Will Smith said that he's never met a "smart" racist person.
The actor opened up about his personal experiences of racism on the Pod Saves America podcast, revealing that he has been called the N-word "five or six times" in his life.
Smith said that he was able to overcome these experiences as he "grew up with the impression that racists and racism are stupid and they are easy to get around."
"Fortunately for my psyche, I've never been called [the] N-word by a smart person," he said. "I just had to be smarter."
Listen to an excerpt from the podcast below:The I am Legend actor continued by saying that he has never looked into the eyes of a racist "and saw anything I perceived as intellect."
He added that while he believes that "ignorance can be educated", he thinks that there is no hope for "evil".
"Fortunately, ignorance is more prevalent than blatant evil, so I've always been encouraged that the process of education and understanding could alleviate some of the more dangerous and difficult aspects of racism that have unfortunately been embedded in the very fibers of our country," he said.
Smith is currently hosting the new Netflix series Amend: The Fight for America, which explores the enduring impact that the Fourteenth Amendment has had on US democracy.
The show, in particular, will explore the impact of the amendment on black people, abortion, women's suffrage, and gay marriage alongside experts and activists.
The actor said that he has previously considered a political career and may "run for office" at some point to affect the change he wants to see in the world.
He said he "absolutely" has a political opinion, but, for now, the actor plans to let the presidential office "get cleaned up a little bit" before considering his moves "at some point down the line."
He said in the podcast: "I will certainly do my part, whether it remains artistic or, at some point, ventures into the political arena."
Amend: The Fight for America is available to stream on Netflix now.
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