Jesse Williams On Ferguson Shooting: Black People Are Not ‘Thugs Worthy Of Death’

Former teacher turned actor Jesse Williams is speaking out against the narrative on the Ferguson shooting. The actor, who earned a degree in African-American Studies, highlighted the media’s coverage of African American teens and their deaths, specifically Michael Brown’s death.

The Grey’s Anatomy actor voiced his opinion on CNN about how the media puts an oppressive light on African American youth in covering the crimes that lead up to these violent shootings. Jesse’s segment is focused on the shooting in Ferguson.

“You’ll find that the people doing the oppressing always want to start the narrative at a convenient part, or always want to start the story in the middle. This started with a kid getting shot and killed and left in the street for four hours. I’ve never seen a white body left in the street for four hours in the sweltering heat.”

Instead of just criticizing the media as a whole, Jesse Williams calls for their help in telling the right narratives surrounding these tragic deaths.

“We need journalism to kick in and start telling the story from the beginning, this is about finding justice for a kid that was shot, an 18-year-old that was shot, period.”

Williams went on to talk about the double standard. He points out his own upbringing, which was in a white suburban area, and the petty thefts that were done by caucasian kids, who didn’t receive the same punishment as people like Michael Brown.

“I know plenty of white kids who steal stuff from a convenience store. [There’s] this idea that every time a black person does something, they automatically become a thug worthy of death when we don’t own drug crimes. We’re not the only ones who sell and do drugs all the time. We’re not the only ones that steal and talk crazy to cops.”

Williams continued to make the Ferguson shooting an example of white privilege in America and the racism that African Americans still endure to this day.

“There’s a complete double standard and a complete different experience that a certain element of this country has the privilege of being treated like human beings, and the rest of us are not treated like human beings, period. That needs to be discussed, that’s the story.”

This isn’t the first time Jesse has talked about racism in America. As a member of the Board of Directors for the Civil Rights advocacy group The Advancement Project, Williams spoke out about the Michael Dunn trial, which went viral after Williams said that people are “tired of the criminalization of the black body. This is a tradition in this country.”

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