Actor Wendell Pierce shares personal experience with housing discrimination

Last week, Tony Award-winning actors Wendell Pierce entered the conversation around diversity when he tweeted a fiery message of solidarity to the women of the Fearless Fund, who we featured on this show as a federal appeals court came down last week, halting one of his grant programs after an anti diversity group claimed it was a civil rights violation for centering Black women entrepreneurs. Joining me now is Tony award-winning actor Wendell Pierce. Wendell, thanks for being here. We've followed the struggles of the Feelers Fund over the last year since they were first sued by an anti diversity group claiming their group their grant program for Black women entrepreneurs was a civil rights violation. I spend a lot of time with the women behind the the fund as head of National Action Network, even had rallies and marched with them and they were at our March on Washington and and, and they're plotting their next step after federal appeals courts altered the program last week. What was it specifically about their story that made you speak out as diversities that being attacked nationwide by conservatives? Well, the thing that just made me incensed was as a businessman myself, a believer in the free market and the free enterprise, You know, there's a saying that all business folks in America say, you know, you don't tell me how to spend my money. And the fact that black women came together to help other black entrepreneurs, I think is a noble thing and a good thing. And it to have this organization led by Edward Blum actively going out to stop what they say they want to see people do pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. And I just was incensed that it was so anti American, that decision that I felt like I should use my platform to shed some light on it, that not enough people knew about it, that this was a stealth attack really to our community. That what happened with the Supreme Court decision last year, the year before ending affirmative action with the Pandora box that opened it up. And this is a private group wanting to support another private, private individuals and being stopped by someone who didn't even have anyone in the case to be injured. And so that that incensed me and I and I, I just decided to speak out. Your pulse about the Fearless Fund came out of an experience you claimed you had last year when you were denied an apartment rental here in Harlem by a white landlord. Would you elaborate on what happened? My cousin, my younger cousin graduated from Howard. He was coming to get his first job in New York City and I was going to support him and getting an apartment since it was his first job. I gave them all of my credentials, my bank statements, my tax returns, how much money I had earned over the next last couple of years. And I saw that this was A and I was denied and I was denied. I'm on 2 television shows right now. Reverend Sharpton. I, I'm shooting a film Superman right now. I just finished, I'm doing Superman I, I just finished four years of Jack Ryan overseas all around the world. And that still wasn't good enough. And then I offered them an entire to pay the entire year's rent in advance and it was still that wasn't good enough with him. And then that's turned down an entire year's rent in advance that length the term of the contract. And so I realized then that reminded me of everything that my parents and their generation went through, that Moses generation that gave me a great responsibility as a part of the Joshua generation to continue fighting the fights that they had gone through. I'm from Punch a train park in New Orleans, LA. It only came about because black folks were denied access to the burgeoning post World War Two suburbia. My father, my father fought in the battle of side pan. You know, Mr. Berkshire was just here talking about black veterans is going to celebrate his 80th anniversary June 15th. He came back and he wasn't allowed to purchase a home wherever he wanted to in New Orleans. So they started the advocacy of finding to fight against housing discrimination and created Punch a Train park, right? It became a thriving black middle class, working class neighborhood of New Orleans. It's on the National Register of Historic Places now. And I have a great responsibility to them to never lose the ability to be offended when I see something like this happened. Not only to me. I gave that as an antidote so people would understand the fights that we have. They recognize something in that story that connected with them. They were by the grace of God go I and that shed the light on what's happening with the Fearless Fund. It's a concerted effort to stop black folks from having a fulfilled life. That, that that's why it is so important to me to call out people like Congressman Daniels and says something in any way, shape or form that acts like Jim Crow was not the impediment to blacks and black families being able to do what other families could do in this country. Including people like your father that fought for this country, absolutely fought and loved this country when this country didn't love them back. And the thing that is so insidious about it is the fact that they're using laws that were in place at the end of the 19th century to protect those African Americans who were newly freed out of enslavement so that they can participate in contracts, in personal, private contracts, and they wouldn't be discriminated against. And that that's a concerted effort. This racist irony of we're going to use the law that protected them to actually impede them now, you know, 150 years later. And if we don't speak out, we are going to fall victim to a very stealth, very well organized, very well funded effort to stop what's happening, progression in the black community when it comes to education, opportunities in business and health care. Whatever this law, if this ruling is allowed to go on, we're saying that if I wanted to help a disabled athlete go to the Paralympics, I can't do that because it's discriminate against someone who is able bodied. That's the the craziness that the irony in it. And so we can't let that happen. And as you well know, there was a saying in the civil rights movement when evil people plot, good people have to plan. And that's what I'm trying to shed light on. What do you challenge people from your platform? Respected award-winning actor? You don't have to speak out. Unfortunately, they're not many doing what you're speaking out doing. What should people be doing to stop this? First of all, become aware of it, right? Most people don't even know about the fearless fun case. The black women who want to support other black women in business aren't allowed to do it. You don't tell JP Morgan they can't create an investment fund or go into tax, new market tax credits or anything like that because they're supporting someone that they want to support. If you want to, we have funds on Wall Street where if you want to support companies that are only doing climate change, you can because that's your interest. And to say that you can't support Black women specifically to go after Black folks who want to support Black folks who have been discriminated against getting money. Only 1% of the $300 billion spent in capital venture in this country last year was given to Black women. So Black women said we're going to get ourselves together and support ourselves. And then you have people who are stealthily coming to attack them. I ask people to become aware of it because it's under the radar. We need to shed light on it. Support organizations like like the LDF, the National Association of the N, Double ACP, the Legal Defense Fund, support your organization when it comes to housing discrimination. I didn't pursue it, but I knew that there are organizations like the National Fair Housing Alliance that does that sort of work to protect you. So we have over generations put into place the blueprint and organizations to combat and fight this. All I ask is that people join the fight. This is a Clarion call, a call to action. When evil people plot, good people have to plan.