Last night at the BET Awards, Jesse Williams made an extraordinary speech about racism, police brutality and cultural appropriation. After accepting the entertainment network’s Humanitarian Award, Williams spoke for nearly five minutes about our many modern injustices, rousing the crowd and earning a standing ovation.
Williams’s brilliant words lit up the internet, even catching Justin Timberlake’s attention. Timberlake responded by saying he was inspired by the actor’s words.
@iJesseWilliams tho…#Inspired #BET2016
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) June 27, 2016
He received some negative reactions to this, though. In particular, this tweet: “Did you like the part when Jesse talked about white people stealing from us? That should resonate with you.”
After the accusation of cultural appropriation, Timberlake defended himself. “The more you realize that we are the same, the more we can have a conversation.” Ehh, not quite, JT. Your intentions may be genuine in that statement, but the reality is that we aren’t all the same and we can’t all understand each other’s experiences, particularly when we’re talking about the marginalization black people and other people of color have endured for a very long time.
Tell that to Janet. @jtimberlake
— roxane gay (@rgay) June 27, 2016
Many individuals responded to Timberlake by bringing up that time he ripped off Janet Jackson’s shirt during a performance, exposing her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl. Jackson endured harsh criticism and was held responsible for somehow forcing viewers to endure her indecency while Timberlake seemingly came away from the ordeal unscathed.
After receiving even more disapproval for his choice of words, Timberlake apologized but continued to express that he “really [does] feel that we are all one…A human race.” It’s great that Timberlake attempted to participate in and appreciate the conversation that Williams prompted, but he seems to need a lesson on what it means to be a successful white man in the realm of racial justice.