George Floyd death: T.I. slammed for calling Atlanta 'Wakanda' as fans say Marvel 'ain’t got no strip clubs, Clifford'
Fires raged in downtown Atlanta as protests over the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery continued. City leaders held a press conference at City Hall, where Atlanta rappers such as T.I. and Killer Mike were present. When T.I. spoke, the rapper said, "This city don’t deserve this. However, I understand that a lot of others do. But, we can’t do this here. This is Wakanda. This is sacred, it’s supposed to be protected.” Simply speaking, he didn't please very many people with that statement, "Wakanda? Man get this n-- off the stage expeditiously," tweeted one viewer.
"Still not over the fact that this n-- went to a protest and started talkin bout f****** wakanda. WAKANDA!," tweeted another user.
Rapper T.I., real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., was responding to the protests over the death of George Floyd as they turned violent in Atlanta. Fans took no time roasting what the rapper had to say, with one tweeting, "Atlanta is one of the most segregated cities. Wakanda my ass. Just because all of the black people live on one side of town don’t make shit gravy."
"T.I need to shut the hell up calling atlanta WAKANDA...what kind of stupidity ?," tweeted one user. Fans took to Twitter blasting the rapper's tone-deaf statement with some calling it "utter lies" to others posting videos of his speech. "They want celebs to speak up and we got T.I. calling Atlanta Wakanda," tweeted one user with another one adding, "Wakanda ain’t have no strip clubs, Clifford," tweeted another.
Although not all comments made at the conference had comparisons to Marvel worlds. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms had an emotional plea to the people watching, "What I see happening on the streets of Atlanta, is not Atlanta. This is not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. This is chaos. A protest has a purpose. When Doctor King was assassinated, we didn’t do this to our city. If you care about this city, then go home," she said.