International superstar Idris Elba, and potentially our next James Bond — great choice — has come out swinging for the fences against the insanity of our current woke culture by slamming criticism he received for saying he doesn’t want to be known only as a “black actor,” referring to the backlash as “stupid” and going on to insist he’s not “denying my blackness.” The fact that anyone would think the comment he made does that is absolutely indicative of how far down the rabbit hole our current society has fallen when it comes to their obsession with race.
“The British actor, who has starred in Marvel’s Thor films, Star Trek Beyond, Pacific Rim, and other blockbusters told Esquire magazine in February that he hesitates to call himself a black actor,” Breitbart News reports.
“I stopped describing myself as a black actor when I realized it put me in a box,” he remarked during the interview. True words. He’s a great actor. Period. His skin color has nothing to do with his talent. Elba’s talent comes from within him. It’s the result of hard work and hours upon hours of cultivating his ability to tell stories by inhabiting the characters he portrays on screen.
The actor never denied that racism was real, however, he did say he feels people become obsessed with racism and it ends up becoming detrimental to them on a personal level.
“As humans, we are obsessed with race. And that obsession can really hinder people’s aspirations, hinder people’s growth. Racism should be a topic for discussion, sure. Racism is very real,” Elba wisely stated. “But from my perspective, it’s only as powerful as you allow it to be. We’ve got to grow. We’ve got to. Our skin is no more than that: It’s just skin.”
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He then went on to say he didn’t become an actor in order to see more black people in the industry. “I did it because I thought that’s a great profession and I could do a good job at it,” he explained.
“I don’t want to be the first black. I’m the first Idris,” he zinged.
However, he did go on to point out that if young black kids are inspired by him, he feels that’s a good thing. It is. The same as if a white or Asian kid is inspired by him.
“I might be the first to look like me to do a certain thing. And that’s good, to leave as part of my legacy,” the actor stated. “So that other people, black kids, but also white kids growing up in the circumstances I grew up in, are able to see there was a kid who came from Canning Town who ended up doing what I do. It can be done.”
But it didn’t take long after these comments were made for all of the cranky woke folk to jump on him, which led to him getting on Twitter to set them straight.
“There isn’t a soul on this earth that can question whether I consider myself a BLACK MAN or not,” the star stated on social media. “Being an ‘actor’ is a profession, like being an ‘architect,’ they are not defined by race. However, If YOU define your work by your race, that is your Perogative.”
There isn't a soul on this earth that can question whether I consider myself a BLACK MAN or not. Being an 'actor' is a profession, like being an 'architect' ,they are not defined by race. However, If YOU define your work by your race, that is your Perogative. Ah lie?
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) February 11, 2023
Here’s more from Breitbart:
Elba, though, was not done addressing the backlash. He also spoke out again to blast the cancel culture leftists who have been upset over his stance on being a “black actor.” In an interview published Friday by The Guardian, the actor called the backlash “stupid.”
He also said that having opinions in today’s social media environment is often a challenge, and noted that “in this day and age, it’s really difficult to have an opinion if you’re in the public eye because it gets overly scrutinized, taken out of context, thrown into some sort of bullshit, zeitgeisty social media argument.”
He went on to say that claims he is somehow denying his blackness are absurd.
“Me saying I don’t like to call myself a black actor is my prerogative. That’s me, not you. So for you to turn around and say to me, I’m ‘denying my blackness’. On what grounds? Did you hear that? Where am I denying it? And what for? It’s just stupid. Whatever,” he said in a statement to the paper.
Elba received some support from fellow black actor John Boyega.
“I think we should fixate on who is typecasting and putting actors in boxes because of this. Not on making weird adjustments for them. We continuously focus on what we have to do so they don’t do this or that. Very worrying. We BLACK and that’s that,” the Star Wars actor wrote.
I think we should fixate on who is typecasting and putting actors in boxes because of this. Not on making weird adjustments for them. We continuously focus on what we have to do so they don't do this or that. Very worrying. We BLACK and that's that. https://t.co/E0sBLJOBIR
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) February 10, 2023
