British Nigerian Star Wars actor, John Boyega has defended and elaborated on his tweets against racism after it triggered lots of mixed reactions in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
Having experienced racism as a cast in the Star Wars franchise as a reformed Stormtrooper called Finn, the actor became the target of racist abuse online.
John Boyega made the declaration on Wednesday morning, after paying tribute to George Floyd, the black man who was killed while being arrested by a white police officer in Minnesota. “This just burns,” he tweeted, alongside a photo of Floyd. “Seems to be a never-ending cycle. The murderers need to be charged severely. Even in the face of death, this man was given zero empathy.”
This just burns. Seems to be a never ending cycle. The murderers need to be charged severely. Even in the face of death this man was given zero empathy. #RIPGeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/gyuaoC6vUh
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
And followed the tweet with another one.
I really fucking hate racists.
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) May 27, 2020
A Nigerian man tweeted he recently split from his girlfriend who said ‘she hates whites,’ pointing out that racism is everywhere. John replied: ‘I am talking about WHITE on BLACK racism. The kind that has ruined the world not caused a lil break up with your girlfriend.’ Another Twitter user took offence and told him: ‘we can’t conquer hatred with hatred. We rather say we hate their attitude.’
John fired back: I said what I said. Speak for yourself at all times x
His tweed that attracted mixed feelings, and he was criticized by people who were thought he used “strong words”.
Boyega took to Instagram Live video to addressed the counter-comments to his tweets and further stated that he doesn’t care if his statement hurts his career.
