Yesterday Nova reported that Liam Neeson said he was “ashamed” to admit he once searched the streets looking for a “black bastard” to kill. The actor wanted to commit a random attack after someone close to him told him she had been raped.
The actor received criticism for what was deemed as a racially motivated and violent response to the terrible trauma his friend had endured. Journalist Ash Sarkar criticized Neeson as racist for his words.
That Liam Neeson interview is just so saddening (and yes, still racist). It reinforces the idea that people of colour, and especially black men, are collectively responsible for the misdeeds of one. And that when a woman is sexually violated, it’s a man who is left truly wounded.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) February 4, 2019
Former footballer John Barnes told Sky News how Liam Neeson “deserves a medal” for his honesty about once having violent thoughts about killing a black person. Barnes told Sky News that he respected Neeson for telling the truth, and that “we are all unconscious racists”.
Now the actor has responded, speaking on Good Morning America he said,
“I’m not racist, this was 40 years ago. I was brought up in the north of Ireland. The Troubles. The ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. There was a war going on in the north of Ireland. I had acquaintances who were involved in the trouble. The bigotry. One Catholic would be killed, the next day a protestant would be killed. I grew up surrounded by that, but I was never surrounded by it.”
He concluded, “We all pretend we’re all politically correct. But sometimes you just scratch the service and you discover this racism and bigotry, and it’s there.”
Liam Neeson shares story of past urge to commit racist murder after a friend was raped https://t.co/MH96dQ5ykm pic.twitter.com/pfzX45tMeK
— NME (@NME) February 4, 2019
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