Issa Rae, an American actress most well known for her leading role on the television series Insecure, said during an interview at the 2022 Emmy Awards that she is rooting for “everybody black” to win an award that evening. This of course doesn’t sound the least bit racist, not even slightly.
The interviewer, Lavern Cox, mentions that 5 years ago Rae gave a similar answer when asked the same question, stating she was “betting on black.”
These two individuals have claimed victimhood and oppression on numerous occasions while year after year attending prestigious award shows and giving red-carpet interviews. Insecure, a show created by and starring Issa Rae, also appears to be one large virtue signal, that addresses the “challenges of being black women who defy all stereotypes.”
It is unthinkable to imagine a white actress, wearing a dress likely costing thousands of dollars, going into an interview and saying that she was there rooting for all white people. I imagine slogans like “cancel the Emmy’s” would be trending, there would be protests and outcries for the award show to apologize for the harm caused. But so long as it is a black woman actively hoping white people don’t receive recognition for their work, that is fine by all societal standards.
Issa Rae has received 8 nominations and awards herself, and yet still finds that there is racism rooted in the culture, even in Hollywood, possibly the most liberal place in the country. In 2020, the actress, along with several hundred others, signed onto an open letter to the theater industry which reads, “You are all a part of this house of cards built on white fragility and supremacy. And this is a house that will not stand.“
It’s all apart of Hollywood celebrity privilege, I suppose.
