Actor Terry Crews was criticized Tuesday for a tweet about the Black Lives Matter movement.
“If you are a child of God, you are my brother and my sister. I have a family of all races, creeds, and ideologies,” Crews tweeted Tuesday morning. “We have to make sure that #blacklivesmatter doesn’t become #blacklivesbetter.”
The tweet got a response from Martin Luther King Jr.’s youngest daughter, Bernice King, who said, “Justice is not a competition.”
“We are a long way from that bridge, Terry. #BlackLivesMatter is, in part, a rallying cry and a protest slogan to push people to do the necessary justice work to derail the deaths, dehumanization and destruction of lives black that causes racism, “she tweeted.
Political commentator Keith Boykin, a former Clinton White House adviser, tweeted: “In 1883, the Supreme Court claimed that a Civil Rights Act would make blacks” the law’s special favorite. “In 2020, Terry Crews warned that #BlackLivesMatter will become #blacklivesbetter. “
“Demanding black equality is not black supremacy,” Boykin said in his tweet.
In a later tweet, Boykin said he had attended dozens of Black Lives Matter protests and had never heard anyone suggest what “Black Lives Better” means.
The Root writer Michael Harriot wrote: “Black people: we are starving. Terry Crews: But what about those who have more than enough food? We need to make sure their bellies stay full!”
Harriot added: “Say what you want about @terrycrews but you have to admire his dedication to focus the whiteness. Ok … maybe you don’t have to.”
The teams did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reaction Tuesday.
The teams apologized to Gabrielle Union in January after he was accused of invalidating his claims of racism on the set of “America’s Got Talent.”
During an appearance on NBC’s “TODAY” show, Crews, which features “America’s Got Talent,” was asked about Union’s allegations, specifically, if there was a toxic atmosphere on set.
“I can’t speak for sexism because I’m not a woman, but I can speak about any comments about racism,” said Crews. “That was never my experience. In fact, it was the most diverse place I’ve been in my 20 years of entertainment.”
His comments met with backlash, including from many who noted that Union was among the celebrities who publicly expressed their support for Crews when he revealed in 2017 that a “top-level Hollywood executive” had groped him at an industry party. in 2016.
Crews subsequently addressed Union in a series of tweets.
“I want you to know that it was never my intention to invalidate your experience, but that’s what I did,” Crews wrote on Twitter on January 31. fighting for equity and equality in the workplace. “
Crews said Union is “a role model for the entire black community” and that in her desire to be “professionally neutral,” she should have understood, at a minimum, that she just needed his support.
