In this episode of "Talk to Me, Michele," we dive deep into the harsh realities of race and privilege within the prison system, sparked by Todd Chrisley's eye-opening experiences. As a freshly pardoned reality star, Chrisley sheds light on the stark, unequal treatment of black inmates compared to their white counterparts, challenging us to confront an uncomfortable truth. Despite the chaos and drama that often surround him, this revelation prompts a necessary conversation about systemic inequalities that persist inside prison walls. Listen in as Michele unpacks these issues, blending her signature sass with heartfelt truth-telling.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:24 Music.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:28 Hey, y'all. Welcome back to another episode of Talk to Me, Michelle,
00:00:28 --> 00:00:32 the podcast where we talk truth, life, and everything in between.
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 If you are new here, pull up a chair. If you've been rocking with me,
00:00:36 --> 00:00:37 you already know how we get down.
00:00:37 --> 00:00:44 Real talk, no fluff, maybe a little shade, but always from a place of love and a tiny bit of petty.
00:00:45 --> 00:00:51 Just a little splash. All right. Now before I take you guys on this deep scuba
00:00:51 --> 00:00:56 dive adventure of the episode, I need to get to this week's letter of the week.
00:01:00 --> 00:01:03 Dear Michelle, I need some of your real talk advice.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:08 So my husband was sentenced to three years in prison for a non-violent offense.
00:01:08 --> 00:01:13 We've been married 10 years, but honestly the past few years have been full of secrets.
00:01:13 --> 00:01:17 Since he's been gone, I found out he was cheating on me with not one,
00:01:17 --> 00:01:20 but two women, including one I considered a friend.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:24 The worst part is that his family expects me to hold him down like a ride or
00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 die queen and pretend like he's some type of martyr.
00:01:27 --> 00:01:32 I'm emotionally drained, raising our two kids alone, and I feel like I'm the one doing the time.
00:01:33 --> 00:01:37 Am I wrong for wanting to walk away and start over? Or should I stick it out
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 since he is still their father and technically my husband?
00:01:41 --> 00:01:44 Signed, prisoner of my own loyalty. Let me tell you something.
00:01:44 --> 00:01:48 We are all guilty of serving that sentence, of being loyal to the wrong people.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 And first off, you're not wrong for wanting your peace back.
00:01:52 --> 00:01:55 The only person you owe the loyalty to is you and those babies.
00:01:55 --> 00:02:00 He's serving his sentence, and you're over there serving emotional life without parole.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:05 You got to think about it. It's women, lies, and the expectation that you keep
00:02:05 --> 00:02:06 a fairy tale going for his family.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:09 That's too much. That's not bringing you any peace.
00:02:10 --> 00:02:14 Yes, he's still the kid's father. And you can respect that while freeing yourself.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:19 You're not the prison wife from a Tyler Perry movie. You're a whole woman with choices.
00:02:20 --> 00:02:25 Choose you. So I'm hoping you'd be like Fantasia and free yourself.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:28 Please do that. You're not a bad person for wanting that. You got to have peace
00:02:28 --> 00:02:32 of mind. And how are you going to be a good mom when your peace is disrupted?
00:02:33 --> 00:02:36 So that's not an even playing field. Make the moves for you.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:38 His family will get over it.
00:02:39 --> 00:02:43 Now listen, today's episode might ruffle a few feathers, and honestly,
00:02:43 --> 00:02:45 that's my favorite kind of conversation.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:49 We're diving into something folks love to pretend that does not exist.
00:02:49 --> 00:02:52 No, not carbs, not exes who still stalk your Instagram.
00:02:53 --> 00:02:56 I'm talking about race and privilege behind prison walls. Yeah,
00:02:56 --> 00:02:58 even there, it's not an even playing field.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:03 And leading us into this very necessary mess is none other than Todd,
00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 I swear I'm innocent, Chrisley.
00:03:05 --> 00:03:08 Yes, baby, Mr. God-fearing. Chanel-wearing.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:13 Real estate selling. Reality star himself is back on the outside,
00:03:13 --> 00:03:17 freshly pardoned, and already spilling tea from behind the gate.
00:03:17 --> 00:03:23 So apparently Todd noticed a shocker that black inmates were treated differently than white inmates.
00:03:24 --> 00:03:29 And this is where the conversation starts. So let's go ahead and grab them beverages,
00:03:29 --> 00:03:32 the wine, even grab you a commissary snack of choice.
00:03:32 --> 00:03:34 Because today we're talking about
00:03:34 --> 00:03:38 how privilege doesn't end at the prison gates, but justice just might.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:43 Okay, before I get into today's main dish, I'm going to confess.
00:03:43 --> 00:03:47 I got something to say here, and I'm confessing, okay? It's not going to be
00:03:47 --> 00:03:51 politically correct, but it's spiritually honest, okay?
00:03:51 --> 00:03:56 I am selfishly glad the Chrisleys are out. Yeah, I said it.
00:03:56 --> 00:04:00 Todd and Julie back in the free world, I have missed the chaos,
00:04:00 --> 00:04:03 the drama, the fashion, the Todd-isms.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:08 I mean, who else can read you for filth in a silk robe while holding a Bible and a mimosa?
00:04:08 --> 00:04:13 I watched Chrisley Knows Vest like it was the last good soap opera on earth.
00:04:14 --> 00:04:18 That show has everything. It's got the fake accents, real shade,
00:04:18 --> 00:04:24 family secrets, and more Botox than a Beverly Hills brunch. So yeah, I'm vested.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:29 Judge me if you want. I've seen worse, like your cousin's Facebook rants,
00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 okay? But let's be clear.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:34 Today is not a Chrisley slanderfest.
00:04:34 --> 00:04:36 This ain't a drag tar day.
00:04:37 --> 00:04:40 This episode is about something more real, something bigger.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:46 And Todd's recent comments after his pardon have sparked a much-needed conversation.
00:04:46 --> 00:04:51 He said he saw a difference, plain as day, in how Black and white inmates were treated.
00:04:52 --> 00:04:57 And if he saw it, it had to be bold and 4K with captions, okay?
00:04:57 --> 00:05:01 So today we're going to unpack that, not from a place of gossip,
00:05:02 --> 00:05:03 but from a place of truth-telling.
00:05:04 --> 00:05:09 Because if we could take lessons from luxury jailbirds and reality stars, honey, why not?
00:05:10 --> 00:05:13 Now let's talk about Todd's little get-out-of-jail-free moment.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:18 Todd Chrisley was doing time for tax evasion, or as I like to call it,
00:05:18 --> 00:05:20 rich people problems gone wrong.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:25 The government said he was holding millions, living large, and filing taxes like he was broke.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:30 Meanwhile, he and Julie were on TV giving this rich Southern Christian fabulous
00:05:30 --> 00:05:37 vibe. The hair was laid, the house staged, Chanel's in the closet, but not a W-2 in sight.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:40 So fast forward, Todd gets sentenced.
00:05:40 --> 00:05:44 He goes to federal prison alone. His wife goes to prison as well.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 And now they're both out. He's out. He's pardoned like God.
00:05:48 --> 00:05:54 The president and Bravo held a group Zoom meeting and said, let that man go.
00:05:55 --> 00:06:00 Now, Todd says he's innocent. And listen, if you ask anybody in jail nine times
00:06:00 --> 00:06:02 out of ten, they're innocent too.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:08 Ask your uncle. Ask the guy at the gas station who was just waiting on his lawyer to call.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:12 But Todd, he's sticking to his script like a true reality star.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 He says he was wrong, set up, and did not commit those crimes, period.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:21 And then came the press conference. Now, when he walked out the gate,
00:06:21 --> 00:06:23 he wasted no time to get to it.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 I mean, the main thing I took away from that was, you know, I don't remember
00:06:27 --> 00:06:31 him saying how he missed his kids or he did thank God for his freedom and the
00:06:31 --> 00:06:32 president for his freedom.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:39 And he made it plain that white inmates were treated better than black inmates. And I said, hold on now.
00:06:39 --> 00:06:44 Plot twist. Todd came out of prison and dropped a racial truth bomb like he
00:06:44 --> 00:06:45 was hosting a 60 minute show.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:50 I wasn't ready, but I was listening. So Todd steps up to the mic,
00:06:50 --> 00:06:51 fresh out of federal prison.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:55 Edge is probably still growing back from them prison pillows.
00:06:55 --> 00:07:00 And since plain as day, white inmates are treated better than black inmates.
00:07:01 --> 00:07:04 Like, didn't even warm up the mic first. No hug for Savannah,
00:07:05 --> 00:07:08 you know, all that other stuff. It was straight up to the racial disparities.
00:07:09 --> 00:07:13 And honestly, I clutched my pearls. Then I said, well, damn,
00:07:13 --> 00:07:19 Todd, this wasn't some think piece from a sociology professor or a topic off a woke Twitter, okay?
00:07:20 --> 00:07:26 This came from a white, wealthy, southern Christian reality TV star who up until
00:07:26 --> 00:07:29 prison probably never waited in line for anything but Botox.
00:07:29 --> 00:07:35 But now he's seen the underbelly of the American justice system,
00:07:35 --> 00:07:39 the part that black folks have been screaming for decades.
00:07:39 --> 00:07:43 So suddenly Todd Chrisley is like, hey, y'all, you know, prison isn't fair.
00:07:44 --> 00:07:47 And black America is over here like, oh, really now?
00:07:48 --> 00:07:52 But the twist is he still needed to say it. He did. That's the sad part.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:58 That's the most irritating part, honestly, because when we say it, it's like an excuse.
00:07:58 --> 00:08:03 But when Todd says it, it's a powerful testimony. See how that works.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:07 When the privileged finally speak on an injustice, everybody leans in like it's
00:08:07 --> 00:08:11 breaking news. And we've been living this headline.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:14 But I'll give him this. He didn't have to say a damn thing.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:20 He could have came out, played the whole victim card, called it a witch hunt,
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 sold his book, and gone back to filming Chrisley Knows' blessings.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:27 But instead, he used his first breath of freedom to call out something real.
00:08:28 --> 00:08:29 And for that, I'm listening.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 Side-eyeing a little, but I'm still listening.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:36 Because the truth is, it's not about whether you love or hate Todd Chrisley.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:39 It's the fact that racial inequality doesn't stop at courtrooms,
00:08:39 --> 00:08:41 doesn't stop at the sentencing.
00:08:41 --> 00:08:45 It follows you into the cells, the cafeterias, into the yard.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:50 And now that someone with money, fame, and whiteness has confirmed it,
00:08:50 --> 00:08:54 maybe folks who weren't paying attention will finally get the message.
00:08:55 --> 00:09:02 So thank you, Todd. Not for the crime or the chaos, but for pulling the curtain back just a little.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:06 The rest of us already knew the show. Now, I'm not going to act brand new on this.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:11 This is not Todd's first brush with race and bias. Because it's not.
00:09:12 --> 00:09:17 Let's talk about Khloe, his beautiful, smart, sassy, biracial granddaughter
00:09:17 --> 00:09:20 who basically steals the show every time she pops up on the screen.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:25 That little girl gives more presence than half the grown folks on Bravo.
00:09:26 --> 00:09:30 Being cute and TV ready didn't stop the internet trolls. Now, did it?
00:09:31 --> 00:09:34 Now, folks, we're coming out the digital woodwork with their racism,
00:09:35 --> 00:09:39 microaggressions, and their dusty opinions about why a white Southern family
00:09:39 --> 00:09:41 was raising a black child on national television.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:46 And say what you want to say about Todd, but he stood 10 toes down for Khloe.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:51 He shut people down fast. He let it be known Khloe is his granddaughter.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:55 She is family. And if you've got a problem with that, you should go write about
00:09:55 --> 00:09:56 it in your diary and cry to Jesus.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:02 He even said, and I quote, that racism is taught and that Khloe's skin color
00:10:02 --> 00:10:04 doesn't define her or their love for her.
00:10:05 --> 00:10:10 Which I got to say is more than some so-called progressive folks out here can manage.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:14 Seeing racism from the comfort of your mansion is one thing.
00:10:14 --> 00:10:19 Seeing it up close in a prison system designed to chew up black and brown bodies,
00:10:19 --> 00:10:21 that's a whole different level of reality.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:28 This isn't Todd's first time seeing racial bias, but maybe this was the first
00:10:28 --> 00:10:31 time it wasn't just Khloe experiencing it. It was him.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:37 Witnessing that every day, hearing it, breathing it, watching the system play
00:10:37 --> 00:10:42 out in real time on people with darker skin and realizing that his privilege
00:10:42 --> 00:10:45 was still protecting him, even behind bars.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:50 So now that he's out and talking about it, it hits differently because it's
00:10:50 --> 00:10:54 not about defending one child anymore. It's about calling out an entire system.
00:10:55 --> 00:10:59 And just maybe sitting in that cell gave him a front row seat to something that
00:10:59 --> 00:11:02 we've been trying to get folks to hear for generations.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 But hey, sometimes it takes orange
00:11:04 --> 00:11:08 jumpsuits and cinderblock walls for the blindfold to finally fall off.
00:11:08 --> 00:11:13 Now let's zoom out. Because as juicy as the Chrisley saga is,
00:11:13 --> 00:11:15 this isn't just about Todd.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:19 His story just cracked the door open. So what's behind that door?
00:11:19 --> 00:11:26 It's a mess. A whole warehouse of receipts, injustice, and straight-up discrimination.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:32 Because here's the truth nobody likes to admit. Prison may be the punishment,
00:11:32 --> 00:11:36 but how that punishment is served, that is still shaped by race.
00:11:37 --> 00:11:38 Let's start with discipline.
00:11:39 --> 00:11:43 Black inmates are more likely to be written up and punished for the same exact
00:11:43 --> 00:11:44 infractions as white inmates.
00:11:44 --> 00:11:49 So if two guys break the same rule, one gets a slap on the wrist,
00:11:49 --> 00:11:52 the other one might get sent to the hole. Why, I don't know.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:58 Maybe Mellon will set off alarms now. Maybe attitude is just a coded word for
00:11:58 --> 00:12:00 you don't smile when you're being oppressed.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:05 And when it comes to the good stuff in prison, like jobs, programs,
00:12:05 --> 00:12:08 educational opportunities, don't even get me started.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 Black inmates are consistently passed over.
00:12:11 --> 00:12:16 They get fewer work assignments, less access to skill building programs.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:20 And please don't even dream of our early release unless you got a good legal
00:12:20 --> 00:12:23 dream team or Jesus himself as your parole officer.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:29 Searches? Please, if there is a surprise shakedown, nine times out of ten,
00:12:29 --> 00:12:32 they're targeting the black and brown cell blocks first.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:35 That's not random. It's not routine.
00:12:35 --> 00:12:40 It's racial profiling with a flashlight. And let's not ignore the health side.
00:12:40 --> 00:12:44 Because, yes, even behind bars, there's a health care gap.
00:12:44 --> 00:12:49 Black inmates report longer waits for medical care, fewer follow-ups,
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 and less access to mental health resources.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:58 Which let's be real, everyone in there probably needs after two days of prison food and bunk bed drama.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:03 And parole? If you're black, you better have a squeaky clean record,
00:13:03 --> 00:13:07 five glowing recommendations, and the Holy Ghost as your co-signer.
00:13:07 --> 00:13:13 Because statistics show white inmates are way more likely to get favorable parole decisions.
00:13:14 --> 00:13:18 Like what happened to equal time for equal crime? That only applies if you're
00:13:18 --> 00:13:21 on the brochure. So yeah, prison is a punishment.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:28 But it's not the same punishment for everybody. One guy's time might come with
00:13:28 --> 00:13:31 a job, classes, and a clear shot of parole.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:36 Another guy, same sentence, but a little extra time in solitary,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:40 no programming, and a parole board that forgot he existed.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:45 Justice may be blind, but in prison, somebody's peeking under the blindfold
00:13:45 --> 00:13:51 and making notes, especially if your skin's a little darker than a beige jumpsuit.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:54 All right, y'all, that's going to do it for today's episode.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 And we went there, didn't we?
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 From reality TV to real life prison realities.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:05 Now, listen, if you've got thoughts, drama, questions, or just need a grown
00:14:05 --> 00:14:11 woman to tell you the truth of a side of sass, send your letters to talktomemichelle at gmail.com.
00:14:11 --> 00:14:17 Yes, I do read them. Yes, I might roast you. And yes, it comes with love.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:22 And if you haven't already hit that follow or subscribe button like it owes
00:14:22 --> 00:14:27 you money support the show on buy me a coffee because baby podcasting isn't
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 free and neither is this lip gloss,
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 don't forget to come back next week i've got another conversation that's going
00:14:32 --> 00:14:37 to make you laugh sigh maybe even clutch your pearls i'm going to leave you
00:14:37 --> 00:14:41 with this when people with privilege finally see what we've been saying it's
00:14:41 --> 00:14:45 not the beginning it's a reminder of how long we've been ignored.
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 Let that marinate in your spirit right next to your Sunday dinner.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 Thank you guys for chilling, talking with me, laughing with me,
00:14:52 --> 00:14:57 and sharing the podcast. Until next episode, I'm out. Peace.
00:14:58 --> 00:15:09 Music.
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