David Byrne reveals he previously held unconscious “racial biases”
Talking Heads frontman David Byrne has admitted to previously holding “racial biases”, which existed on an unconscious level.
Byrne described these views as “inner biases” which he’s worked hard to rid himself of in the last few years. The musician has taken a deep look at himself and learned to ignore society’s stereotypes of certain ethnicities.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Byrne reflected on his life and used his new perspective on race as an example of how he’s changed. “Well, I realized quite a few years ago that as much as I might like to deny it, I harboured a lot of racial biases. At that point, a younger liberal person would say, Oh, I’m not racist, or I believe in equality. But at the same time, I was aware that I was also harbouring these inner biases that I could occasionally sense,” he explained.
Byrne continued: “I realized I may rationally say that I’m not racist, but I have implicit biases that I would like to deny, but they’re there. Overcoming those is more difficult than just rationally saying, Oh, no, that’s not right. Those beliefs and biases, whether they’re about race or women’s rights or whatever they might be, those things can take a long time to fundamentally change within us.”
The Talking Heads vocalist also explained how he’s used his art to widen his perspective on life, adding: “I would like to think that I’ve been engaged in that process and was trying in American Utopia to demonstrate that that can be done. That kind of change can happen, but it doesn’t happen with this snap of fingers.”
In 2020, Byrne issued an apology for wearing Blackface during a promotional skit to promote the Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense in 1984. He sincerely stated: “To watch myself in the various characters, including black and brown face, I acknowledge it was a major mistake in judgement that showed a lack of real understanding.”
Byrne concluded by writing: “It’s like looking in a mirror and seeing someone else- you’re not, or were not, the person you thought you were.”
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