Never one to shy away from racial politics, Gabrielle Union urged her 3.3 million Twitter followers to be upfront about their racial biases.
It’s not clear what spurred Union to share her message Saturday, March 25, but she stated it was important for people to recognize their role in the systemic racism that limits opportunities for Black people.
If only people cared as much about addressing racist, oppressive behavior as they do about their fear of being labeled a racist.. 🤔🤔🤔
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) March 25, 2017
Unconscious or conscious bias affects lives. Period. It can alter the life opportunities of those who experience it. Own that. Address THAT!
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) March 25, 2017
Dont care abt what's in ur ❤ or ur intentions or how many blk friends u have. When ur bias affects ppls lives b prepared 2 b labeled racist
— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) March 25, 2017
Union also retweeted a reply she agreed with.
People fail to recognize it's their acting in racist & oppressive ways that gets them labeled as racists in the first place
— Monica Roberts (@TransGriot) March 25, 2017
The actress’s weekend tweets earned hundreds and thousands of retweets and likes, and some applauded the actress for speaking about racial bias.
@itsgabrielleu @ShaunKing Right!? pic.twitter.com/A2pfdXDBTR
— Cre8TIFFly.Made (@lovelyt504) March 26, 2017
@itsgabrielleu SAY THAT!!! Thank you for using your platform to deliver the truth!???????
— Cultural Nook (@CulturalNook) March 25, 2017
@itsgabrielleu PREACH!!!!
— Marie Love Matters (@jmariecamp) March 25, 2017
@itsgabrielleu pic.twitter.com/llsGXLmjxQ
— Сам (@20goodminutes) March 25, 2017
@itsgabrielleu ????????
— Reflecta (@mareviereflecta) March 25, 2017
Union spurred a mostly agreeable dialogue among Twitter users.
IKR! It's an amazingly paradoxical system they got going here
— Ambera Tolbert (@AmberaTolbert) March 25, 2017
So true!!!
— DGail (@ParaDeb) March 25, 2017
Racists were never really that bothered by being racist, but are super upset when others point it out
— Dr. Mansa Keita (@rasmansa) March 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/OgTopDoc/status/846085550956171264
https://twitter.com/OgTopDoc/status/846085976204050432
Things took a turn when some felt offended by Union’s message and disagreed over the source of racial bias.
yeah it's not a party problem it's a people problem
— Ambera Tolbert (@AmberaTolbert) March 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/RockEnRolla1791/status/846058322029690880
@itsgabrielleu @xolanimvulana Racism is fabricated in 90% of cases in SA for political gain pic.twitter.com/loa5s8Ufoh
— simaxis (@simaxis) March 25, 2017
you don't care about intentions? You're being a bigot by not trying to understand why others do what they do
— mrskleerssen (@kasey_leerssen) March 26, 2017