A recent tweet from Terry Crews turned controversial. On Sunday, his tweet caught heat as he tweeted that “defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy.”
The ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ actor and ‘America’s Got Talent’ host has always been in the support of protests related to Black Lives Matter. The American actor has also donated money to the funds used to bail out protestors.
But Twitterati has hit him hard when Crews posted a tweet citing racism in the USA.
Despite being in support of the blacks and calling for unity during protests, the users of the micro-blogging site considered his tweet as flawed and nothing else. They think that he considered ‘black supremacy’ which an idea that can also be translated as reversed racism – to white supremacy.
In 2016, Mic journalist Philip Lewis revealed that, in the US, black supremacy and reverse racism don’t exist. Lewis said that power is a crucial aspect that creates racism. If wrongly used, it displaces people at a societal disadvantage because of their race.
History speaks that white people have held much of the economic and political power in the United States. Adding to it, laws like Jim Crow have put black Americans deprived them of their rights and privileges.
Considering this imbalance of power makes us understand why there has been so much police brutality with the blacks in America. To some extent, it also accounts for why black Americans have been more impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, a big proportion of Twitterati came to prove Crews’ tweet inaccurate about the historical suffering of black people. (check: Controversies Around George Floyd’s Death.)
Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth.
Like it or not, we are all in this together.
— terry crews (@terrycrews) June 7, 2020
Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth.
Like it or not, we are all in this together.
— terry crews (@terrycrews) June 7, 2020
to have “black supremacy” on the scale of what white people did would involve exacting revenge, enslaving the few survivors, cutting them off from any trace of their culture and keep them from progressing civically for GENERATIONS. open a book, listen to angela davis, something. https://t.co/h5o35KHpAd
— chris kindred (@itskindred) June 8, 2020
Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth.
Like it or not, we are all in this together.
— terry crews (@terrycrews) June 7, 2020
On the other hand, some considered the tweet of Crews as misguided.
Why not just stick to tweeting about things you know? Like the complexities of shucking or intricate steps involved in jiving?
But nah. Terry Crews would rather explain why the people who created and perpetuated white supremacy must be protected when dismantling white supremacy. https://t.co/Ck2rP9NEAR
— michaelharriot (@michaelharriot) June 8, 2020
Black folks: We want to defund the police and create a system that’s actually equitable and just for ALL of us.
Terry Crews: Beware of Black Supremacy pic.twitter.com/0lgGjOETMX
— Britni Danielle (@BritniDWrites) June 8, 2020
Actor Tyler James Williams came to respond to Crews’ statement and said that it may cause anger. It may also result a distraction in the cause for which the Americans are fighting at the moment. (check: George Floyd Coffin.)
Williams wrote the following:
“Our people are tired of white people who put on a good face a claim they aren’t racist while operating and benefiting from the privilege of a clearly racist system. We’re not trying to do this alone. We KNOW we can’t. But we refuse to have allies who won’t go the distance.”
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. https://t.co/YLWGnpj8fl
— terry crews (@terrycrews) June 8, 2020
Later on, Crews came to put an emphasis on his original tweet. He said that many black Twitter users are criticizing him without understanding the notion of black supremacy.
Any Black person who calls me a coon or and Uncle Tom for promoting EQUALITY is a Black Supremist, because they have determined who’s Black and who is not.
— terry crews (@terrycrews) June 8, 2020
Crews’ representatives didn’t immediately respond when being asked. In the past, Crews had been accused of not supporting fellow judge, Gabrielle Union for speaking against racism in 2019.
Other celebrities came in her support while Crews didn’t speak up. Later on, on the Today Show, Crews said that his experience has been different from what Union had experienced. Some thought that Crews is invalidating her testimony.
However, Crews apologized to Union for his statement. He apologized for the second time saying that the death of George Floyd has made his rethink his privilege as a male. (Check: George Floyd Criminal Past.)
But I also see that I am privileged as man, in a society that also has sexism built in. This privilege carries over into my community as a Black man in relationship with Black women.
— terry crews (@terrycrews) June 4, 2020
