Actress Anne Hathaway, reacting to the murder of Nia Wilson, who was black, by John Cowell, who is white, in Oakland on July 22, decided to use the incident to accuse whites in America of racism, bloviating, “White people- including me, including you, must take into the marrow of our privileged bones the truth that ALL black people fear for their lives DAILY in America.”
Hathaway wrote on Instagram:
The murder of Nia Wilson- may she rest in the power and peace she was denied here- is unspeakable AND MUST NOT be met with silence. She is not a hash tag; she was a black woman and she was murdered in cold blood by a white man.
White people- including me, including you- must take into the marrow of our privileged bones the truth that ALL black people fear for their lives DAILY in America and have done so for GENERATIONS. White people DO NOT have equivalence for this fear of violence.
Given those givens, we must ask our (white)selves- how “decent” are we really? Not in our intent, but in our actions? In our lack of action?
As Newsbusters points out:
Cowell was mentally ill. Cowell’s family released a statement this week stating that their son has been suffering from bi-polar & schizophrenia for most of his life and “has not had the proper treatment.” Assuring that “this is in no way an excuse,” the Cowells reached out the the Wilson family saying “our hearts go to them & are mourning for your family.” …
The media also brought attention to Hathaway’s comments with sites like Yahoo, The Guardian, and Huffington Post doing stories on the actress’ post. None of the reports mentioned Cowell’s mental illness.