Terry Crews faced backlash on Twitter for warning his followers about a potential slide into "Black Supremacy." The actor was reprimanded by other celebrities, as well as activists and pundits for drawing a false equivalence and spreading what some saw as misinformation. Crews accepted some of these critiques in what turned out to be a relatively productive online discussion.
For once, a misstep on Twitter led to a learning experience after Terry Crews posted about "Black Supremacy" on Sunday night. The actor told his followers that cooperation with non-racist white people is essential to "defeating White supremacy," otherwise the tables will simply be turned. Many people pointed out that the U.S. is unlikely to ever fall under "Black Supremacy" in the same sense that it spend hundreds of years under white supremacy, but they did so in an engaging way that seemed to resonate with Crews in some cases.
Crews did defend his tweet to some extent — or at least the point underlying it. He maintained that cooperation with white allies is essential to activism for African American interests, which his detractors agreed with. The argument quickly became semantic, with many suggesting that Crews should be more precise in his terminology.
"I was not saying Black supremacy exists, because it doesn't," he wrote to actor Tyler James Williams later on in the night. "I am saying that if both Black and Whites don't continue to work together — bad attitudes and resentments can creat a dangerous self-righteousness. That's all."
Critics said that this point was undeniable — so much so that it was barely worth expressing. Some argued that Crews merely implied that the hard-working activists out there did not already know this by saying cooperation was essential. Moreover, they thought his tweet was meant more to appease his white followers than to resonate with his African American followers.
Some also said that they have come to expect more from Crews after he spoke out during the Me Too movement in 2017. The actor was one of the first men to come forward and speak out about his experience being sexually assaulted. Crews continued talking to other prominent voices on Twitter throughout the night, and on Monday morning he seemed to book-end the conversation.
"Please know that everything I've said comes from a spirit of love and reconciliation, for the Black community first, then the world as a whole, in hopes to see a better future for Black people," he wrote. "I believe it is important we not suffer from groupthink, and we keep minds of our own, and be allowed to ask difficult questions to each other. I believe this dialogue is important as we get through this trauma together. I love you."
While many people accepted and valued Crews' input in the discourse, others thought that he should do more reading and listening before speaking out. Here is a breakdown of the responses Crews got for his "Black Supremacy" tweet.