(AllHipHop News) When Barack Obama was elected President of The United States in 2008, many social commentators were ready to declare America had entered a “post-racial” era. Six years later race is still one of the most divisive topics in this country, and charges of racism and discrimination are routinely part of the national discussion, leaving some citizens to feel the idea of a “post-racial” America is a fantasy.
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Chicago emcee Vic Mensa appears to be one of those people that is not buying the belief the nation has moved beyond racial issues. While speaking with Montreality, Mensa was asked to give his thoughts on “the biggest lie in the world,” and the “Down On My Luck” performer directed his answer toward what he sees as systemic racism in the American culture.
Mensa said:
A very significant lie to my life and where I’m from is the lie of racial equality in America and integration. People tend to look at today’s society – a lot of people want to look at it like it’s a post-racial society, just kind of ignoring the fact that the racism is ingrained in the legislation of the laws that we live by. Drug sentencing laws and everything from the smallest to the biggest interval in our society is really run by a big web of lies. I definitely think that the United States government is a large lie.
Mensa burst onto the music scene in 2013 with his critically acclaimed mixtape Innanetape. He was later selected as one of 2014’s XXL Freshman class members.
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Watch Vic Mensa’s interview below.