Tyler James Williams said he’s fed up with white writers coming up with black slang lines for actors. It’s something Williams tweeted on March 17, and many said they understand where he’s coming from.
“Dear non black writers, Please stop writing black ‘slang’ dialogue for your black characters,” wrote Williams. “It always sounds like it was written by a middle aged white dad. Always. Like never doesn’t sound like that. Sincerely, Black actors trying to make your s–t sound natural.”
The responses to Williams’ tweet came pouring in afterward.
“And for this…you deserve a follow, king !!” someone tweeted.
“How many times have you seen ‘homie, G’ in a script??” another person asked.
“The problem is people are writing slang from a ‘sub culture’ mentality,” a third person wrote. “There is NOTHING subculture about slang. Partner with writers who speak from that vernacular who can CENTER the characters not develop them from a ‘subculture’ perspective.”
A few of Williams’ followers named some of the shows they feel are guilty of having black characters use incorrect slang.
“Every time I watch Grown-ish” 😭 😭 😭,” one person tweeted.
“Grownish has been realll quiet since this tweet,” read another message.
“This is what it felt like watching Luke Cage,” someone wrote.
Williams grew to fame by playing a young Chris Rock on the sitcom “Everybody Hates Chris,” which ran from 2005 to 2009.
In recent years he’s been in tv shows like AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and ABC’s “Whiskey Cavalier,” which was canceled after one season.
Some of Williams’ films include the 2012 Disney Channel movie “Let it Shine,” 2013’s “Peeples,” starring Craig Robinson, 2014’s “Dear White People” and 2019’s “The Wedding Year.”
