Why Emma Watson Received Blackout Tuesday Backlash & How She Handled It

3 June 2020, 12:08 | Updated: 3 June 2020, 13:13

Emma Watson criticised for not doing enough as an activist during Black Lives Matter protests
Emma Watson criticised for not doing enough as an activist during Black Lives Matter protests. Picture: Getty Images

Emma Watson faced backlash when posting a #blackouttuesday Instagram post, as the vocal activist has been accused of staying silent during the protests and not doing enough.

Emma Watson is facing backlash for 'taking too long to speak out' during the worldwide Black Lives Matter support and protests and not doing enough.

The Harry Potter actress posted a #blackouttuesday to Instagram without speaking out any further, despite being a vocal feminist and activist.

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The Little Women actress also drew significant criticism for matching her blackout post to her Instagram aesthetic- propping the image up in a white border to fit with the rest of her images, with people saying, "lover her lack of energy! Go girl give us nothing!"

Another pointed out her sizeable net worth, saying: "girl i know that little women check hit. open your purse."

Another simply said: "The white [border[ lmao."

Emma Watson criticised for her 'lack of energy' over Black Lives Matter protests
Emma Watson criticised for her 'lack of energy' over Black Lives Matter protests. Picture: Emma Watson Instagram

However others are defending Emma, who argue that whilst her Instagram border was a poor choice, her silence was to stop from centring another white person when it should be Black voices being amplified- as well as trying to educate herself.

She also let people know she was 'holding off posting until #blackouttuesday ended in the UK.'

She later posted a statement that saw the actress acknowledge she 'needs to work harder' to tackle the racism in our society- she captioned the post, "I stand with you".

Emma wrote: "There is so much racism, both in our past and present, that is not acknowledged or accounted for. White supremacy is one of the systems of dominance, of exploitation and oppression, that is tightly stitched into society. As a white person, I have benefited from this."

"Whilst we might feel that, as individuals, we're working hard internally to be anti-racist, we need to work harder externally to actively tackle the structural and institutional racism around us."

"I'm still learning about the many ways I unconsciously support and hold up a system that is structurally racist."

View this post on Instagram

I stand with you.

A post shared by Emma Watson (@emmawatson) on

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