You know what position shouldn’t have to be defended? Hating racists. That should be a really acceptable opinion for a public figure to have. And yet actor John Boyega has had to defend his stance on the matter. On May 27, after the violent police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Boyega retweeted a number of antiracist tweets and added “I really fucking hate racists.â€
He immediately received backlash in the comments but stood by his statement and clarified that he was referring to antiblack racism.
But the Karens had been summoned, so Boyega had to speak directly to them on Instagram Live, saying:
“We ignore ignorance, and we ignore people that come through and try to make these situations what they’re not. I’m not even apologizing, first of all. You better fucking believe that. There’s no way that I have the opinion that there’s no other forms of racism. Of course there’s other forms of racism. But a black man was just murdered in cold blood, in the streets, Stateside, again. While saying that he can’t breathe. There’s a continuous cycle going on. I don’t live in the States, but I’m black. So I’ll say it again: Fuck you, racist white people. I said what I said. And if you don’t fucking like it, go suck a dick. Seriously.â€
All Lives Matter trolls are loud. So are toxic Star Wars fans. But neither are a match for Boyega, in his delightful London accent, telling them, “If you’re a fan of me, and you support my work, and you’re racist, and you’re arguing with what I was saying, fuck off, you fucking dickheads.â€
The Insta Live is no longer on his Stories, but he did share a video compilation of Amy Cooper and other white people calling 911 on black bystanders, as well as this image from LeBron James’s Instagram:
Nothing but respect for our prime minister.
His mum’s proud of him, and so are we.
So once more for the people in the back: