Transgender model, Munroe Bergdorf, who was sacked by L’Oreal for saying ‘all whites are racist’ has had to defend herself again.
This time to Piers Morgan, now there’s a shocker.
Munroe, who became the first trans woman to appear in a L’Oreal Paris UK campaign, has seen herself having to defend comments she made which lead to her being sacked by the beauty brand.
Here are some highlights:
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During a post on her Facebook page, Munroe, talking about the Charlottesville protests, posted: ‘Honestly I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people.’
The model explained her comments on Good Morning Britain:
I don’t think that all white people are by nature racist, from conception to birth I think that we are all the same, but we need to speak about how we’re socialised as people and my post was based on socialisation and racism as a structure.
I think as society we’re taught certain things, we’re taught that men are superior to women, we’re taught that women are meant to be submissive, we’re taught that gay people are meant to be ashamed of their sexuality but it doesn’t mean that this is how things need to be.
Piers, who took the comments personally, calling them ‘deeply offensive’ and a ‘load of rubbish’, said:
I’m not sexist, I’m not racist, I’m not a homophobe so who are you, with the greatest respect, who are you to say that every straight white guy…
Forcing Munroe to interrupt to say: ‘I did not say that…’
But Piers continued (of course):
Well you did… you are calling straight, white guys like me a series of offensive stereotypical labels which I find very offensive.
Trying, in between Morgan’s attempts to interrupt her, Munroe explained:
Socialisation has placed all white people in a certain privilege, that means if you are not dismantling racism, or helping to dismantle racism, you are part of the problem, because that makes you complicit.
You need to actively work with people of colour to put diversity, which this campaign was about, into place.
When L’Oreal fires me for speaking about the origins of racism, then that goes completely against what diversity is.
Munroe had her fair share of backers on Twitter, who wrote:
When asked if she ‘regretted’ the structure of her post, Munroe said:
I don’t regret the form of the words. At the end of the day I’m an activist and activists aren’t there to say a bunch of stuff that people like, we’re there to call things out and make a change.
Yes, I said ‘all white people’, because all white people have privileges that come out of colonialism and slavery.
Yesterday, Munroe posted a message on Twitter and Instagram thanking her fans and supporters, saying things were ‘really tough right now’ and promised to use ‘whatever platform’ to say ‘whatever needs to be said’.
Instead of being offended, listen!
