“Stranger Things” actor Caleb McLaughlin recently reflected on the racism he experienced from fans while playing Lucas Sinclair in the Netflix series.
McLaughlin opened up during the Heroes Comic Con Belgium convention, where he talked about his earlier experiences during Comic Con and how he was treated by fans compared to his counterparts.
“It definitely took a toll on me as a younger kid. My very first Comic Con, some people didn’t stand in my line because I was Black. Some people told me, ‘Oh I didn’t want to be in your line because you were mean to Eleven [Millie Bobby Brown],'” McLaughlin said.
He continued, “Even now some people don’t follow me or don’t support me because I’m Black. Sometimes overseas you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about and for people to understand, but when I was younger it definitely affected me a lot.”
He talked about his thoughts when he first started his role in Stranger Things, “Why am I the least favorite? The least amount of followers? I’m on the same show as everybody from season one.”
He added, “My parents had to be like, ‘It’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child on the show… Because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin, I’m not loved. But that’s why with my platform I want to spread positivity and love because I do not give hate back to people who give hate to me.”
Recently, Black actors have opened up about the racism they experienced, surprisingly not from the workplace but from fandoms or online social media accounts. An example would be Idris Elba, who received racist comments online when the news hit that he could replace Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. Another is Moses Ingram, the actress who plays inquisitor Reva Sevander in the Disney+ Series “Obi-Wan Kenobi”. She started receiving racist comments from “Star Wars” fans about her appearance in the series.
Recent examples are also the racist comments former “Grown-ish” actress Halle Bailey received when Disney released the first teaser for “The Little Mermaid.” With the teaser release, she quickly came under fire from online trolls.
Hopefully, with more actors coming forward and addressing the racism they experienced at the hands of toxic fandoms, it will address the long-awaited issues with problematic fans.