Meryl Streep Says We’re All Africans When Asked About Diversity, Causes A Stir On Social Media
Meryl Streep has become embroiled in controversy for her recent comment about diversity. At the Berlin International Film Festival, Streep didn’t answer any questions about the all-white jury panel at the festival. Instead, she defended it by saying that “we’re all Africans, really.”
This is the first time Meryl Streep is heading up the film festival jury for the Berlin International Film Festival. That said, Streep did say that she is committed to inclusion.
“This jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and that’s an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions. So I think the Berlinale is ahead of the game.”
So confused by shock in my feed to Meryl Streep quote. Um, wasn’t she just sporting this t-shirt a few months ago? pic.twitter.com/QZ9YMVZhbq
— Melinda D. Anderson (@mdawriter) February 11, 2016
Needless to say, people are taking issue with Streep’s statement that “we’re all Africans, really.” In fact, she became a trending topic on Twitter. That said, not too many seemed to read the whole article in regard to what Streep was saying about inclusion.
Y’all see Meryl Streep as some type of heroine. I see her as what I call a white feminist supremacist. pic.twitter.com/TuexFRm6M3
— LEFT (@LeftSentThis) February 11, 2016
**scratches Meryl Streep’s name off of “favorite white people” list & does ancestral get that mess away dance *** pic.twitter.com/DAIkHcuAUR
— Johnny Boy ? (@JohnTheFame) February 11, 2016
Saw Meryl Streep was trending and clicked to see if she had died, as one does. Her publicist would have had an easier time spinning that.
— Richard Jeter (@MilesToGo13) February 11, 2016
More embarrassing: media deliberately misleading readers with the Meryl Streep headline, or people getting outraged over a (wrong) headline?
— Russell Hainline (@RussellHFilm) February 11, 2016
You got to hand it to Meryl Streep. Her ‘We’re all Africans’ comment has managed to piss off liberals and confuse creationists.
— The Studio Exec (@studioexec1) February 11, 2016
This isn’t the first time Meryl Streep has gotten people angry with a controversial statement. Late last year, she created huge backlash when she wore a shirt that read “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave.” It was in promotion of her film Suffragette, but it probably wasn’t the best thing to wear given our current political climate with race relations.
The quote in question comes from suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.
“Know that women, once convinced that they are doing what is right, that their rebellion is just, will go on, no matter what the difficulties, no matter what the dangers, so long as there is a woman alive to hold up the flag of rebellion. I would rather be a rebel than a slave.”
While Streep received backlash, Selma director Ava DuVernay noted that this wasn’t the full quote. That said, it didn’t stop her detractors, including Black Lives Matter leader Deray Mckesson, from having something to say regardless of the context of the quote.
I cringed when I saw the t-shirt on the cast of Suffragette. Hard to fight the #feminismsowhite narrative with that one.
— Melissa Silverstein (@melsil) October 6, 2015
Meryl Streep has to know better. And if not, her publicist should have.
— deray mckesson (@deray) October 5, 2015
Time Out magazine put out a statement, seeing as they invited cast mates to wear the shirts at a photo shoot.
“It is a rallying cry, and absolutely not intended to criticise those who have no choice but to submit to oppression, or to reference the Confederacy, as some people who saw the quote and photo out of context have surmised.”
What do you think about Meryl Streep’s recent comments on diversity?
[Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images]
