The events in Ferguson, Missouri, this past week have sparked outrage and many celebs have weighed in, the latest being Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams.
Williams is a passionate activist and often calls for social and racial justice, and he has been praised for his powerful and rousing comments that he delivered on CNN. The actor appeared on the news network to discuss race relations after the tragic shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.
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“I think we have to talk about the narrative, and making sure we’re starting at the beginning,” Williams began. “You will find that the people doing the oppressing often want to start the narrative at a convenient point, or always want to start the story in the middle.
“This started with a kid getting shot and killed and left in the street for four hours,” he continued. “I’ve never seen a white body left in the street for four hours in the sweltering heat. The cop doesn’t call in the shooting, the body isn’t put in an ambulance, it’s shuttled away in some shady unmarked SUV.”
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Since the shooting, protests have broken out across the town and police released a video that shows Brown being involved in a robbery prior to his death. The Cabin in the Woods actor has called on journalists to “start telling the story from the beginning” to ensure that justice is served, instead of focusing the story around the fact that Brown stole cigars from a convenience store.
“This idea that every time a black person does something, they automatically become a thug worthy of their own death, when we don’t own drug crimes — we’re not the only ones that sell and do drugs all the time,” Williams said.
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“That needs to be discussed, that is the story. That’s what gets frustrating for people — because you don’t know five black folks, five black men in particular, that have not been harassed and felt threatened by police officers. You can’t throw a rock and find five of them. We’re not making this up.
“There’s a complete double standard and a complete different experience that a certain element of this country has the privilege of being treated like human beings, and the rest of us are not treated like human beings, period,” Williams said.
Watch Jesse Williams speak about the events in Ferguson below.
www.youtube.com/embed/RDU8Bk9jc-s
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