Source: Mike Marsland / Getty
Here we go again. Another person of color is the subject of racist fanboys’ foolishness, this time; it’s Obi-Wan Kenobi star Moses Ingram.
The excitement is still high following last week’s two-episode premiere of Disney+’s limited original series Obi-Wan Kenobi which sees Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprise their Star Wars prequel roles. The show also introduces the force-sensitive Jedi hunting Inquisitor Reva Sevander hot on Kenobi’s trail after the reclusive Jedi Knight comes out of hiding.
Racism Continues To Rear Its Ugly Head In A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars faithful are enjoying the show so far, but noticeably, Ingram’s Reva has been receiving the brunt of the criticism, and we all know why. The actress took to Instagram on Monday (May 30) to address some of the racist messages she received. In her Instagram Stories, Ingram shared a clip of The Read’s Crissle pointing out how ridiculous racism in the Sci-Fi genre is.
The next few posts feature messages Moses Ingram received from “fans.” “You’re days are numbered,” one comment read, “you are not the first nigga in Star Warss fool,” another message added.
Another comment called Ingram a “diversity hire,” In a follow-up post, Ingram shared a roughly 17-minute video focusing on her being cast in the series and claiming “operation get behind the darkies is real.”
Ingram finally spoke on the comments, revealing hundreds more racist messages in her inbox while thanking fans for coming to her defense. The actress acknowledged there is nothing she or anyone can do about it and that it bothers her because she has to “grin and bare it” before calling her haters “weird.”
The official Star Wars Twitter account did defend Ingram, writing in a tweet:
“We are proud to welcome Moses Ingram to the Star Wars family and excited for Reva’s story to unfold. If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist.”
They also called out their problematic Star Wars fans, adding, “There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don’t choose to be a racist.”
Moses Ingram is not the only actor of color to experience racism from so-called Star Wars fans. John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran also were the subject of online harassment following the release of The Last Jedi.
“You get yourself involved in projects, and you’re not necessarily going to like everything,” Boyega told GQ.
“[But] what I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up,” he added.
You can add playing fictional characters in a fantasy Sci-Fi series to the long list of things Black people can’t do without being harassed.
Photo: Mike Marsland / Getty
