Actor Shameik Moore is facing a massive backlash on social media for saying that Rosa Parks should have taken a cab instead of insisting that she wanted to ride at the front of the Montgomery, Alabama bus.
He is also facing criticism for suggesting that members of the black community should stop blaming police brutality on racism.
The 25-year-old Spider-Man actor offered the controversial suggestion as part of ongoing social media debate about police brutality following the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.
Video clips that surfaced on multiple social platforms showed a police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck while arresting him. The action, which was followed by the Minneapolis resident’s death, sparked angry protests across the country.
Many took to social media to condemn the police for their high-handedness in handling black people suspected of crimes and called for change.
Shameik Moore took to Twitter to advise the black community
Shameik Moore, best known for voicing Miles Morales/Spider-man in the computer-animated 2018 movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, took to Twitter to post a series of tweets in which he tried to share his thoughts about what should be done to stop police killing minorities.
“We have to work on our community before blaming everything on ‘racist’ and police. 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 …”
See I have a very strong opinion that the black community hates to hear.. but needs to hear… we need to learn how to deal with police… and or racism… because THIS is the part of the scenario we have failed to fix. https://t.co/xEZ1SdgSUx
— Shameik Moore (@shameikmoore) May 28, 2020
We have to work on our community before blaming everything on “racist” and police. 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 …
— Shameik Moore (@shameikmoore) May 28, 2020
Moore’s advice did not go down well with many Twitter users
However, Moore’s comments did not go down well with many Twitter users. His tweets received thousands of responses from angry people who accused him of victim-blaming.
WHY DO WE GIVE THEM THE ENERGY THEY WANT? 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?
— Shameik Moore (@shameikmoore) May 28, 2020
“You’re telling victims of abuse to figure out their abuser in a way that prevents the abuser from harming them,” one Twitter users asked.
“He’s basically saying he knows how to conform to white people so they won’t kill him lmao sad,” another critic tweeted.
“Kap [Kaepernick] tried kneeling… that’s about as opposite energy as looting as I can imagine.”
I’m talking about a solution outside of what we have been doing.. are we (the black community) going to attack ME for that? I don’t wanna keep hearing about new names on this list of innocent people… I want it to STOP.. how can we HELP stop the problem.
— Shameik Moore (@shameikmoore) May 28, 2020
Moore’s response to criticism only further infuriated his critics
Moore’s responses to criticism only appeared to further intensify the social media backlash against him.
“I personally refuse to feel like a victim. I refuse to have a slave mentality,” he wrote in one tweet that received more than 2,000 angry reactions.
No one asked for my opinion but it’s 2020 not 1945… meaning I’m more focused on black FUTURES than black history. I personally refuse to feel like a victim.. I refuse to have a slave mentality. I don’t not fear for my life because I know how to carry myself in tuff situations.
— Shameik Moore (@shameikmoore) May 28, 2020
He appeared to suggest that Rosa Parks should have taken a cab
After complaining that people were taking his tweets “out of context,” Moore took to Instagram Live, where he attempted to clarify his views further.
Im gonna go live on Instagram… my tweets we’re taken out of context. And against my teams advice, I want to talk to everyone face to face on ig..
— Shameik Moore (@shameikmoore) May 28, 2020
He appeared to argue that black people should try other means instead of protesting. While making his argument, he appeared, at one point, to suggest that civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks should have taken a cab instead of insisting on sitting at the front of the Alabama bus.
“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.”
Moore later apologized
Amid escalating backlash over his tweets, Moore later posted a series of videos in which he apologized for offending people.
1 of 3 pic.twitter.com/Iv18OXEr0M
— Shameik Moore (@shameikmoore) May 28, 2020
He explained that he was prompted to offer his views after he saw a video of an African American man “barking” at a police officer.
He said he was only suggesting that people should try “de-escalating situations” involving the police. However, he acknowledged that there were several instances in which police used force on people who were complying with their orders.