Skai Jackson Got Real About Why She Started Exposing Racists On Social Media
Protests aren't the only way celebrities are doing their part to fight racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd by police on May 25. While many have taken to the streets to rally together, Skai Jackson has used her social media platform to expose racist behavior on the internet. Skai Jackson's quotes about why she started exposing racists on Twitter are important.
Jackson, who is just 18 years old, knows how powerful the internet can be, both for good and bad, and that's why she's made it her mission to be part of the solution. Jackson wants to bring an end to people spreading hate from behind their phones or computers, thinking they'll never be called out.
For the past two weeks, Jackson has exposed dozens of social media users who have repeatedly posted racist content, including videos and photos of themselves using the N-word, or worse, bullying others for being Black. Jackson explained her decision to do this during an interview with Entertainment Tonight saying that she often gets DMs from her fans asking how to deal with the bullying behavior.
"People go through these struggles every day in life, and for me, it's kinda like my duty with the big platform that I have, to use it for good," Jackson shared.
Jackson has been tweeting screenshots of the racist behavior, and, in some cases, tagging the bully as well as their school or place of work in hopes they'll receive some type of consequence for their recaist behavior.
However, Jackson doesn't plan to post every claim she gets. She explained that she wants to make sure the people who DM her have "receipts" of the actions they're calling someone out for. (Jackson previously called out The Flash actor Hartley Sawyer for his past racist and misogynistic tweets, which led him to get fired from the CW show.)
"I'm not exposing anything thats private, that's one thing I won't do," Jackson said. "Everything that is said is public information. You posted these videos, it's out there to the public. A lot of people have been trying to get me to post their address and number and I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, that's one thing I will not do. I'm only posting public information."
Jackson's goals, in part, are to make the public aware of things these racist bullies have said in the past, and hopefully teach them a lesson. While Jackson is happy that some have written public apologies, she hopes they aren't doing it just to get people off their backs.
"I just want them to know that words sometimes do hurt, no matter how strong the person is," Jackson said. "Black people are already going through so much, right now in the world, and for you to think it's OK to use those racial slurs against us is just disgusting to me. I really hope and pray that you educate yourself. Do your history and understand why saying the N-word and all these other things are not OK."
Jackson hopes to lead the way when it comes to using social media for good. "I feel like, if you have a big platform, please use it for great," she shared. "Just like me, just like a bunch of people are. It takes two seconds. It's not gonna mess up your Instagram feed, you can do it."
