John Boyega has a message for all the racist ‘Star Wars’ fans

News flash: racism is alive and well in this country. Need a reminder? Peruse basically any YouTube comments section. Or better yet, just check out the flood of ignorant fandom responses to John Boyega's black stormtrooper in the new “Star Wars” trailer. Guess what, nerds: you don't get out of being called a racist by cloaking your prejudice in claims of franchise inaccuracy (and by the way, you're not even right). Why? The fact that you're crying foul in the first place betrays a deep-seated bigotry.

Of course, Hollywood has been and remains a huge part of the problem when it comes to race (ahem, ahem) – which is why Boyega's lead role in arguably the biggest movie franchise in history is such a wonderful thing. And luckily, the actor himself understands that the best way to deal with haters is by keeping it classy. At least we're pretty sure that's what he's getting at with that last line:

 

With love xxx

A photo posted by @jboyega on Nov 11, 2014 at 1:37pm PST

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(via io9)

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