WATCH: Sasheer Zamata Explains Privilege In Hilarious New Short

By Sameer Rao Oct 22, 2015

As Saturday Night Live struggles with the ramifications of its lack of diversity, Sasheer Zamata, one of the show’s few black castmembers, is taking on white and male privilege in the world at large.

In a new video for the ACLU, Zamata and a white male friend walk the streets of New York City and talk about privilege. As Zamata explains why her friend has privilege that he can use for good, a couple of all-too-familiar things happen to her: 

– She sees a billboard advertising a show with smiling young white men called "White Guys."

– She’s slut-shamed into wearing heavy-duty rain gear, then called a prude. 

– She’s stopped-and-frisked by an officer, who only leaves her alone when her companion says she’s "with" him.

Zamata is a new celebrity ambassador for the ACLU. She issued a statement on Tuesday, the same day the video came out, that encapsulated much of what she discussed in the sketch:

I’m not joking around (for once). In the U.S. today, women make only 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man—with African-American women only earning 64 cents and Latinas a measly 55.

Plus, a woman’s right to choose is threatened by extreme lawmakers who have introduced more than 100 abortion restrictions in 2015 alone. Oh, and I almost forgot: Few legal protections exist for pregnant workers and new mothers—even though women are the primary breadwinners in 4 out of 10 families with children.

 

Check out the video above, and let’s hope that some of her SNL co-workers are watching.  

(H/t USA Today