Last week, "Grey’s Anatomy" star Jesse Williams was awarded BET’s Humanitarian Award. The outspoken human rights activist, who executive-produced the recent documentary, "Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement," delivered a powerful and political speech about the cause he’s worked so hard on. Referencing recent victims of police brutality, Williams discussed the violence against black people and the struggles they’ve faced throughout history: “There has been no war that we have not fought and died on the front lines of. There has been no job we haven’t done. There is no tax they haven’t leveed against us,” he said. The speech received a standing ovation by the audience. But not everyone stood on the same grounds as Williams.
A petition claiming that the actor delivered a "racist, hate speech against law enforcement and white people." The petition has nearly quadrupled with more than 22,000 signatures to date. "A system built to divide and impoverish and destroy us cannot stand if we do. It's kind of basic mathematics. The more we learn about who we are and how we got here, the more we will mobilize," he said on stage at the BET Awards, dedicating the award to the "real organizers all over the country, the activists, the civil rights attorneys, the struggling parents, the families, the teachers and the students."
According to the petition, "Jesse Williams spewed a racist, hate speech against law enforcement and white people at the BET awards. If this was a white person making the same speech about an African American, they would have been fired and globally chastised, as they should be, but there has been no consequences to Williams' actions. There's been no companies making a stand against his racist remarks and no swift action condemning his negative attitude." Jesse Williams’ speech was further compared to Isaiah Washington (Preston Bruke) who was fired from "Grey’s Anatomy" for speaking inappropriate homophobic slurs towards T.R Knight (George O’Malley) and how Isaiah Washington was fired but Jesse Williams was given no consequences for what he stated. Shonda Rhimes-the executive producer and creator of the show, however, gave her full support and made it clear that he would definitely be remaining on the show. Following the BET Awards broadcast, Williams told media outlets that he hoped to let audiences know they aren't alone. "Words are only as good as the response to those words. But I'd like to think that I give people a sense that they are not alone," he shared.
Personally, I stand with Jesse Williams and not just because he’s one of my favorite actors on Grey’s. In my opinion he made some very true points and all of his claims are justified. To make a petition in the first place to get him fired just because he was speaking for what he believes in and using his platform to speak for what he is passionate about doesn’t mean it can be written off as “a hate speech against white people”. The fact that more than 22,000 people have signed for the petition blows my mind. As one of the most prominent actors on TV today, I’m so glad Jesse Williams decided to utilize his platform to speak about the atrocities that have taken place and stand up for people who do not necessarily have the ability to stand up for themselves.
