‘The View’: Jesse Williams Reflects on How Racial Politics Have Changed 10 Years After Viral BET Awards Speech

Amanda Bell January 15, 2026, 12:57 pm

Jesse Williams appeared on The View on Thursday (January 15) to promote his new Martin Luther King, Jr. documentary Hoops, Hopes & Dreams, which hits Hulu and Disney+ on January 23.

After detailing how the short film presents a side of MLK Jr. that many didn’t know — namely, that he used his basketball skills to reach and communicate with people — Williams was invited to reflect on his memorable BET Awards speech about racial injustice, 10 years later.

First, the panelists reviewed footage from the speech, for which he accepted the Humanitarian Award, in which he said, “The burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander. That’s not our job, all right? Stop with all that. If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you’d better have an established record or critique of our oppression. If you have no interest, if you have no interest in equal rights for Black people, then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.”

After watching, Alyssa Farah Griffin then invited Williams to reflect on whether things have changed in the decade since that speech took place.

“I think things have changed for sure. I think the duality, the almost schizophrenia of being Black or any other underrepresented or disenfranchised group, is you’re consistently making astonishingly impressive strides forward, while also being kind of devastated about your lack of progress,” he said. “And you have to juggle both, because we really have so much to be proud of.”

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He pointed to the entertainment industry as an example of that. “I’m, among other things, an actor, and people weren’t really talking on TV about what’s happening — not in a fully formed, articulate way about what’s happening politically — and now we’re hearing from a lot more people. I’m not giving myself credit for that. I’m just saying times have changed. People have more access, undeniable access, unfettered access, to information and visuals. And I don’t need your think piece to tell you what I saw. I know what I saw. That wasn’t the case 15 years ago, 10 years ago. So there are great strides forward.”

However, Williams also cautioned against complacency. “We also always need to stay motivated, stay hungry, and know that if we quit, if we give up, if we opt out — a pause is good for you, take care of yourself, you can’t pour from an empty cup, but if we bow out, that’s satisfying somebody else’s mission.”

Revisit Williams’ 2016 speech below.