BY JAKE PAINE • JANUARY 31, 2019

Envy speaks next. “You cans sit here and talk that ‘chump’ sh*t all day long…” he begins. Mike interrupts to remind him that he is talking about working-class Black folks. Envy continues, “A lot of those public school teachers are not getting paid, are overworked, and some of them are not putting the effort out, ’cause some of them are the worst teachers in the country.” Mike adamantly states that he does not agree. “You are full of sh*t!” The R.T.J. MC repeats himself several times, as Charlamagne says that his mother is a public school teacher, and he disagrees with Envy’s claim. “To throw teachers under the bus is wrong!” Mike says. “You are wrong.”

Envy clarifies that he said “some teachers,” not all. The host adds that some educators lack the tools that private schools have. He asserts that he is not angry, but he wants a proper chance to speak. “I’ve been to public school [and private school]. For me, learning to do certain things is learning way different. My kids go to private school. My son has his own business [which he started with] things that I didn’t learn before. You know why? Because those opportunities were given to him. My daughter has been to places that most people haven’t been, ever.” Charlamagne suggests that those opportunities come from Envy and his wife. Envy disagrees and points to classes that focus on real estate available in his kids’ private school.

Mike reiterates that his point exclusively relates to working-class African Americans. Mike contends, “If you’re rich, you’re insulated. Speaking to the working class African American, if you are unsatisfied with your school system, radically change it by voting in a new board, put in for new systems to be constructed, or support charter schools. Oh, and then we all get nervous, ‘charter schools? That’s Republican.’ But pull your children out, and start a B.E.S.T. Academy, like in Atlanta. That’s all I’m sayin’; we gotta stop giving these excuses [for people to leave the school system].”

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