Some Words of Wisdom from Morgan Freeman

I didn’t catch the 60 Minutes interview between Mike Wallace and Morgan Freeman when it aired, but I heard some highlights of the interview on The Larry Elder (Radio) Show. I later did a search on the web to find the interview and fortunately, the CBS News website has the video of the parts of the interview that piqued my interest. I have always appreciated Morgan Freedman’s talent as an actor, but I had no idea of his philosophical views on life. I’m sure that this is only a small look at what Morgan Freeman is all about, but from what I have heard from him so far…I am very impressed. I felt that these words of wisdom form Morgan Freeman deserved to be repeated here if nowhere else.

Mike Wallace:

“Black History month you find…”

Morgan Freeman:

(Interrupts) “Ridiculous.”

Mike Wallace:

“Why?”

Morgan Freeman:

“You're going to relegate my history to a month?”

Mike Wallace:

“Oh, come on”

Morgan Freeman:

“What do you want me to do with yours? What, which month is White History Month?”

Mike Wallace:

“Well ahhh…”

Morgan Freeman:

“Well, come on.”

Mike Wallace:

“I’m Jewish.”

Morgan Freeman:

“Okay. Which month is Jewish History Month?”

Mike Wallace:

“There isn’t one.”

Morgan Freeman:

“Ohhhhhhh. Why not? Do you want one?"

Mike Wallace:

“No, No,”

Morgan Freeman:

“I don’t either. I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.”

Mike Wallace:

"How can we get rid of racism?"

Morgan Freeman:

“Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You wouldn't say, ‘Well, I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.’ You know what I'm sayin’?”

Freeman’s previous statement transcends the race issue. He doesn’t want to be known as ‘a black man’ he wants to be known as an individual…an individual named Morgan Freeman. How novel! How refreshing is this? In a time when many of us want to be identified as part of a group, one man stands up and wants to be seen as an individual.

The interview continues…

Morgan Freeman:

“There is racism…”

Mike Wallace:

(agreeing) “Right.”

Morgan Freeman:

“…but racism is not the end all. It’s not the reason for everything, ya know you cannot…I find it, I do find it convenient for a lot of people in a lot of areas to say ‘I couldn’t do this because of racism’. And I, ah, people say ‘Easy for you to say.’ Well yeah it is easy for me to say because of where I am. I mean, where did I come from…I just believe that, ah, if you put your mind to it, you can do whatever it is you want to do. I suspect that people who say ‘I would like to’. ‘I would like to’ is not ‘I want to’. ‘I want to’ means ‘I will’. ‘I would like to’ means ‘maybe…if it becomes convenient’.”

I wonder if Morgan Freeman will receive the same treatment as Bill Cosby for daring to preach such controversial messages as personal responsibility and personal choices?