OITNB: Matt McGorry Declares #AllLivesMatter Advocates ‘Part Of The Problem’
Orange Is The New Black‘s Matt McGorry has spoken about the #BlackLivesMatter movement before, but this weekend, he took time out to discuss the problem with changing the hashtag to #AllLivesMatter. In a multi-tweet rant, McGorry responded to a follower who suggested that #AllLivesMatter promoters were well-intentioned. The OITNB star compared the value of these intentions to that of Nazis, then went on to make it clear that not only are intentions not enough, but that people who change the slogan aren’t listening and don’t want to learn.
McGorry posts about the #BlackLivesMatter movement frequently, and responds with patient and gentle explanations to those who tweet to him with suggestions centering around cultural values, absent parents, and other claims that put the blame on the minorities themselves. One particular theme that has emerged in response to the movement is people generalizing it by answering that all lives matter. On Saturday, he responded to a tweet that suggested these folks usually mean well.
Intention isn’t the only thing that matters. Hitler thought he was doing good by killing off “inferior races.” https://t.co/QGsHdgH3ch
— Matt McGorry (@MattMcGorry) August 15, 2015
Zero to Hitler in a single tweet — that might be an excellent example of Godwin’s Law, but the extreme comparison made a clear point: good intentions, or claims of good intentions, aren’t enough if the actions attached cause significant harm.
McGorry went on to elaborate in four more tweets.
(2) @Opinion8dGuy I think some people may be unaware of the negative effect of #AllLivesMatter initially, but after a simple discussion it
— Matt McGorry (@MattMcGorry) August 15, 2015
(3) @Opinion8dGuy should be clear pretty quickly. If not, it’s likely bc one is unaware of their privilege and/or not interested in learning
— Matt McGorry (@MattMcGorry) August 15, 2015
(4) @Opinion8dGuy about it. Scratch the “or” in the last tweet. If you refuse to acknowledge a difference in how people of different races
— Matt McGorry (@MattMcGorry) August 15, 2015
(5) @Opinion8dGuy genders, etc are systemically oppressed, then that person is part of the problem.
— Matt McGorry (@MattMcGorry) August 15, 2015
Later, he added this comic strip from ChainSawSuit (original found here) to further explain why he says #AllLivesMatter detracts from the movement.
Saturday Morning Cartoons. How you sound when you say #AllLivesMatter. #RiseAndShine #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/sS3D71swbc
— Matt McGorry (@MattMcGorry) August 15, 2015
It’s hardly the first time the actor has used a long-form Twitter response to explain his feelings about #BlackLivesMatter vs. #AllLivesMatter — in fact, EW has a ten-tweet (plus one Instagram) series he posted about this same time last month on the same subject.
When asked about or thanked for his expressions on feminism and minority rights, Matt McGorry has explained that he recognizes his privilege, and believes he should use it for the good of others.
[Photo by: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images]
