Louis C.K. On ‘People Just Accepting That I’m White’
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Photo by Katy Winn/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Louis C.K. shared his viewpoint on race in Rolling Stone‘s cover story on the comedian, which hit newsstands on Friday.
C.K. was born in California, but lived in his father’s native Mexico from the age of one to around the age of seven. He later moved to Boston.
C.K. says he never picked up a Bostonian accent because of his time in Mexico. He told Rolling Stone, “I was a little kid, so all I had to do was completely reject my Spanish and my Mexican past, which is a whole lot easier because I’m white with red hair. I had the help of a whole nation of people just accepting that I’m white.”
C.K. believes America’s perspective on race has changed over time. He asked, “[President] Obama’s black, but he’s not black the way people used to define that. Is black your experience or the color of your skin?”
He added, “My experience is as a Mexican immigrant, more so than someone like George Lopez. He’s from California. But he’ll be treated as an immigrant. I am an outsider. My abuelita, my grandmother, didn’t speak English. My whole family on my dad’s side is in Mexico. I won’t ever be called that or treated that way, but it was my experience.”
C.K.’s new stand-up special, Oh My God, premieres on HBO on Saturday night.
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