Reggie Watts Feels Fortunate to Have Grown up Protected from Racism

Bi-racial actor and musician Reggie Watts revealed on The Late Late Show with James Corden in June 2020 that he was fortunate to have parents who protected him from racism growing up.

Corden started the show on a passionate and optimistic note where he talked about the need for societal change following George Floyd’s death that happened on May 25, 2020. The incident sparked a wave of nationwide protests after the live footage went viral.

Watts virtually appeared on the show during the pandemic where they talked about racial discrimination in the United States, along with his personal life experiences. When asked by the host, Corden, about how he was feeling, the bandleader replied, “I don’t know. Feeling so much simultaneously. It’s crazy.”

Watts Is Grateful Towards His Parents for Giving Him a Normal Life

The 48-year-old comedian also spoke about his life journey and his parents. Watts is bi-racial — his mother was French, and his father was African-American. He considered himself fortunate because his parents protected him growing up against different forms of racism in his neighborhood. 

I was fortunate to grow up in a place where I was pretty protected by my parents when it came to race, forms of racism that happened in my neighborhood.

The musician referred to his mother as a fierce fighter who would get out of the house and talk to people’s faces when any sort of bullying happened. Watts is grateful towards his parents, who fought so hard to raise him with an everyday life and have him feel “like a human being rather than a demographic.”

Watts also spoke about how his father had tough times as he didn’t get any jobs after getting out of the army just because of the color of his skin. He had to reenlist and go back to Vietnam. The Montana native said his parents’ marriage wasn’t recognized because the laws prohibited interracial marriage.

I have this history of the black community in the Midwest that I don’t access a lot because there’s a lot of pain and emotion there.

Watts Broke Down Talking about the Discrimination He Faced

The musician then started sobbing, talking about his family and said: “It’s hard. There’s so much happening.” Corden felt sorry that his friend had to go through it. “Oh man, I’m so sorry that you’re feeling that. I would give anything to be in a room with you and put my arm around you,” Corden said, getting emotional. 

Watts opened up about how you represent your entire crew if you’re a person of color. He grew up all his life fighting just to be a human; he added. He also talked about being responsible and trying his best to process with the platform he has.

" I'm trying my best to process and be responsible with the platform I have. But mostly, I just am feeling so much, it's hard for me."

Corden ended the segment by saying, “You’re special” to Watts as well as the viewers and showed footage from British rapper Dave’s performance of his song titled, ‘Black’ at Brit Awards, UK. 

The song was written after a period of race issues in Britain, including The Green fell fire that killed many more residents, and a group of immigrants named Windrush Generation was put under threat. The singer also mentioned his friend, Jack Merrit, who was working on improvising prisoner rehabilitation when he was killed during a London Terror Attack.

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