Actor Terry Crews has issued a response on social media, after receiving a backlash for comments he made over the weekend on Twitter. His tweets come in the wake of the protests taking place in America and all over the world that are calling out systemic racism and injustices carried out against black people.
Many, including Tyler James Williams - who starred with Terry Crews in Everybody Hates Chris - were critical of the actor's message. Williams replied to Crews' initial tweet, stating:
"Terry, brother, I know your heart and you know I have love for you and always will. No one is calling 4 black supremacy & the narrative that we are hurts our cause & our people. We’re just vigorously vetting our 'allies' because time & time again they have failed us in the past."
Crews responded to a separate tweet from Williams, in which he said that he was not trying to call Terry Crews out. Crews wrote;
"I understand, Tyler. I was not saying Black supremacy exists, because it doesn't. I am saying if both Black and Whites don't continue to work together-- bad attitudes and resentments can create a dangerous self-righteousness. That's all."
Many others on social media replied to Crews' initial tweet to discuss where they disagreed with him, and the actor has subsequently been replying to those tweets.
Since then, Crews has issued two further tweets, in which he responds to the backlash he faced for his initial comments. The actor wrote;
"Please know that everything I've said comes from a spirit of love and reconciliation, for the Black community first, then the world as a whole, in hopes to see a better future for Black people.
"I believe it is important we not suffer from groupthink, and we keep minds of our own, and be allowed to ask difficult questions to each other. I believe this dialogue is important as we get through this trauma together. I love you."
Following George Floyd's death, Crews posted an emotional video to Instagram.
"First of all my heart is broken," the actor said per USA Today. "George Floyd looks like me. George Floyd could be me. I could easily, easily be that man on the ground with that police officer's knee on my neck. That could easily be me."
This news comes as unrest continues to unfold across the US and around the world, as protests - some peaceful, some violent - are calling out the systemic injustices carried out against black people, not least seen by the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.
As well as a call for justice, these ongoing protests are also demanding an end to police brutality and the racism that is so deeply entrenched in America and the western world.
The message is simple: Black lives matter.
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