White Celebrities Take Responsibility for Racism the Only Way They Know How

🙏 Photo: YouTube

On June 11, 14 white celebrities — Sarah Paulson, Aaron Paul, Kesha, Bethany Joy Lenz, Kristen Bell, Justin Theroux, Debra Messing, Mark Duplass, Bryce Dallas Howard, Julianne Moore, Piper Perabo, Stanley Tucci, Ilana Glazer, and Aly Raisman — posted a two-minute PSA in response to the current Black Lives Matter movement. In the video, they all vow to “Take Responsibility” for “every not so funny joke, every unfair stereotype,” and every time they “explained away police brutality.” You know they’re serious because the video is in black and white. You know they’re serious because it’s a montage. You know they’re serious because they pointedly repeat phrases like “I take responsibility” and “I stand against hate.” Aaron Paul steeples his fingers and gets real close to the camera. When Sarah Paulson says “I will not turn a blind eye,” you know she means it, because she’s wearing those big chunky glasses. The PSA is for a new campaign called ITakeResponsibility, which aims “to stand up for our Black friends and family in America. Our goal is to rally the white community, to provide education and encourage action. Our mission is to ensure this takes place.” The campaign’s website has links to donate to memorial funds for the families of black victims of police brutality, the Bail Project, and Reclaim the Block, among other organizations. It is spearheaded by the production company behind the OWN series Black Love. The website urges viewers to “Make your own video, share it with the world, challenge your friends to do the same, and use the hashtag: #itakeresponsibility.” Some have argued that turning black suffering into an ice-bucket-style social media “challenge” is deeply unhelpful. But hey, at least they didn’t sing.