Terry Crews Apologizes For Controversial BLM Tweet: ‘It Was A Mistake’
The Black Lives Matter moviement grew in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Although the mission of the organization is clear to most, some have used their platform to question BLM.
Terry Crews seemed to be one of those who didn’t really “get” Black Lives Matter. He tweeted in 2020, “If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed and ideology… We must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn’t morph into #blacklivesbetter.”
If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed and ideology.
— Terry Crews (@terrycrews) June 30, 2020
We must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn’t morph into #blacklivesbetter
His tweet garnered a lot of backlash including a tweet from Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter Bernice King: “We’re so far from that bridge, Terry,” she wrote.”#BlackLivesMatter is, in part, a rallying cry and a protest slogan to galvanize people into doing the justice work needed to derail the deaths, dehumanization, and destruction of Black lives that racism causes. Justice is not a competition.”
We’re so far from that bridge, Terry. #BlackLivesMatter is, in part, a rallying cry and a protest slogan to galvanize people into doing the justice work needed to derail the deaths, dehumanization and destruction of Black lives that racism causes.
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) June 30, 2020
Justice is not a competition. https://t.co/Cdfac2V7M6
Now, Crews has offered an apology for the tweet on Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show.
“I’m going to let you know, I really do want to apologize to anybody who was offended by these tweets, and was hurt deeply,” Crews told Noah. “Because as an example, as an African American man, a Black man here in this country, I did not want to give the perception that we’re supposed to gloss this over and forgive the death of George Floyd, the murder of George Floyd. And I want to apologize to everyone right now who was ever offended, because it hurt.”
“I just wanted peace. And I guess it goes back to my need for approval.” Crews said. “And again, it was a mistake. It was a mistake to tweet that out at that time.” The actor added that his intended message was: “The need is for us as a people to actually come together and really, really be what we need to be to this country, because it’s our country. This is our country. We died and fought, and I’m not giving it away. This is our inheritance.”
Take a look at the interview below starting at 13:08:
