Bruce Springsteen has spoken about the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement, calling it one of “tremendous hope” that “history is demanding”.

Widespread protests have been held around the world under the movement’s banner since May when George Floyd was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis.

• Read more: How to support Black Lives Matter and anti-racist organisations beyond protests

Springsteen discussed recent political events in America including BLM in a new interview. “White supremacy and white privilege have gone much deeper than I thought they did,” he told Rolling Stone.

“I think my feeling previously to the past three or four years was that racism and white supremacy and white privilege were veins in our extremities, rather than an aorta that cuts through the very heart of the nation, which I feel it is now. So that was eye-opening, whether I was previously stupidly innocent to that or not.”

He continued to say that while he didn’t see society becoming “post-racial”, he did think “a society where people really see one another as full men and women, as Americans, is possible”.

“It’s a movement of tremendous hope and it’s a tremendously diverse group of young people that are out on the street,” he added. “And it’s a movement that history is demanding right now.”

Springsteen also commented on the upcoming US election and why ‘Letter To You’ – his new album with the E Street Band – won’t feature any songs about the Trump administration. “That would be the most boring album in the world,” he said of the latter point, noting that Joe Biden wasn’t his first choice for the Democratic nominee but that he was still supporting him.

“The power of the American idea has been abandoned,” he said. “It’s a terrible shame, and we need somebody who can bring that to life again. I think if we get Joe Biden, it’s gonna go a long way towards helping us regain our status around the world. The country as the shining light of democracy has been trashed by the administration. We abandoned friends, we befriended dictators, we denied climate science.”

‘Letter To You’ will be released on October 23 and is the first Springsteen record to feature the E Street Band since 2014’s ‘High Hopes’. The 12-track album was recorded at the star’s home in New Jersey and has an “emotional nature”, according to the star.