Da’Vinchi Faces Backlash After Calling American Work Ethic “Lazy and Poor”

Actor Da’Vinchi has landed himself in the middle of a very avoidable controversy after comments on Cam Newton’s Funky Friday podcast about Americans, work ethic and slavery.

Da’Vinchi built his acting career with roles in All American, BMF and Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again? He was born in the United States to Haitian parents. During the interview, he argued that American culture keeps people dependent for too long and called the country’s work ethic “lazy and poor.” He also suggested that overseas actors may sometimes get American roles because they are more focused on the work.  

That was already going to irritate people. Then came his comments about slavery.

Da’Vinchi argued that people need a broader understanding of history, noting that different groups have enslaved one another and suggesting that focusing too narrowly on white enslavement of Black people prevents people from moving forward. The problem is that this framing skips over what came after slavery in the United States.

Black Americans did not simply wake up after emancipation with an equal starting point. Jim Crow laws stripped away voting rights, enforced segregation and restricted housing, education and employment. The Smithsonian notes that white supremacist governments rebuilt systems of racial control after Reconstruction, while the Library of Congress documents the legal barriers imposed on Black Americans long after slavery ended.  

Da’Vinchi tells people to move forward from how slavery is discussed while also calling American work ethic lazy and incompetent, so people naturally question what he means. He did not explicitly say Black Americans, but the language echoes a racist stereotype that has followed Black Americans for generations.

There is another layer here that makes the comments particularly awkward. Da’Vinchi has built much of his career inside Black American entertainment. He appeared in BMF, played Darnell Hayes on All American and recently joined Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again?  

There is nothing wrong with discussing differences in culture, parenting or work ethic. There is also nothing wrong with discussing tensions within the Black diaspora. But when people reduce Black American history to slavery and label Americans lazy without confronting Jim Crow, housing discrimination and economic exclusion, they recycle old racist tropes as cultural criticism.

Da’Vinchi reportedly later acknowledged that his comments were too generalized and should have been more specific. That clarification probably should have come before describing American work ethic as ‘lazy and poor.