Davids Medienkritik translates portions of an interview with actor Will Smith, published in a major Frankfurt newspaper under the title “George W. Bush Lied to Me.”

When asked if 9/11 had changed anything for him personally, Smith answered:

“No. Absolutely not. When you grow up black in America you have a completely different view of the world than white Americans. We blacks live with a constant feeling of unease. And whether you are wounded in an attack by a racist cop or in a terrorist attack, I’m sorry, it makes no difference.”

It is interesting to note that, on a certain level, Smith is comparing American police officers, those charged with protecting society, with Islamic terrorists intent on destroying America and everything it stands for. Smith implies that racism is so rampant among America’s police that it is a threat equal in magnitude to black America as that of international terrorism. Instead of seeing 9/11 as a traumatic watershed event that contributed to uniting black and white America and healing racial tensions, Smith seems to believe that the terrorist attacks have had little impact on what he sees as the poor state of race relations in the USA.

Smith also praised the United Nations as the idea of the future and mentioned that he had been in contact with Kofi Annan. He stated that he felt lied to by President George W. Bush and his administration when it came to the war in Iraq. He also had the following to say on Michael Moore’s new film Fahrenheit 9/11:

“I found the film very funny. I found it interesting, and if it contributes to more people waking up and looking into things and drawing their own conclusions, then that is a good thing. However, one should not view the film as the Bible.”