me is we claimthat we want a diverse country.
I remember one time BrianGumbel was making some
derogatory comment aboutRepublicans.
He doesn't like the WinterOlympics, or he didn't at the
time, and he says something tothe effect of the Winter
Olympics reminds me of aRepublican convention, meaning
that there are very few blackparticipants.
Niki Tshibaka (20:49):
So when there is a black participant as a
Republican.
Larry Elder (20:51):
He then is maligned as a blackface of white
supremacy.
So what do you want?
You want black Republicans ordo you not want black
Republicans?
Which is it?
You can't win.
And Joe, I just the other daywent on the show called
Charlemagne the God.
Charlemagne the God is a verypopular radio host out of New
York.
He's got about four millionfollowers on Instagram, two
(21:12):
million on Twitter or a millionfollowers on Facebook.
He's got a real, real impactand he's what I call a black
victim, somebody who believesthat black people remain
oppressed and the disparitiesthat we can complain about have
to do with racism as opposed tocultural kinds of things and bad
choices people are making.
So I was on his show and threeagainst one and one demeaning
(21:38):
comment after another, afteranother, after another, and most
of the time I would make apoint and the response would be
some sort of emotional dig asopposed to here's why, here's
where you were wrong.
And I tried to explain to himthat this business about
referring to America as beingsystemically racist Not only is
it wrong, not only is itundermining people's initiative,
(22:01):
it's getting people killed,it's called the Furr-Decor, the
George Floyd effect, and that'sa phenomenon of pulling back all
over the country, as they havein the last few years, because
of being attacked, of havingbeen systemically racist.
Even the Democrat mayor ofChicago, rami Manuel, a couple
of years ago referred to theChicago PD as quote having gone
fetal, close quote, followingthat high profile shooting of
(22:23):
black person, meaning theyweren't doing their jobs.
Niki Tshibaka (22:26):
I mean sorry, let me stop you right there, larry.
We'll come right back withLarry Elder running for
president.
Stand by and we'll pick up whenyou come back.
Kelly Tshibaka (22:42):
We're back with Larry Elder.
Larry, you were just finishingup talking to us about your
thoughts on all things withblack America and how there's a
double standard for people whothink for themselves and choose
to be Republican.
Larry Elder (22:59):
Right and I was talking about the rather brutal
hour and six minutes I had withCharlemagne, the God out of New
York, because I'm talking aboutsome of the things going on in
the black community, and he saidto me, what have white people
done wrong?
And I said, charlemagne, whatare we talking about here?
70% of black kids into theworld without a father in the
(23:20):
home, married to the mother.
A young black man aged 10 to 43is 13 times more likely to be
murdered than a young white man.
Same demo the top cause ofpreventable death for a black
person 19 years and under ishomicide, almost always at the
hands of another 19 year old andyounger, whereas the top reason
(23:40):
for death for a white man 19and under is accidents like car
accidents or drug accidents.
Homicide is the fifth largestreason for the death of people
who are white, 19 and under.
5% of white people who are deadat 19 and under are dead
because of homicide.
We're 35% of black young people19 and under are dead because
(24:03):
of homicide.
We have a 50% urban dropout ratein many of our urban schools.
We have schools like Milwaukeewhere 13 public high schools.
0% of the kids can do math at agrade level, another half a
dozen.
Only 1% can.
That's half of all the publichigh schools in Baltimore, all
located in the inner city.
We're 0%.
Now, if you have those kinds ofconditions within the white
(24:24):
community, I'll talk to youabout that.
Right now we're talking aboutwhat's going on in the black
community and rather than saylet's deal with this, you're mad
at me for not outing the badthings that white people have
done.
It doesn't really make anysense.
It's not getting us anywhere.
It's not advancing the ball.
Kelly Tshibaka (24:39):
Those are really good points.
Speaking of advancing the ballyou're running for president, we
want to give you as much timeas possible to talk to us about
your presidential campaign.
We want to start off with twoquestions what would you tell
our audience distinguishes youfrom the crowd of candidates who
are running in thispresidential primary?
And, if elected president, whatwould some of your main policy
(25:01):
priorities be, whether foreignor domestic?
Larry Elder (25:04):
Well, what distinguishes me is that I am a
America first mega guy.
But we have an America firstmega guy running and he's got a
pretty commanding lead.
Why then are you running?
I'm running because I want toput front and center some issues
that the others are not talkingabout very much, if at all.
One of them we already talkedabout and that's the epidemic of
fatherlessness.
As I mentioned, 70% of blackkids into the world without a
(25:26):
father in the home married tothe mother, up from 25% back in
1965.
That's 25% of what I kids do,and the numbers are clear If
you're raised without a dad,you're five times we're likely
to be poor and commit crime,nine times we're likely to drop
out of school and 20 times we'relikely to end up in jail.
And we don't talk enough aboutthis.
All these kids need mentors.
I liken it to alcoholicsanonymous, where every single
(25:48):
recovering alcoholic has amentor.
And I'm urging all the babybloomers my generation who have
retired or about ready to retire.
They're still vigorous, theyraise kids, they nurture
grandkids to get involved andstep up and become sponsors.
And if you can't do that orwon't do that, how about lending
resources?
We're spending a lot of moneyat the federal level on programs
to reduce poverty.
They don't work.
(26:09):
The programs that do work arethe ones that are in
neighborhoods, ones done bychurches.
You ought to be able to takeyour tax dollars that have been
directed towards programs goingto Washington DC and redirect
those money for programs in yourown neighborhoods, and that's
what I'm going to be urging whenI become president.
The other big thing I want totalk about is the lie we talked
about this a little bit earlierthat America remains
(26:31):
systemically racist.
As I said earlier, not only isit getting people killed, it's a
Ferguson effect or the GeorgeFloyd effect.
It's also driving nonsense likereparations, which is my
opinion, is the extraction ofmoney from people who are never
slave owners to be given topeople who are never slaves.
It's driving stuff likerace-based preferences, which,
on the paper, sounds wonderful.
In reality, what it does iscause a mismatch between
(26:51):
students and campus and, as aresult, the so-called
beneficiaries of race-basedpreferences are often dropping
out when they would havefinished fine at a lesser
competitive school.
Then they drop out, they end upwith a lot of student debt,
they end up being angry.
All of it is pointless.
The other way it's gettingpeople killed is.
Take a look at the George Floydor the Black Lives Matter riots
of May of 2020.
(27:11):
They were four months long, 35people killed, largest riots and
protests in American history.
2,000 police officers werewounded, $2 billion of property
damage, maybe another billiondollars or two of uninsured
property damage.
Many of these properties weremom-and-pop restaurants or
businesses owned by the veryBlack and Brown people the
people claiming they care about.
More importantly, there is zeroevidence, however you feel,
(27:35):
about the treatment of GeorgeFloyd, and I thought the verdict
was a just verdict.
However you feel about thetreatment of George Floyd, there
is zero evidence he wasmistreated because of his race.
The lead prosecutor of Blackman took pains in his opening
statement to say the police ingeneral were not on trial.
The Minneapolis PD in generalwas not on trial.
This individual was on trialand Derek Shulin was never even
(27:56):
charged with a hate crime, butpeople are in the streets
because of an assumption thatwhat happened to George Floyd
had to do with his race.
This is the damage that themedia does and the Democrats do
in corrupting the way people seean issue.
For example, there's a websitecalled Policemaagcom and they
discussed a poll where peoplewho self-described as very
liberal and I dare say, of themillions of people who
(28:19):
participated in these protestsin 200 different cities,
probably most of them wouldprobably self-identify as very
liberal.
They asked very liberal peoplehow many unarmed Black men did
the police kill in 2019?
And, by the way, unarmed doesnot mean not dangerous.
Michael Brown was unarmed, buthis DNA was found on the
officer's gun.
But put that aside, how manyunarmed Black men did the police
(28:40):
kill in 2019?
50% of the self-described veryliberal people thought the
police killed 1,000.
Of those who self-described asjust liberal, 39% thought the
police killed 1,000.
The police killed, according tothe Washington Post database,
12.
Now, that's the gap betweenwhat people think is going on
and what really is going on.
And, as I said earlier, thepolice kill more unarmed White
(29:01):
men every year than unarmedBlack men, but most people could
not name an unarmed.
White person.
You can go on YouTube and typein the word Kelly Thomas,
fullerton Police.
It's a White man, homeless,mentally ill, and he was beaten
by the police over a longerperiod than was George Floyd
held.
And there's another one calledTony Tempa, t-i-m-like Mary P,
(29:22):
like Paul, a, dallas, texas, afew years ago, another mentally
ill guy held down.
I can't breathe.
I can't breathe.
Kind of the same scenario asGeorge Floyd and you can't even
name his name because it's notthe right race.
Nobody cares.
A few months ago we had thisincident on the subway in New
York where that retired Marine,daniel Penny, put a chokehold on
(29:45):
Jordan Neely protests on thesubway.
They got in the train tracksand blocked the subways and
ultimately Alvin Bragg broughtcharges against the Marine.
Zero evidence that he would nothave acted had Jordan Neely
been White.
Put that aside.
Three weeks earlier, I kid younot.
Tulsa, oklahoma, a homelessBlack man walks out to a White
(30:08):
man who has his back turned tohim, picks up a gun, shoots him
in the back of the head, killshim execution style.
Goes to another part of Tulsa,walks up to another White man,
pulls out a gun, shoots him,kills him execution style.
At mids.
He did it because they wereWhite.
Now he got caught.
But if it had been the other wayaround, we know his name, we
know the victims, we know theirnames, but because they weren't
(30:30):
the right race, nobody cares and, as a result, people get the
false impression that thishappens all the time, when in
fact, most homicides are samerace homicides.
Most Black people are killed byother Black people.
Most White people are killed byother White people.
By the way, every single yearthere are some interracial Black
, white or White Black homicidesabout 750 each year.
500 Whites are killed by Blacks, even though Blacks are just
(30:56):
13% of the population.
250 Blacks are killed by Whites, even though Whites are 60% of
the population.
So when there are interracialhomicides, it is more likely to
be a Black perp than a Whiteperp.
And if you look at violentcrime between Blacks and Whites
other than homicide by themtalking about attempted homicide
, manslaughter, rape, assaultwith a weapon there are roughly
(31:19):
between 500 and 600 such actsevery single year and 90% of the
case it's a Black perp and aWhite victim, only 10% the other
way around.
And these are the kinds ofthings I was trying to tell
Charlotte Mayn the God, and hishead almost exploded.
So it just isn't true.
Black people are not beingpursued by the police.
They're not being pursued byWhite supremacists.
(31:39):
Even though Joe Biden the otherday at Howard, gave a
commencement exercise, it saidthe number one threat to the
homeland was White supremacy.
Really, 25 people were killedwho were defined as extremists,
according to the Anti-DefamationLeague, last year, whereas in
2020, 11,000 Black homicidevictims, 90% of them were killed
by other Blacks.
I don't think very many of them,if at all, were killed by White
(32:02):
supremacists.
So it's a lie that's gettingpeople angry, and the reason
Democrats do it is because theywant Black people to go in there
and pull that lever for theDemocratic Party, because the
party has successfullycharacterized itself as a party
of social justice and equity,whatever that means, and they
successfully characterized theRepublican Party as a party of
figures and races.
I don't know how they pulled itoff, given the rather sordid
(32:24):
history of the Democratic Partythe party of slavery, party of
the Confederacy, party of JimCrow, the party of Dred Scott,
the party of the KKK, the partythat voted as a smaller
percentage for the Civil RightsAct of 1964 than did Democrats,
the party that is a party of thewelfare state that destroyed
the family and is a party thatopposes school choice, but
somehow they've convinced Blackpeople that they're the White
(32:47):
horse and these people over hereare wearing the black hat and
sitting on top of the blackhorse.
Niki Tshibaka (32:52):
It's amazing.
It's amazing what we're seeing,and you know, having lived
abroad my entire childhood Ithis is just from personal
experience, not data, but I can.
I can tell you one of thethings that surprised me when I
came here as a young man forcollege was wow, america really
treats people of all races somuch more equally and
(33:14):
respectfully than anywhere elseI'd ever been.
I'd experienced far more racismin Africa, south America, in
Europe, all places where I grewup than I ever have here.
That's not to say we don't havework to do, but everything that
you've been saying, larry, isjust common sense.
It's data, and until we, as ablack community and as a country
(33:36):
, can just embrace that and say,okay, the data speaks for
itself, we've got to change howwe're thinking about these
issues.
We're stuck, and so I reallyappreciate the fact that your,
your your voice, is out therebringing these issues to light
and speaking about these thingsreally boldly.
You're a prolific and engagingauthor.
(33:57):
In fact, you've written thatgreat new book as Goes
California my Mission to Rescuethe Golden State and then save
the nation.
I can't wait to read it andencourage our listeners to go
out and buy it too.
But following along those lines.
Let's like, let's take your,your, your writer's pen.
Oh, we're out of time, so we'llhave to save it first of other
time.
(34:17):
Larry, great to have you on theshow to our, to our listeners.
If you want to support Larry,be sure to go to LarryElder.
com.
That's LarryElder.
com.
Larry, thank you so much forbeing on the show.
We encourage you to keepstanding firm and standing fast.
And the same to our listeners.
Take care everybody.
(34:37):
This is Stand.
Larry Elder (34:40):
Kelly, thank you so much for having me, and you
know where to find me.
Niki Tshibaka (34:42):
Thanks, larry, you're always welcome here.
Kelly Tshibaka (34:44):
We wish you the best, Larry.
We're back on stand with Kellyand Niki Tshibaka, just having
ended a great interview withLarry Elder, former candidate
(35:04):
for governor of California, nowrunning for president of the
United States.
I thought that was afascinating interview.
Niki Tshibaka (35:12):
You know it really was.
As I'm thinking about it, oneof the powerful things that that
Larry brought to the table washis personal story and data
facts to support what his viewsare and what his approaches to
(35:35):
how we can improve the situationfor the black community in this
country.
It was, it was.
I mean, he just went like, factafter fact, data point after
data point.
And it's so important because,at the end of the day, in order
to solve a problem, you have toproperly diagnose it, and it's
it's just not helpful to say, ohwell, systemic racism and just
(35:59):
that those are the two words youthrow at every issue, every
problem as it relates to peopleof color.
That's not helping them, that'snot helping us.
I'm one of them.
What's helpful is what does thedata say?
How do you know?
And, taking from that data,what can we then do?
What kind of solutions can wethen put together for the
problem?
(36:19):
And so Larry did.
He said look, 70% of you knowblack kids are growing up
fatherless and we know thatthat's a big contributor to
poverty in the future andthey're more likely to engage in
crime, whether you're black,white or any race, if you grow
up without a father.
It's just that we were seeingan epidemic of this in the black
(36:40):
community, and so he had thedata and he had a solution for
it.
We've got to start working at acommunity level, community
levels across the country, toencourage and help black
families, poor families that arestruggling, say, in this kind
of an area, to fight backagainst the kinds of things that
(37:03):
are keeping them in the placethat they're in.
And I just thought that wasvery powerful and I love the
fact that it was a communitysolution.
Kelly Tshibaka (37:11):
It wasn't.
Niki Tshibaka (37:11):
Dc has to fix this, because what our
politicians will tell us?
Kelly Tshibaka (37:15):
no offense, sweetheart, but hey, I never
elected a lot of politicians.
Niki Tshibaka (37:20):
But?
But you know what politicianswill tell us is they they're the
ones who have the solutions andare the solution.
And really, I think, more oftenthan not, our communities
across the country are the onesthat have the solutions and are
the solution, and that's what Iheard Larry saying is like we
need.
That's why we need to redirectall these taxpayer dollars to
community organizations that areactually doing the work on the
(37:42):
ground and know what needs to bedone.
Kelly Tshibaka (37:45):
Yeah, I think he's I don't know what the word
is like a solutioner, but I likeyour solutionary.
Yeah, exactly the connection youmade that he.
He gave the data, but he didn'tjust stop there.
He then put it into ameaningful solution that could
actually deliver results andoutcomes, which is what makes
for good policy.
It's rooted in somethingbesides just, I feel, leology.
(38:08):
I feel, therefore, it'sdatabase.
But the other thing I reallynoticed is that when we said,
hey, the floor is yours, whatare you focusing on as president
and he could have said anythingthe stuff he chose to focus on
is actually born out of his ownstory and his experience, which
I thought is fascinating becauseit's almost like saying it
(38:29):
worked.
If it worked for me, then it'llwork for the rest of America,
which is true.
And you have someone whosefamily came from experiencing
incredible racism I don't thinkanybody could challenge that and
deep poverty and really had tostruggle to then live the
American dream.
They experienced what a lot ofpeople would say doesn't exist
(38:52):
anymore.
I don't believe that.
I know Larry wouldn't believethat your families live the
American dream, and so is mine,but he would say we could make
that a reality for everybody byputting these things in step in
place, and one of them is family, family values, like you're
saying, the solutions for, Iwould say, parentlessness,
(39:14):
whether that's fathers ormothers we sure are seeing a lot
of single fathers he saysputting solutions in place for
education.
You know, like he said,sometimes people are going out
through all the grades of schooland they're still graduating
without literacy or mathproficiency.
We need to solve that.
What he would say, and thesolutions coming through the
(39:36):
community rather than from topdown capital based solutions,
community oriented solutions,education solutions, family
solutions that's what worked inLarry's home and community to
create a whole different outcomeand reality.
And so then if we could justduplicate, replicate that across
(39:57):
America, wouldn't that work forevery home and every community?
I think logically, the answeris yes is we've talked about the
family unit.
Is the base economic unit inAmerica.
It's the base morality unit,it's the base support unit, is
the base everything.
Stronger families make astronger America.
So I think it's interesting tohear a presidential candidate
(40:19):
not just local candidates orschool board candidates focus on
these grassroots issues andreally refreshing perspective
from somebody who's been at alllevels.
The other thing I thought wasinteresting is right at the end
he started to talk about thecommunication part when he was
kind of comparing andcontrasting across the aisle.
(40:39):
I thought it was great that hedidn't beat up other people in
his party but instead contrastedhimself with who the opponent
would be on the other end of theticket to say it's interesting
that they would say that they'rethe party who does this one.
Actually they did this, butthey communicate something
different.
I think something that wouldsell Larry Elder part is his
vast experience in communication.
(41:01):
To be able you know, we didn'thave to ask a lot of questions,
he just talked but to be able tocommunicate effectively.
This is the history of theexperience of the Republican
Party.
This is what we stand for.
We don't need to sling mud andget into name calling, because
we need to talk about the ideasand the policies and the
(41:22):
solution rather than get intohostilities.
I thought that was interesting.
Niki Tshibaka (41:29):
You're right that that does make his voice part
of what makes his voice uniqueamong the other candidates
buying for the Republicannomination and, to your point as
well, the one being the hisability to communicate so
effectively and so well, butalso, like you said, the focus
(41:49):
on community action, communitygrassroots working together to
resolve our countries issues.
Right, I haven't heard that muchfrom from many of the
candidates and I've beenlistening pretty closely, and so
I think that's that's a uniquething that we need to hear more
(42:10):
about and, as a country not justas a part, as a country think
more about and talk more about,not in a combative way, but
really in a way where we canreally engage in some robust
dialogue and debate on to cometo a good solution.
Right, because ultimately wewant every American, no matter
what race, no matter what gender, no matter what sexual
(42:32):
orientation, we want Americans,all Americans, to thrive and to
be able to experience the fruitsof, you know, the American
dream.
And that seems to be what hisfocus is.
And it's interesting, as Ithink, with all kinds of
solutions to major problems,oftentimes the simpler ones are
the most effective.
(42:53):
Right, you'll have 5,000 pagesof legislation to DC right to
fix the problem, and what Larrywas proposing doesn't amount to
anywhere near that, but will bea lot more effective right yeah,
yeah, like dads, right yeah,kids need dads.
Kids need dads, kids need moms,kids need to finish high school.
(43:16):
Kids need to be able to read,write and, you know, do
arithmetic right.
We.
That should be the focus of oureducational institutions.
K through 12, period.
End of story, nothing else.
Well, when?
Kelly Tshibaka (43:29):
it comes to our audience and the whole question
of how do you take a stand andwhat do you stand for.
Some of the things that I heardhim say that I thought were good
takeaways are know your data,like, know the facts, know
what's true and have some ofthat in your back pocket.
And it was almost like hearinghim say because once you see,
(43:51):
you can't unsee, once you knowthe truth, then you have to do
something about it.
And something else I heard himsay, kind of in between the
lines, is you have to take astand for the things that move
you.
You don't see him out theretaking stands for things that
were that he was unaffected by.
You see him taking a stand inthe things that link directly to
(44:15):
his personal story.
I didn't know how he'd answerthose questions in the beginning
about his own personal story,but he has a fascinating story
and the things he's doing now,later in life tied directly to
experiences that his parents hadand that he had.
So knowing your data and thenthe things that move you, that
you see and you're kind ofshocked by doing something about
(44:37):
it.
And then actions speak louderthan words.
So so, doing something locallyand then don't just talk it,
live it.
He's walking the walk, not justtalking the talk.
Niki Tshibaka (44:51):
Well, you make the great.
you've made this point, I think,really effectively that we're
all products of our story, ofour history, and he's building
on a legacy that his parentsleft for him and it's a powerful
legacy, not just in terms ofwhat his father did, but
remembering what he said at thebeginning about his mother being
a Democrat, his father being aRepublican and them having very
(45:13):
robust and it seems likepassionate debates and dialogues
at you know, at the kitchentable, about their different
views and obviously having avery long and wonderful marriage
.
That's what we want for ourcountry, right?
We want that to be able to havedifferent views, to
(45:34):
passionately be able to debatethose different views and find
areas of agreement and where wedon't not resort to demonization
and division.
And so I thought again, his,his mother and father's story is
one of is powerful in the sensethat it's diversity in and of
(45:55):
itself, that diversity ofthought and perspective, but
unity within it, and that'sAmerica.
Kelly Tshibaka (46:02):
Yeah.
Niki Tshibaka (46:03):
That's who we are .
Kelly Tshibaka (46:04):
That's right.
It was a fascinatingconversation, so that's a wrap
for us All of you who arelistening.
You can find this episode onour website, standshow.
org, or follow us on YouTube atthe stand show.
Of course, you're posting onsocial media under Kelly for
Alaska.
If you are one of our faithfullisteners, we call you the
(46:26):
standouts.
So thank you for being astandout with us and we can't
wait to see you on the nextepisode of stand with Kelly and
Niki Tshibaka.
Until then, stand firm, standstrong and have a wonderful week
.
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