Source: Pacific Press / Getty
Yes, Star Wars fans can be ridiculously racist too.
Krystina Arielle should have been celebrating after being announced as the new host of The High Republic Show web series, but instead, she was the target of racial attacks. Star Wars swiftly stepped up to defend its new web series host.
Yahoo News reported that immediately following the announcement of Arielle becoming the host of the new Star Wars subseries; she was met with racist criticism in response to resurfaced tweets she shared back in June speaking out about the role white people played in racist America at the height of protests that broke out worldwide following the unjust killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.
“White People: You do not get to absolve people of racism. You do not get to point out their ‘Growth’ when they say black lives matter after treating us as if we don’t.”
And stop patting them on the back for doing the bare fucking minimum task of being decent and humane to Black people
— Krystina Arielle 🦖 (@KrystinaArielle) June 5, 2020
Not one lie detected, of course.
In response to the nerdy racist haters, she shared a screenshot of the disturbing messages sent to her with the caption, “we the last 24 hours have been… not the greatest.” The photos showed her being called a monkey, and one person went as far as to call her a n*****.
— Krystina Arielle 🦖 (@KrystinaArielle) January 23, 2021
After she shared the message, the Star Wars official Twitter account quickly came to her defense and stated in a tweet:
“Our Star Wars community is one of hope and inclusivity. We do not stand for bullying and racism. We support @KrystinaArielle.”
Our Star Wars community is one of hope and inclusivity. We do not stand for bullying and racism. We support @KrystinaArielle.
— Star Wars (@starwars) January 23, 2021
Twitter users and other Star Wars fans also stood with Arielle by starting the hashtag #IStandWithKrystina.
Krystina is an ASSET to star wars & CANON on wookieepedia so racist comic book youtubers with no views need to sit down on their inflatable darth maul chairs and take a break #IStandWithKrystina #VerifyKrystinaArielle https://t.co/YFoVLTVWfi
— Jenny Nicholson (@JennyENicholson) January 22, 2021
While the Star Wars franchise did the right thing in coming to the defense of Arielle, some couldn’t help but recall its treatment of its Black star John Boyega. The actor has been very vocal about how the film franchise used his character and others to help sell the film but subsequently being outshined by the movie’s white leads.
Speaking with British GQ, Boyega didn’t bite his tongue and spoke about how they did his character Finn — the first Black Stormtrooper — dirty.
“What I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are, and then have them pushed to the side,” he told the publication.
Like Arielle, Boyega was also the recipient of racist comments after his character was revealed. He had a lot to say about that as well.
“Nobody else in the cast had people saying they were going to boycott the movie because [they were in it],”
“Nobody else had the uproar and death threats sent to their Instagram DMs and social media, saying, ‘Black this and Black that and you shouldn’t be a stormtrooper.’ Nobody else had that experience. But yet people are surprised that I’m this way. That’s my frustration.”
He has since spoken with LucasFilm president Kathleen Kennedy which resulted in “a really nice, transparent, honest conversation” that he said was “beneficial” to both of them.
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Photo: Pacific Press / Getty
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