T.I. has solidified his position as not only a successful rapper, actor but also as an active member in his community as he has often been very vocal when it comes to the topic of social injustice and other issues pertaining to the Black community.
The “Live Your Life” emcee, whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., has posted informative posts regarding Black issues. On Wednesday, April 28, the 40-year-old took to his social media page, where he took the time out to thank some of his white allies who have been a part of the growing quest for social justice in America.
“To my white, NON RACIST friends, I love y’all!” reads the text image. “Don’t get it twisted. Me loving and protecting my race does not mean I hate or fault you. We know exactly who our enemies are, they’re no longer hiding it. Thank you for standing with us.” The rapper captioned his post with one last message, stating, “Top of the top people. I love & respect all who love & respect US.”
T.I.’s post received over 287,000 likes. However, it also garnered mixed reactions from both Black and white users who felt that the rapper was coddling his white peers. Others felt T.I. was offering sentiments they believed would not be reciprocated had it been the other way around.
One Instagram user commented, “Dont be fooled, if it came down to picking the right thing, or their protection, they are choosing themselves.” They added, “The only ones truly on our side is the ones with Melanin and have been oppressed. Dont think every friendly white person is an ally. This is why we are here in the first place.”
Another person vented that the rapper shouldn’t have had to post the message if the people he spoke of were indeed his friends. “Feel this but even white allies don’t post stuff like this to make us feel comfortable. I feel like we do too much but idk lol,” they explained.
“Something you should never have to say to appease them. Will they give up their privileges publicly for you like this?” a third commented.
A fourth said, “The fact that you have to make a disclaimer is crazy. We have to be unapologetically black and that comes with no disclaimer as to why we stand up for our own.” They added, “Them white people ain’t making no disclaimers. Stop letting the descendants of our ancestors oppressor off the hook. We don’t owe them anything. Did you see the Asians making disclaimers. Hell nah.”
Along with his post, T.I. tagged “Us or Else,” the title of an EP he released in 2016 and now apparently the name of a charitable organization he described as: “Founded by Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris, Us or Else fights for the liberation of blacks and all other oppressed people.”
