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#conspiracytheories #conspiracy
What are some of the conspiracies you believe?
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The definition of a conspiracy theory is theory that explains an event or a set of circumstances
0:05
as a result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators. With all the crazy conspiracy theories
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circulating online. Today on The Five, we thought we'd bring you something fun and talk about
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some of the biggest conspiracy theories in the black community. Hi, my name is Jared and welcome to the Five, where we share five interesting
0:30
things in black culture and society in every episode. Don't forget to subscribe and hit that bell so you can get notified when we release more videos
0:42
Don't forget that conspiracy theories are not meant to be taken seriously until they are proven to be true
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When anybody tells you something claiming to be a fact, make sure you do your own research and arrive at your own conclusions
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Let's start with hip-hop's favorite conspiracy theory. The Black Illuminati. The Illuminati was first mentioned in a rap song back in 1995
1:07
in a remix to L.L. Cool J's, I Shotcha. A line from Prodigy states
1:11
Illuminati want my mind, soul, and my body, secret society trying to keep their eye on me
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Prodigy was, of course, referring to the greater Illuminati conspiracy theory. In the Illuminaity conspiracy theory
1:23
there's a network of shadowy, powerful individuals that aim to control society by rebuilding it as a new world
1:30
order. From then on, several rappers started referring to the Illuminati, including
1:34
Seilo Green, Wu Tang, Dr. Dre, and Jay-Z. A secret society called the Illuminati did exist
1:42
once. It was started by a young Palo-Ranian professor named Adam Wysep back in 1776. He
1:48
intended to create change in society by having Illuminati members placed in important roles
1:54
in government. The group grew to a few hundred members, but was banned by the government once it was
1:59
discovered by the mid-1780s. Wysup fled and the group fell apart. There is no evidence that anybody kept the organization going
2:08
The group's name was revived again when the French Revolution and other revolution swept
2:13
through Europe. People theorized that the Illuminati was fueling the revolution. For the next 200 years, the fame of the Illuminati died down until hip-hop revived it in the 1990s
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It wasn't too long before some hip-hop artists were suspected of being part of the Illuminati
2:29
themselves The biggest suspect was and continues to be Jay For some Jay immense success could only be explained by him selling his soul to join the Illuminati Then other artists started getting accused of being part of the Illuminati including Nause Kaniwana Bianca Mnay Kendrake Lamar and more
2:50
One of the biggest critics of the conspiracy theory was Tupac. He titled an album, McAvelli, the Don Columini, which was released after his death in 1996
3:00
In an interview, he voiced his criticism of the theory asking who's telling people about
3:06
the group and who's joining in. Another critic is to Wib Kuali who addressed the conspiracy
3:12
theory in his 2013 single The Wormhole. And Beyonce famously directly addressed
3:17
Illuminati conspiracy theorist in her song formation. Her lyrics stating, y'all haters
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corny with that Illuminati mess. Number two, the government is responsible for giving AIDS to
3:29
black people? The HIV infection in humans came from a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa
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The chimpanzee version of the virus called simian immunodeficiency was probably passed to humans when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came in contact with their infected blood
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Studies show that HIV may have jumped from chimpanzees to humans as far back as the late 1800s
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Over decades, HIV slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world
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We know that the virus has existed in the United States since at least the mid-1970s
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The conspiracy theory that the U.S. had manufactured HIV as a biological weapon actually began in the 1980s through the KGB
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Operation Infection was the name of the misinformation campaign that was used by the Soviet Union to undermine the U.S.'s credibility and foster anti-Americanism around the world
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Just like all good conspiracy theories, this theory appears very plausible because there were instances when the U.S. government actually conduct
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medical experiments on African Americans without their knowledge, such as the Tuskegee
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syphilis study. Also, there were various military sites working on biological weapons
4:48
So with the combination of those two, it is easily to see why the conspiracy theory would take
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hold. In recent surveys, as many as 20% of African Americans believe that HIV was created
5:00
to wipe out black people in America. In 1992, film director Spike Lee, famous
5:06
famously said, I'm convinced AIDS is a government engineer disease. They got one thing wrong
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They never realized it couldn't just be contained to the groups it was intended to wipe out
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So now it is a national priority exactly like drugs became when they escaped the urban centers into white suburbia The nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan described AIDS as a race weapon intended to kill African Americans
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What makes this conspiracy theory dangerous is that it might promote carelessness when it comes to protecting oneself from the disease
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Researchers note that HIV and AIDS conspiracy beliefs were significantly associated with negative condom attitudes and inconsisting
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condom use. Even though this conspiracy theory is unlikely to be true, America definitely
5:53
needs to have an honest conversation about why African Americans have such a mistrust of medical
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institutions in America. A great book that covers this history is medical apartheid, the dark
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history of medical experimentation on black Americans from colonial times to the present
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Number three, Tommy Hill figure doesn't want black people wearing his clothes. Until this day, I have
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family members who refuse to even look at Tommy Hillfigure clothing. Why? Because they have heard
6:22
the rumors that the designer once said he doesn't want black people wearing his clothes. The
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rumor states that while Hill Figure was on the Oprah show, he said that if he had known that
6:32
blacks would be wearing his clothing, then he would have never made them. Another version of the
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rumor also includes Asians in the comments. The truth was Hill Figure never made those comments
6:42
and was never on the Oprah Winfrey show. By the time the rumors were flying around
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Oprah herself stated in 1999 that Hill Figure has never been on her show
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By the early 2000s, however, the rumor was already out of control and damaging the designer's reputation
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Even the Anti-Defamation League came to Hilfiger's defense and acknowledged that there is no evidence
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of his making these comments. Twelve years after the rumor started, the designer finally appeared on the Oprah show and discussed
7:12
the conspiracy theory, stating that he had no idea how the myth
7:16
had even gotten started. The FBI also got involved in tracking down where the rumor started
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They were able to narrow it down to a college campus but could not specifically point out
7:27
who was responsible for starting them. Ironically, Hill Figure is known for extensively using black models in his runway shows and
7:35
is a humanitarian that was once the driving forces behind the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Fund
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Can we once and for all kill this rumor? Tommy Hill figure did not say any of these racist comments, period
7:49
And this one is hilarious. Number four, Church's fried chicken will make you sterile
7:54
This rumor began to circulate in the 1980s. The famous fried chicken chain some started to believe was owned by the KKK As the KKK goal was to completely get rid of blacks they tainted the food with a chemical that makes black men
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sterile. Church's fried chicken started in San Antonio, Texas in 1952. The chain quickly
8:16
grew popular and expanded across Texas and other states. The myth about the
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chain were exasperated by the fact that a lot of their restaurants were
8:25
located in areas with high concentration of African Americans. Also, Church's fried chicken serves a menu that's commonly identified with Black
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home cooking. This, some believe, is the perfect diabolical plan by the KKK to make sure
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blacks will no longer reproduce. Church's fried chicken was taken over by Popeyes back in 1989
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and the rumors have died down since then. And number five, probably the biggest conspiracy theory
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of them all, Tupac is still alive? This conspiracy theory actually connects us back to the first
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theory we talked about, the Illuminati. Rumors have long surfaced since the death of Tupac that he actually faked his death
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to live out the rest of his life in exile to escape the Illuminati
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There are actually a lot more theories on why and how Tupac faked his death
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There are rumors that he squished with a body double and flew out of Las Vegas
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One of the biggest pushers of the conspiracy theory is none other than Death Row CEO Shug Knight himself
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But some believe that simply to keep Tupac's intrigue a lot of. to help album sales
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The 1997 music video for I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto
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features an off-camera Tupac arriving by helicopter in the desert just a day after his murder
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And the fact that Tupac himself repeatedly referred to being killed by his enemies
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or hearing rumors that he died has only aided to the conspiracy theories
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For instance, in I Ain't Hard to Find, Tupac raps about hearing rumors
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of him being dead and pictures of him in his final state
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He continues to say that it was fiction by cowards that got the story twisted
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Some fans believed he was referring to his 1996 murder, but that was in reference to his 1994
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shooting in New York, which he survived. If you're still hungry for more conspiracy theories, go check out the hilarious podcast My Mama
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told me with Langston Kerman. It's a podcast about a ton of black conspiracy theories, and honestly, it's really good
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Do you believe in any of these conspiracy theories, or did you have a lot of these conspiracy theories, or did you have any of your own that you and your family love to talk about
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Well, let us know in the comment. That's it for this episode of the Five. We'll be back with another episode in Black Culture and Society
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