Photo: Getty Images North America
Actor BD Wong, best known for his role on Law & Order, has apologized after likening a Black man to an animal.
The racist remark stemmed from a social media post by wildlife influencer Mike Holston, who shared a photo of himself with an animal and invited his followers to guess what it was.
"Name this animal...wrong answers only," Holston wrote.
Amid joking responses, Wong commented back, "It appears to be a Black man." The actor quickly deleted his remark, but not before being called out by social media users for invoking racist stereotypes.
“That was so stupid and disappointing of him to say,” one Instagram user wrote.
“I bet if the joke was about the LGBT+ community… he wouldn’t find it as funny,” another person added.
One TikTok user, identified as Ed, broke down why Wong's comment was harmful.
“BD Wong, I need you to understand the animalization of Black people isn’t a joke because it’s rooted in white supremacy and anti-Blackness… Black people have always been compared to animals by white people to dehumanize them," the TikToker said in the video.
Wong initially defended his remark in a now-deleted post, saying, “Well it said wrong answers only but I could see why people wouldn’t get that so I deleted it real quick but yea that was the dumb idea.”
However, as backlash grew, Wong issued an apology on Tuesday (December 2).
“I want to elaborate re a racist comment I posted, to clarify that I recognize & accept the responsibility for how terrible it is,” he wrote on Threads. “It’s also wrong to try to ‘explain’ anything… Let me please spend the energy on how wrong I know it is to exploit a despicable, racist trope in the supposed spirit of humor; I do know better, but again no excuses. Very sorry for the hurt I’ve caused & for taking lightly something so deeply injurious.”
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