David Banner Defends Tweets On CNN, Explains Why Black Men Are Undervalued [VIDEO]

The death of 18-year old Michael Brown has sparked a huge debate in the Black community and in hip-hop. Several artists has spoken out about their disgust with the situation that has happened in Ferguson, Missouri. Many feel as though Brown’s death is a repeated occurrence between police and young black men, which represents the same injustice served in cases like Trayvon Martin.

Last night, CNN invited rapper/actor David Banner to speak alongside political analysts. He spoke on his views on the plight of black men and cleared up any misunderstanding surrounding several tweets he spewed out on Twitter earlier in the week.

On Twitter, Banner tweeted that he believes the problem lies on how black people are perceived. He believes that young black men are not valued in the minds of authorities.

@TheRealBanner – “Black men have to watch what color we wear, what hood we are in, the cops, whites and blacks, no hoodie no white tee, no loud radios damn!”
10:05 AM – 11 Aug 2014

@TheRealBanner – “Our situation is more psychological than people will admit. Black kids kill black kids for the same reason cops do. They see no value.”
9:03 PM – 9 Aug 2014

Banner defended his tweets by stating that black men aren’t valued because, first, they don’t value each other. His comment can be associated with ongoing black-on-black shooting deaths of young men in Chicago and other major cities across the U.S.

[The tweets were] definitely taken out of context. First off all, on Sundays I always dialogue with my fans. I always push my fans to think. And at the time that had nothing to do with what was going on in Ferguson. But it still applies. What I was saying is white cops do not see value in young, black men. And the reason why a lot of young, black men – not all black men – kill each other is because they don’t see any value either.

So many people have bought into this Americanized system, and America historically has always tortured, killed, and enslaved black people. And I have not forgot that. So, there’s a reason why we don’t see value, but it’s different because cops are paid to protect us….

The thing that America is telling our children, and this is the sad part, is black folks if you don’t make me comfortable, we will kill you.

With the situation at hand, more entertainers are speaking out against the unlawful death of Michael Brown. Killer Mike, John Legend, and Lance Gross just to name a few.

As of Wednesday evening, a peaceful protest turned into a war zone in Ferguson. Police and local authorities took on military tactics, which witnesses say provoked the chaos. Several people were wounded by police by rubber bullets and tear gas and are now being hospitalized.