“Nobody is gonna kill me based on my skin colour”
BY SOPHIE GRIFFITHS
Over the past week, Halsey has been one of many celebrities who have been out on the streets, protesting and demanding justice for the police brutality against Black people in the USA.
In amongst medicating protestors and fighting for justice, Halsey took to Twitter to address her own privilege. While Halsey is biracial, she is white-passing, which means she doesn’t face the same racist violent as other Black people do.
Halsey responded to a now-deleted tweet that claimed she doesn’t embrace her “Black side” because of the language she uses, and she explained why that’s not the case.
im white passing. it’s not my place to say “we”. it’s my place to help. i am in pain for my family, but nobody is gonna kill me based on my skin color. I’ve always been proud of who I am but it’d be an absolute disservice to say “we” when I’m not susceptible to the same violence. https://t.co/2p6RVJixwl
— h (@halsey) June 3, 2020
Halsey tweeted: “I’m white-passing. It’s not my place to say ‘we.’ It’s my place to help,” Halsey wrote. “I am in pain for my family, but nobody is gonna kill me based on my skin colour. I’ve always been proud of who I am but it’d be an absolute disservice to say ‘we’ when I’m not susceptible to the same violence.”
This isn’t the first time Halsey has spoken out regarding her white-passing privilege either. In a past interview with Playboy, she spoke about identifying as a Black woman but looking white.
“I’m white-passing. I’ve accepted that about myself and have never tried to control anything about black culture that’s not mine,” she said. “I look like a white girl, but I don’t feel like one. I’m a Black woman. So it’s been weird navigating that.”
It’s a powerful statement for someone with a following as large as Halsey’s to be making. She is using her privilege to make a change and we love her for it.
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