The Wire star Wendell Pierce jumped to his social media to accuse white people and MAGA Republicans of seeking to exclude blacks from American society no matter how much they have achieved.
Pierce told his followers that a white landlord in New York City rejected his application to rent an apartment in a Harlem apartment building despite his long list of accomplishments, his income stream, and his extensive investments.
The actor told his nearly 300,000 fans, “For those of you who don’t understand my righteous anger,” and went on to point out that he has starred in the TV series Suits, and is currently in Elsbeth and Raising Kanan, as well as filming the upcoming Superman reboot, among many other well-known projects.
He blasted the unnamed landlord, and wrote, “Even with my proof of employment, bank statements and real estate holdings, a white apartment owner DENIED my application to rent the apartment…..in Harlem, of all places. Racism and bigots are real. There are those who will do anything to destroy life’s journey for Black folks. When you deny our personal experiences, you are as vile and despicable.”
He also criticized a recent court ruling that temporarily put a halt to the black-only Fearless Fund, an organization that bankrolls businesses owned by black women.
After an appeals court ruled against the Fearless Fund for black women-run startups, critically acclaimed actor @WendellPierce speaks out. Why he shared his experience with modern racism. “I wanted to show the damaging effect of when bigotry is memorialized in law.” pic.twitter.com/rUgXZfIPPM
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) June 5, 2024
The court ironically based its ruling on a Reconstruction-era law that prevents discrimination and agreed with critics of the fund that aiding only black women and their businesses was discriminatory.
Pierce railed against the ruling, saying “Private investment into Black businesses being blocked with laws in place to prevent discrimination against Black businesses. The racist irony. Racist, bigoted, fascist Americans who burned down Black Wall Street in Tulsa 100 years ago are still alive and well.”
He went on to accuse whites, Republicans, and Trump supporters of trying to eliminate black people from American society.
Pierce said that those who want government out of our lives are using that ideal to exclude blacks. “The GOP, Right Wing, MAGA agenda is making it clear that their vision of America does not include Black folks having the same rights guaranteed by the constitution. In their America we are even allowed to exercise our right of self determination and build business with their intentions to destroy them.”
The GOP, Right Wing, MAGA agenda is making it clear that their vision of America does not include Black folks having the same rights guaranteed by the constitution. In their America we are even allowed to exercise our right of self determination and build business with their…
— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) June 3, 2024
The actor also addressed Edward Blum, the man who won the temporary block of the race-based Fearless Fund, and indulged many of the tropes of the Black Lives Matter movement, falsely accusing police of unfairly attacking blacks, and the like.
“It makes me sick motherfucker how far you will go to destroy our ability to live our lives in peace and prosperity,” he wrote. “Attacked in schools, attacked by police, attacked for expecting to live the stated values of this country, and attacked when successful in business. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. For generations we have embraced that lie as the violence against our community proves otherwise. It’s getting harder to stay in denial. America.”
Pierce called the court ruling against the Fearless Fund a “stealth act of bigotry in the shadows,” and also insisted that “Systemic racism is a chronic debilitating and destructive force in America.”
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