The following content is sponsored by PragerU. This is the first in a three-part series.
Social media sensation Xaviaer DuRousseau, a former Black Lives Matter activist who “accidentally red-pilled” himself while watching PragerU videos, has launched a new show, Respectfully, Xaviaer, with PragerU.
On the show, DuRousseau dives into pop culture and politics through the lens of someone who has been on both sides of the political aisle, using his quick wit and humor to break down relevant topics through his unique perspective.
In a recent interview, DuRousseau got personal about his background, who he was, how he came to be a conservative, and what he’s doing now.
Where did you grow up and what was your upbringing like?
“I was born in South Side Chicago — Englewood,” DuRousseau said. “And my family move to the middle of nowhere cornfields, to a town of about 10,000 people that was 95 percent white when I was two-years-old. And the reason they did that was because they wanted to give me a better opportunity at living away from crime.”
“Growing up was interesting,” he added. “Because being in this town that was 95 percent white, but then sending my summers and every other weekend in South Side Chicago — we were about a five-minute walk from O’Block, which is the most dangerous neighborhood in South Side Chicago — having the dichotomy of being raised in both gave me a really interesting perspective on race and culture. And ultimately, as a kid, made it really hard for me to find myself, because I felt like I was too black for the white kids, too white for the black kids. In the meantime, I constantly had family members telling me race was always going to be something at the forefront of my life.”
DuRousseau said he grew up with relatives telling him “to never trust white people — telling me white people were blue-eyed, red-headed devils.”
“And because of this focus on race that I was raised with, it’s the reason why I felt I had to be a liberal, I had to be a Democrat, I had to push for woke ideas, because I felt like otherwise I was supporting the demise of black people,” he said.
DuRousseau continued:
Another reason why I was as woke as I was, is when I grew up in this town that was 95 percent white — I was very popular, I was valedictorian, captain of the track team, homecoming king — so I was very well-liked in my community, but there were people who didn’t like me because of that, because, you know, kids are just jealous.
And the people who didn’t like me, their immediate go-to — because they were just immature children — they would always make comments about my race or call me the N-word or say just ignorant things to me. I had a couple incidents where I actually was subjected to hate crimes. Someone did try to run me over with their car, screaming “Die, N-word, die. There was also an incident where someone tried to run me off the road with a couple of my friends in the car. They would call me the N-word and tell me to get out of town.
Back then, being young and not knowing much about the world, the only thing I knew about the world was the world I lived in, and that was a small town. And because I had dealt with these types of situations, I had this belief that this must be how the country works, that this is how the whole system works.
But with growth and maturity, I recognize that there’s a huge difference between individualized or circumstantial racism that’s happening between person to person versus a systemic issue that needs to be addressed at a large scale. In retrospect, I came to understand that yes, there are racist people, but ultimately the average American and the majority of people in this country are so adamantly against racism that it’s foolish to even consider that systemic racism is still a trope in this country, because we’re so far removed from that.
“And it’s funny, because most of the kids who I’m thinking of that used to say the most racist things to me are now all leftists,” DuRousseau laughed.
What was the impetus that pulled you into the Black Lives Matter movement?
DuRousseau explained that his father had been “disowned” by his father “because of the fact that he wasn’t dark enough.”
“We’re Creole, and we have a recessive trait of extremely light skin. So his father was the same complexion as me, but my father is as light as some white people, though he also has Afrocentric features,” he said.
“After being disowned because of his skin color, he always felt the need to prove how black he was,” the conservative influencer added. “And I feel like that sentiment kind of stuck with other members of his family, too, who have light skin, and race was always such a significant factor on that side of the family.”
By high school, DuRousseau found himself “talking about how all these white people needed to be educated on black history and black culture,” and began “leading groups that put more black history into school.”
DuRousseau at the George Floyd march in Walnut Creek, California, in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Xaviaer DuRousseau)
“When I went to college, it was the same sentiment,” he added, citing his involvement in a group at the University of Illinois that pushed for students to have to complete a mandatory ethnic studies class in order to graduate.
“I was so adamant that people needed to be more educated about the lives and the triumphs of black people,” DuRousseau said. “But honestly, that was my insecurity, because I felt like I wasn’t black enough and I wasn’t aware enough of black culture.”
He continued:
I was always promoting Black Lives Matter — from high school, even before George Floyd. So, in 2020, when everything happened with George Floyd, I felt like this was exactly what I’ve been talking about, that this is what I’ve been pushing for — for people to recognize that these are the issues that are happening in America against black people.
And because I had already been such a vocal advocate online for the seven years leading up to that, all my friends were looking at me like I was supposed to be the leader in my community to push for the Black Lives Matter movement. So, I was out marching. I helped some people organize in their small towns — all those kind of things. And I just felt like this was where I belonged. I thought that I was truly on the right side of history.
DuRousseau at the George Floyd march in Walnut Creek, California, in 2020. (Photo courtesy of Xaviaer DuRousseau)
“And that leads into my red pill experience…” DuRousseau teased.
Viewers can tune in to watch “Respectfully, Xaviaer” on YouTube and at PragerU.com, or on PragerU’s free mobile app. The show features two live weekly episodes, airing every Tuesday and Thursday at 3:00 p.m. PT, 6:00 p.m. ET.
