Susan Sarandon on Charlottesville and Why America Still Isn't Stable or Free

-It's tough doing a show on nights like this because it's...
-Yeah. -...it's tough telling jokes
about that, but how do you take it in when you saw
what happened this past weekend?
-[ Sigh] Well, I think we have to own it.
-Yeah. -I think we have to admit
that this is a systemic problem.
I mean, this country was founded on a genocide
of Native Americans, and on the back of slaves,
and I don't think we've ever really dealt with that.
So this is something that goes very deep,
and as you said with your daughters,
you know, you have to teach hate.
They don't come out that way.
So I think that the way you deal with it
is to do as much as you can.
I mean, on her last post, Heather said,
"If you aren't outraged then you're not paying attention,"
and I think this is an amazing opportunity
for people to pay attention. -It is, yeah.
-And to have these conversations.
[ Applause ]
You know, everyone in mainstream media,
the president, everyone was quiet
during standing rock. Nobody covered that.
No one seemed to be outraged that the strip searching
and, you know, labeling, and rubber bullets,
and people losing eyes, and arms.
People didn't even know about that,
and until people don't have to say "black lives matter"
we're not free.
-Yeah, you have to.
I mean, you're always an activist.
You were, well, since I've known you,
but have you always been a...? When did you start?
-I'm so old that in the day...
[ Laughter ]
...when I was going to school, you know,
you saw much clearer what was going on.
-Yeah. -You saw what was happening
in Vietnam.
If you had half a brain, and you were young,
and you were idealistic you protested.
You saw what was going on in the South with segregation.
Now we don't see as much unless you're on alternate,
you know, "Democracy Now!" or "The Young Turks,"
or whatever, you're not getting the images.
You see, you know, a lot of stuff online,
and I think that's why the Millennials
are way, way ahead of everybody else,
because they see actually what's going on.
So when I was growing up, the issues were clearer.
As everyone my age became landed gentry
and kind of became the establishment,
maybe they were less active.
But, I guess, maybe it's...
I mean, I used to alternate my doll's dresses
just to make sure that not one doll got,
you know, all the nice dresses.
[ Laughter ]
-No favoritism among doll collection.
-Yeah, so I have like a really, some kind of innate,
sense of justice, and also I'm in a profession
where you're encouraged to use your imagination,
which means that then you have empathy.
So then what do you do?
So, I'm constantly developing that muscle in my business
to identify with people that don't have a voice
or with mothers all over, whether it's Nicaragua
or whether I'm not -- it's poor mothers
or, you know, what's happening now,
this enormous distance between the rich and the poor.
Until everybody can make a descent wage,
and get health care, and get education,
we can't expect to be a stable country,
and a lot of places have been able to do it,
so we have to ask ourselves what's keeping us, you know,
from the richest nation in the world, supposedly.
Why don't we have these things?
And we have to hold people responsible that we elect,
and look at their ties
to big business and everything else,

Susan Sarandon on Charlottesville and Why America Still Isn't Stable or Free

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