Amber's Late Night Safe Space

-As we've discussed here, violent riots erupted
in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend.
Here to talk about it is one of our writers,
Amber Ruffin.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Hey. -Hey, how are you, Amber?
-Hey, I'm all right. Hey, Seth.
Hey, everybody.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Yeah, now I -- I planned on coming out here tonight
to talk about Charlottesville
and Trump's crazy press conference.
I was going to tell everybody to take a stand,
to not be discouraged, and to keep up the fight.
And I truly believe that.
But, it's just too much right now.
I have a lot on my race plate.
-Yeah, I'm sure it's very hard.
-It is, and I bet a lot of minorities feel the same way.
-And what way is that?
Tired, but in a black way.
Weary.
Tired of people acting like racism is new.
Tired of people telling me to see things from both sides.
Tired of people asking me if I'm related to the "Bachelorette"
just 'cause she's black.
-And you're not. -Second cousins,
but that's not the point.
[ Laughter ]
Black people are coping with a lot right now.
But it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.
And it's important to take care of yourself.
So, you know what?
Instead, I'm going to take you to some place new.
-What? Where are we going?
-To my safe space. Come on!
-All right. Let's do it!
[ Cheers and applause ]
A safe space? -Yep.
A safe space is a place you can go to where
it's safe to do whatever you want.
You can just be yourself.
And no ones going to say or do anything
that makes you uncomfortable.
It's kind of like Facebook after you un-friend
all the people from your hometown.
Welcome to my safe space.
♪♪♪♪
-Whoa.
♪♪♪♪
And you're allowed to have this here?
-I am since I told everyone it's yours.
-And they believed you?
-Well, they said, "Seth wanted a poster of Maxine Waters?"
And I said, "Why wouldn't he?"
And they didn't argue.
Being black in America is tough, and people shouldn't be afraid
to take the time they need to stay strong.
-So, now that we're here, are you upset about --
[ Garbled speech ]
-Wait, why can't I say it?
-'Cause this is my safe space.
It won't let you say it.
There's a lot of things you can't do in here.
Here, try to touch my hair.
-Okay.
[ Laughter ]
[ Electricity crackling ]
-Whoa. -Yeah.
Margarita? -Yeah.
Are margaritas a black thing? -No.
Margaritas are an Amber thing.
Not all black people have the same safe space,
and not everything in here is a black thing.
Look, here's a coaster of Chris Evans.
[ Laughter ]
-That's Chris Pine. -Chris something, he's cute.
[ Light laughter ]
-I mean, this is great.
I wish I had a safe space.
-Seth, you're white.
You have a safe space. It's called America.
This is where I can say and do things that I can't
when white people are around.
Like this.
Sometimes instead of ask, I say axe!
[ Light laughter ]
It's fun. try it. -Try what?
-Yelling something you wouldn't yell
in front of black people. -Oh, I don't know.
-Come on. -Okay.
I think Al Sharpton is a bit much!
[ Laughter ]
-We all do.
[ Laughter ]
Seth, what do you think of my safe space?
-Well, this is fun.
But it kind of just feels like chillin' out.
-It is, but for black people it has become very hard
to find a place where you can just chill out.
Every day there's another tragedy, another hate crime,
another shooting,
another public mispronunciation of a black name.
And you need a place where you can come to, to deal with it.
-And you need that at work? -Yeah.
The other day I read a headline about a little girl
who got kicked out of school for having an afro.
And it hit me really hard, but when I came into the office,
no one had even heard the story.
They were seeing who could remember how to do the Macarena.
So, I came in here, dealt with my feelings,
went back to the office and told them that it was
this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this,
this, this. -♪♪ Hey, Macarena ♪♪
Sorry, I'm a little tipsy.
-It's your first one. -It's your first one!
[ Light laughter ]
Sorry, I just such a stressful weekend
with all those neo-napkins.
Sorry, I was trying to say neo-napkins.
Hey -- what's happening?
-You can't say the word you wanted to say in here.
-Oh, my goodness. Let me try another one.
White supermarkets.
-You can't say that either. -Okay, one more.
Adolf Hilfiger.
[ Laughter ]
That's great.
-Safe spaces give you the energy you need
to deal with the world's bull [ Bleep ].
I look around at my heroes and the loves of my life...
[ Laughter ]
...and I know that I'm not alone.
And if they can do it, so can I.
-Wow, and you get all that from your safe space?
-Yup.
Why can't the "Big Bang Theory" have just one black character?
-When we have rappers on the show,
I always worry I'm going to shake their hands wrong.
-I never watched "The Wire."
-I've watched "The Wire" five times, and it's the first thing
I tell black people.
-I don't like Rachel Dolezal, but I would let her do my hair.
-I don't recognize three of the women in these posters.
[ Laughter ]
-All right, I'm recharged.
Let's bounce.
Bounce means leave and bounce.
♪♪♪♪
-So, are you ready to talk about last weekend now?
-Yeah, it makes me sick.
How are we supposed to cope with all this [ Bleep ]?
Everyday it's some new -- You know what?
I think I might need some more time in my safe space.
Okay.
-We'll be right back with more "Late Night"!
[ Cheers and applause ]

Amber's Late Night Safe Space

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