Spider-Man actor Shameik Moore has faced backlash after appearing to argue that black people should no longer identify racism as the cause of police brutality, and suggesting Rosa Parks should have travelled in a taxi operated by a black-owned company rather than by bus.
Moore, who voiced the Marvel superhero in 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, embarked on a lengthy Twitter thread in which he attempted to advise his black followers how best to “avoid” being killed by police.
“We have to work on our community before blaming everything on ‘racist’ and police,” Moore tweeted. “1... there is STILL black on black violence that needs to be addressed... and 2.. if we KNOW that the wrong white person could change our whole life with a false accusation..WHY DO WE GIVE THEM THE ENERGY THEY WANT?”
In a second tweet, Moore wrote: “Give them an inch they WILL take a mile..... We literally know this already. At what point do we look at ourselves and make adjustments? Look... all I’m saying is.. in the MOMENT.. when we are experiencing racism.. can We the black community find ways to avoid being killed? Or hunted.”
Facing criticism for his tweets, Moore claimed that he “refuses to feel like a victim” or “have a slave mentality”. He also said that he does not face danger in his daily life as he “knows how to carry [himself] in tuff [sic] situations”.
Arguing that his tweets had been “taken out of context”, Moore then went on Instagram Live, where he appeared to suggest that black people should use their “resources” rather than protest. As an example, he claimed that Rosa Parks could have used other means of transport rather than a bus.
“Rosa Parks, sitting at the front of the bus, right?” Moore said. “What we don’t know as a black community is, [there were] black owned taxi cabs and black buses that could have been used during that time. This is something a lot of people might not want to hear.
He continued: “What I’m getting to with that is if the government decides to … shut off electricity, clean water and gas to any of the black neighbourhoods in America, there is literally nothing we can do but riot. We don’t have the resources. I think what we need to do is work internally and strengthen our minds and spirits.”
Protests continue to take place across the United States in response to the death of George Floyd. Floyd was killed after being pinned to the ground by a white police officer, who applied pressure on his neck despite Floyd informing him he was unable to breathe.
