September 2, 2020
Viola Davis, Taraji P. Henson Blast ‘New York Post’ Over Racially Biased Headlines
Critics are calling out corporations and institutions for allowing racial injustices to take place in their ranks.
Recently, social media users grew furious overo two headlines related to the protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Now, Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis is calling for others in Hollywood to boycott media outlets over biased headlines.
Davis took to her Instagram account to highlight two different headlines from the New York Post about the protests in Wisconsin and white vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, who has been accused of killing two Black Lives Matters protesters, in comparison to stories about Trayvon Martin’s killing in 2012. One headline reads that 17-year-old Martin had “traces of marijuana” in his system when he was fatally shot by George Zimmerman. However, eight years later, the outlet observed how Rittenhouse was cleaning off graffiti before the shootings took place. Taraji P. Henson, the star of Empire, echoed Davis’ sentiments, accusing The Post of humanizing Rittenhouse, an accused murdered, while demonizing Martin, a victim.
“You [New York Post] are foul for this.] You are [a part] of the problem,” Henson wrote on Instagram. “Entertainers we need to boycott publications that continue to criminalize innocent [people of color] after they have been murdered by the law. This is cruel and traumatizing to the loved ones left behind.”