Michael Che has no plans to stop arguing with his critics online

While some stars prefer not to dignify online critics with a response, Michael Che lives for the discourse and isn’t afraid to address it, even when people are calling out controversial Saturday Night Live jokes (and there’s been a lot of that lately). “I’m from a generation where we engage,” he told Vanity Fair in an interview published on Wednesday. “I’m from a generation where you could speak your mind and have a discussion and maybe change your mind or change someone else’s.” Nowadays, online chatter can often devolve into unproductive vacuums, especially when people have starkly opposing opinions, but Che isn’t dissuaded from justifying his own brand of comedy to “civilians,” as Vanity Fair‘s Chris Murphy described them. “I’m not afraid to speak,” he added. “I know I’m not coming from a malicious place, so I’m not worried. If I do hurt someone, it’s not intentional and it’ll help me work on my approach.”