Emma Watson has taken to Instagram to speak out on racism following the backlash over her Blackout Tuesday posts.
The British actress, 30, shared a message Wednesday after critics were angered that she adorned her Blackout Tuesday posts with white borders to match her Instagram aesthetic. The social media initiative aimed to mute everyday content in order to amplify the voices of Black Lives Matter activists. It was inspired, in part, by George Floyd's death while in Minneapolis police custody last week.
"There is so much racism, both in our past and present, that is not acknowledged nor accounted for. White supremacy is one of the systems of hierarchy and dominance, of exploitation and oppression, that is tightly stitched into society," read a message she posted on Instagram.
"As a white person, I have benefited from this. Whilst we might feel that, as individuals, we’re working hard internally to be anti-racist, we need to work harder externally to actively tackle the structural and institutional racism around us," she continued.
"I'm still learning about the many ways I unconsciously support and uphold a system that is structurally racist," she wrote, adding that she would share links to resources she's used for research on the issues in her bio link and on Twitter.
"I see your anger, sadness and pain. I cannot know what this feels like for you but it doesn't mean I won't try to," she added.
Watson captioned her post, "I stand with you."
On Tuesday, Watson, who's one of Hollywood's most outspoken women's rights activists, posted three black squares, each with the hashtags #BlackoutTuesday, #TheShowMustBePaused, #AmplifyMelanatedVoices and #AmplifyBlackVoices.
Critics soon began blasting the "Harry Potter" star for editing her black squares with white borders to match the rest of her Instagram posts. Some also accused Watson of not having addressed George Floyd's death until Blackout Tuesday, despite the fact that she retweeted several articles and posts about the incident on Twitter.
"Is this all you have? i expected better from an ACTIVIST," wrote one angry fan.
"Those white borders are killing me," wrote another.
Many demanded that Watson "open your purse" to donate to causes important to black activists.
Still, others came to Watson's defense, including one fan on Twitter who shared several of Watson's past posts, noting, "Emma has been uplifting black voices for years when it wasn’t a trend."