As a member of the UN, people would expect you to come out and support social issues everytime. The pressure increases more if you are a celebrity, with a huge platform for voicing your opinion. Emma Watson, recently had to face this dilemma in the wake of George Floyd’s death. She received considerable backlash from people for not speaking on the black lives matter movement.
Emma had posted three black images on Instagram as part of the blackout Tuesday movement, though many users pointed out that the images had white borders to fit them with her other posts and accused her of performative activism.
Unfazed from receiving the criticism, Emma posted a strong written message on Instagram. Writing about discrimination, white supremacy and her learnings from the incident, Emma posted :
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA81CigphAR/?igshid=ffrzqxgro3xl
Empathizing with black community, She wrote how she has benefitted from being a white person and how the white system is inherently flawed, deep rooted and downright racist. She further went on to emphasize on the need for working harder to change the racist structure “externally”.
The Harry Potter actor, elaborated on how she has learned from the incident and pledged to share resourceful links about her learnings with her followers. Concluding her statement, Emma wrote . “I see your anger, sadness, and pain. I cannot know what this feels like for you but it doesn’t mean I won’t try to.”