The perpetual struggle for racial equality in America has manifested in myriad forms. In the 19th century, it was made manifest in the slave rebellion of Nat Turner and the armed insurrection of John Brown, the searing rhetoric of Frederick Douglass and the abolitionist strategizing of Harriet Tubman. In the 20th century it took on even greater variety, as the struggle to shake off the poisonous effects of Jim Crow developed into the noble efforts of the Freedom Riders as fought for by the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. W.E.B. DuBois’ talented tenth push segued slowly into the determined electoral populism of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, creating such landmarks as the 1993 election of Carol Moseley Braun, the first black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate. But the 21st century has been blessed with a new voice of racial uplift, and his name is Rob Schneider.
After permanently bridging the divide between Mexican-Americans and Rob Schneider—some might say tearing down the wall of mutual distrust between the two countries via the power of holy matrimony and short-lived CBS sitcoms—the sort-of-actor is turning his attention to the bleeding wound of black people’s racial progress, by ignoring the bleeding wounds suffered by a man during the struggle for black people’s racial progress. Schneider looked at the recent words uttered by Rep. John Lewis—the last surviving member of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders instrumental in creating the 1963 March On Washington—in which the activist challenged the legitimacy of Donald Trump’s presidency. There, the Deuce Bigalow star saw a failure of understanding. So he took to Twitter to educate a man who personally worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. about the values of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Many were quick to suggest the guy who made his directorial debut with a film touting the hilarious aspects of prison rape might not be the best person to lecture someone who was literally beaten at sit-ins about the importance of commitment to the cause of civil rights. But such concerns are short-sighted. Indeed, Rob Schneider would be the first to point out that sometimes it takes someone on the outside of a situation to accurately evaluate it, much like how he has a great understanding of Grown Ups 2 since he wasn’t invited back. Rob Schneider, American historian of Martin Luther King, Jr., would doubtless have similarly wise words about all such conflicts. Which is why we have the following tweets, which we totally found in his drafts folder and didn’t Photoshop ourselves minutes ago. Behold, the sagacious historical acumen of Rob Schneider: