British star Idris Elba ran afoul the woke police when he recently declared that he no longer calls himself a black actor, saying people have become overly obsessed with race. Now the actor is standing firm and refusing to back down from his comments that have angered some on the left.
Idris Elba defended himself in a tweet on Saturday, saying that his work as an actor shouldn’t be defined by race.
“There isn’t a soul on this earth that can question whether I consider myself a BLACK MAN or not,” he wrote. “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 [sic]. Ah lie?”
As Breitbart News reported, Elba recently told Esquire that he no longer wishes to identify himself as a black actor and be put into a racial box.
“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,” he said. “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.”
Elba’s comments have prompted criticism from some on the left, including fellow British star John Boyega, who recently tweeted his disapproval.
“I think we should fixate on who is typecasting and putting actors in boxes because of this,” Boyega wrote. “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.”
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That’s the way I see you also, Idris…..and you’re good at it by the way.
You are one of my favorite actors and the color of your skin has nothing to do with it! It’s all about your skills.