The Conversation (0)
Showbiz
James Besanvalle
Jun 03, 2020
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Getty
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have pledged to be better allies to the black community in the wake of George Floyd’s death, 8 years after holding their wedding on a former slave plantation.
The celebrity couple took to Instagram on Monday to share the news of a $200,000 (£159,000) donation to racial justice organisation, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In a lengthy post, Lively wrote about the couple’s “complicity” in systemic racism, as well as their past “mistakes”.
They also vowed to raise their three kids “so they never grow up feeding this insane pattern” of “bias” and “blindness” to racism:
Lively ended her series of text-driven Instagram posts urging people to sign petitions, call their local representatives, donate money and read more information around the issue.
But many people were quick to point out Lively and Reynolds got married at Boone Hall Plantation, South Carolina in September 2012.
Even though the celebrity couple never explicitly mentioned their plantation wedding in this latest post, it didn’t go unnoticed by people on social media:
The celebrity couple are yet to publicly address the backlash to their post or the fact they didn't explicitly apologise for the slave plantation wedding.
There have been protests throughout US states since the death of George Floyd nine days ago in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Since then, videos have emerged of police firing tear gas at peaceful protestors, violent protests outside the White House and countless injuries sustained by police brutality.
An unarmed black man was also killed by police, even though he wasn't actually participating in the protests.