(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Victor Glover, the first black astronaut to orbit the moon, spoke out about the racism he experienced in a recent interview, where he claimed that America has not changed since the launch of the first Apollo program.
Glover referenced the 1970 poem “Whitey on the Moon” to describe his feelings on the situation. According to the Daily Wire, he listens to the poem twice a week on the way to work.
“Honestly, I started listening to [the poem] in the car to talk with my colleagues about it,” Glover said.
“I live in the America that sent me to space, told my grandfather he couldn’t fly during the Korean conflict when he was enlisted, but he got to sit and watch me fly,” he continued. “We live in a very complicated country.”
The poem, composed by activist and jazz musician Gil Scott–Heron, bemoans the government using tax dollars on the Apollo program while neglecting its citizens back home—much the way the Biden administration has prioritized the well-being of Ukraine over domestic priorities.
“Taxes takin’ my whole damn check, / Junkies makin’ me a nervous wreck, / The price of food is goin’ up, / An’ as if all that s*** wasn’t enough … / Was all that money I made las’ year / (for Whitey on the moon?),” the song asks.
Glover admitted that many people are still skeptical of government spending on voyages into space, and acknowledged that they deserve recognition.
During the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, Glover also spoke out in defense of NASA for hiring him.
“When I came to NASA, you know, they said, ‘Hey, we hired you because of who you are,’” he said. “OK. Cool. You get all of it.”
NASA announced Glover as the primary pilot of Artemis II, a new, manned mission to the moon, on April 3.
“The Artemis II crew represents thousands of people working tirelessly to bring us to the stars,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity’s crew… Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers—the Artemis Generation.”
