What is Malik Yoba doing now? Actor refers to himself as “Non-White man” amid DEI pull back in viral video

Actor Malik Yoba recently went viral due to a video in which he declared that he is no longer a Black man. Instead, he has decided to identify as a “non-white man," an image he says is meant to provoke and challenge the way race is treated and to emphasize systemic biases.

Malik Yoba is famous for his role as Detective Julius Clarence on the hit series New York Undercover. Today, he is a real estate developer, youth advocate, and educator who uses his platform to empower communities and inspire the next generation.

Recently, Yoba attended the Brooklyn Savvy Talk Show, where he discussed his life story, passions, and the driving force behind his multifaceted career. Malik Yoba established Yoba Development, which focuses mainly on real estate, film, and youth empowerment, in 2008. Talking about the motivation behind this initiative he said:

"I wanted to bring real estate, filmmaking, and young people together. That’s how Yoba Development came to be."

Yoba Development Foundation introduces young people to construction, trades, and other real estate-related careers. Yoba also stated that he hopes to secure grants to expand these programs. He said,

"We just ran the first real estate development program for high school students in New York City, One kid, Dante, graduated in June, got a paid internship with Hines Development Corporation."

Through his foundation Yoba has also initiated a movement called, Flipping the Hood, which focuses on empowering communities through making moves in real estate development and outreach.

More about Malik Yoba's recent Statement on Racial Identity

In a video posted on Instagram, Malik Yoba, who has a long history of being a public activist for marginalized communities, discussed the traditional racial labels like Black, and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Person of Color). Instead, he argued for the adoption of the term “non-white.”

"What I am is a non-white man. And I think we should all just start calling ourselves non-white. So, they’re gonna have to figure it out." He said.

By using this language, marginalized communities would be able to effectively highlight latent racial biases, he argued.

“Let them rebuke that. Let them refute it. Let them come up with something that just says we like all non-whites. Excuse me. We don’t like all non-whites.”

Malik Yoba’s comments come amid the recent backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, particularly in corporate and political spheres.

According to Variety, in the wake of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, dozens of major companies, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have rolled back or cut DEI-related policies.