Source: Michael Loccisano / Getty
I am a huge fan of Terry Crews.
I love how he spoke up about being a survivor of sexual assault and continues to call out sexism in Hollywood and beyond. I love how he showed Black women love for showing up for him after he accused Adam Venit of groping him at an event back in 2017.
And I truly love how hard he pushes back on folks like DL Hughley, 50 Cent and other men filled with toxic masculinity who try to use what he’s been through as the butt of their tired jokes.
But some recent tweets about white actor Liam Neeson have me feeling a way.
Remember: Neeson admitted that he would have committed a hate crime against a random Black man because a female friend of his was allegedly raped by a Black man. That, and he somehow stopped himself from doing that by power walking.
Now, initially, Crews seemed to be on the right side of history and the outrage about Neeson’s statements.
But soon after, it took a strange and disappointing turn with Terry tweeting that where Liam was at that time in his life seemed like a “fork in the road” that people face in the battle between good and evil.
Sigh…
This confusing tweet prompted rapper Wale to shut this all the way down:
Now, I don’t think that Terry was defending Neeson per se, but this this need to normalize and empathize with racists as a form of understanding human behavior, doesn’t sit well with me, Wale and countless others on Twitter who expect better from the “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” actor.
Here are some of these concerns.
Black Twitter Is Not Here For Terry Crews’ Take On Liam Neeson was originally published on hellobeautiful.com
1.
Okay but who is going to forgive Terry Crews and DL Hughley for forgiving Liam Neeson for forgiving himself?
— M’BlockU (@rodimusprime) February 6, 2019
Answer that geniuses! pic.twitter.com/PicNdDXi9a
2.
Nobody:
— Empress LoStrassi Palpatine 🇳🇬 (@RatchetNerd_) February 5, 2019
Liam Neeson:
Terry Crews: pic.twitter.com/HAY7zsLE1J
3.
Terry crews defended gina rodriguez but was arguing with tariq nasheed for hours
— 👑 (@patiencesosweet) February 5, 2019
Terry crews was going to slap DL Hughley but he sees Liam Neeson's point of view
4.
5.
Liam Nesson: Yea i went Nigger hunting a couple of times
— Orin Kashiki (@Supermari64) February 5, 2019
Terry Crews: its ok man i forgive you i understand
Me pic.twitter.com/3hbl9Mjuzw
6.
Dylan Roof literally killed 9 black people because he believed that they “rape our women and are taking over our country". Liam don't get a pass on this one.
— Cory Provost (@coryprovost) February 5, 2019
7.
Why are we celebrating people for NOT killing Black men? Is that how low the bar is? Liam Neeson hasn’t even acknowledged his words, thoughts & actions were racist. All he’s said is revenge is bad as if it would’ve been revenge if he’d carried out the act, come on man.
— ✨Mizzlé✨ (@mizzlywizz) February 5, 2019
8.
I was with Terry Crews until he sided with Liam ... i can’t keep rooting for this man and he keeps doing dumb shit
— mommiana✨ (@freauxmama) February 5, 2019
9.
Y'all boy Terry Crews rode in with that cape for Gina Rodriguez and says that Liam Neeson was just at a "fork in the road" when walking the streets looking for a random black dude to kill. But he said it's on sight for Russell Simmons, 50 cent, or DL Hughley huh? Lol pic.twitter.com/jjpY5MIqb1
— Pedro Rico (@Styl3z_P) February 5, 2019
10.
Why sent we asking LIAM what HE’S GONNA DO? Why can’t we we be angry at his decisions/actions, and hold him accountable? Why is it always up to US to be forgiving, accommodating, docile, etc? Not saying he can’t be redeemed or hasn’t been but the ball is in HIS court big homie!
— Ronnie Edge Jr. (@RonnieEdgeJr) February 5, 2019
11.
Miss me with this fork in the road bullshit. He’s talking about murdering someone because there black vis this a dilemma that you’ve ever had to deal with? I don’t understand Terry Crews or the folk defending him. Liam is shit.
— i. (@_nopename) February 5, 2019
12.
"Oh, Terry Crews has weighed in on this Liam Neeson mess? Man I know he dropped some knowl..." pic.twitter.com/AHXpHssmbJ
— Lincoln Anthony Blades (@lincolnablades) February 6, 2019
13.
Terry Crews putting on the soft shoes for Liam. pic.twitter.com/PHTThDN2R7
— Snow Bunny Crisis Actor (@ReverendDrDash) February 5, 2019
14.
Black folks all day including Terry Crews have now come to Liam Neeson’s defence.
— Nicolas-Tyrell Scott (@iamntyrell) February 5, 2019
Black history month is currently 5 days deep in America
pic.twitter.com/2AbLieSga9
15.
I really like @terrycrews and generally what he stands for but absolutely not. Liam Neeson isn’t it at ALL.
— Richie Brave (@RichieBrave) February 5, 2019
16.
Terry Crews is wack for defending Liam period!! Like @Wale said there are black men getting killed, harassed, or beaten all the time because of white men with that same mentality that Liam “had” and that’s a problem.
— Lori Taught Me 🙌🏾 (@Qing__k) February 5, 2019
17.
I appreciate Liam admitted his racist thoughts and got help but he still uses these awful feelings as "inspiration" to act certain scenes. How is this not problematic??
— Frankie Pumps👠👠👠 (@FierceFrankie1) February 5, 2019
18.
Terry Crews is really defending Liam Nesson this morning? pic.twitter.com/L6cbm7hcno
— Bic Mitchum (@MichaelHJordan) February 5, 2019
19.
20.
Liam Neeson's emotional response to hunt black men is the same emotional response that killed Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till and countless other POC.
— Average Dick Energy (@JustJoeyJoeyJo) February 5, 2019