Taylor Swift promises to be "loudly and ferociously anti-racist" and to "never let privilege lie dormant"
Taylor Swift has promised to be “loudly and ferociously anti-racist” going forward and to “not let privilege lie dormant”.
The pop star made the pledge earlier today (June 19) as an acknowledgement of Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the US.
After sharing a video from the publication The Root explaining why Juneteenth should be a national holiday in the States, Swift said that she would be giving all of her employees the day off “in honour of Freedom Day from now on”. She said she would be using the day “to continue to educate myself on the history that brought us to this present moment”.
Happy Juneteenth! I want to thank @TheRoot and @RhapsoDani for allowing me to post this video about the significance of today, June 19th, and why it should be celebrated as a National holiday. https://t.co/7yjwh4Lddg
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 19, 2020
“For my family, everything that has transpired recently gives us an opportunity to reflect, listen, and reprogram any part of our lives that hasn’t been loudly and ferociously anti-racist, and to never let privilege lie dormant when it could be used to stand up for what’s right,” Swift added.
For my family, everything that has transpired recently gives us an opportunity to reflect, listen, and reprogram any part of our lives that hasn’t been loudly and ferociously anti-racist, and to never let privilege lie dormant when it could be used to stand up for what’s right.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 19, 2020
In recent weeks, the musician has been very vocal on recent events, speaking out on Donald Trump, Black Lives Matter, the recent LGBTQ+ Supreme Court ruling and the removal of statues of “historical racist figures”.
On the latter, Swift called on the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to “consider the implications of how hurtful it would be to continue fighting for” monuments to white supremacist Edward Carmack and former KKK grand wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest.
“Taking down statues isn’t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe – not just the white ones,” she wrote. “We need to retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ‘heroes’ to ‘villains.’ And villains don’t deserve statues.”
Meanwhile, Usher has written a powerful essay calling for change on Juneteenth and pushing for the day to be made a national holiday. “Let’s support black-owned businesses today and every day,” he wrote. “Let’s uplift our resilient history. Let’s honour our people.”
