George Floyd protests: Taika Waititi slammed by protesters after he says there's a way to direct anger
Last week, after a police officer knelt on a man's throat for eight minutes and killing him, there was nationwide fury in the United States. Protests against the killing of George Floyd have erupted in different states and the slogan of Black Lives Matter is resounding through the country. Recently, filmmaker Taika Watiti shared activist Killer Mike's powerful video on the murder and the systemic racism.
Watiti tweeted, "Watch the whole thing. Eloquent. Clear. Everyone is angry but there is a way to direct that anger." However, this drew flak from Twitter users, who told him not to instruct Black people on how to utilize their anger.
One user tweeted, "You are not Black and you do not get to decide how or when Black people should express and direct our pain and anger," a fan wrote.
"Taika. You’re not going to sit here and police my anger and my community’s anger. You are no one of us. Don’t you dare tell us how to respond. Keep your respectability politics to yourself," a user tweeted while another wrote, "Millionaire filmmaker being out of touch on your left."
A user wrote, "Instead of policing Black pain and reactions, how about you open your purse and use your platform to uplift our voices and resources? This is very disappointing coming from you and I hope you understand the harm you are doing by speaking for us."
One user tried to defend Watiti and wrote, "I think you misunderstood his intention. Taika's heart is in the right place here, if anything. We're all angry. And Killer Mike made a powerful statement that has even white guys like me floored and ready to fight for the cause at a moment's notice."
In an emotional video, Killer Mike said he wanted to see the whole systemic racism being burned down, not 'targets'. He started with, "I watched a white officer assassinate a black man. I know that tore your heart out. I know it's crippling." He then went on to say, "It's your duty to not burn your house down for anger. It's your duty to fortify your own house, so that may be a house of refuge. Now is the time to plot, plan, strategize and mobilize. It is time to beat up prosecutors you don't like. Atlanta is not perfect, but we are a lot better than we were. I am mad as hell. I woke up wanting to see the world burn down, yesterday. I am tired of seeing black men die. He casually put his knee on a human being's neck for nine minutes as he died, like a zebra in the clutch of a lion's jaw. And we watch it like murder porn, over and over again. It is our responsibility to make this better. We don't want to see one officer charged. We want to see four officers prosecuted and sentenced. We don't want to see targets burning. We want to see the system that sets up systemic racism burned to the ground."
He urged everyone to not 'burn homes' to the ground, but to reflect. "We have to be better than this moment. We have to be better than losing our own home. I want you to go home, talk to your friends, and come up with solutions."