LOS ANGELES, June 3 (UPI) — Chester Hanks, 24-year-old son of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, isn’t ashamed of his use of a certain racial slur.
After receiving heavy public backlash this week for using a slang word associated with African-American’s on Instagram, the aspiring rapper Chet Haze — as he calls himself — did two notable things: he wrote a long rant in support of using the term and promptly deleted his Instagram account all together.
“If I say the [expletive] I say it amongst people I love and who love me. If I say ‘[expletive] yall hatin ass [expletive]’ it’s because that’s really how I felt at the time,” the Northwestern grad wrote under an Instagram video that has since been deleted.
“Look, I know the majority of y’all are not going to get this, because the history is still so fresh in our country, but hip-hop isn’t about race — it’s about the culture you identify with,” he preluded in the video. “And can’t no one tell me what I can’t say.”
Tuesday’s post caption, recorded by USA Today, went on to read:
“Now I understand the older generation who grew up in the Jim Crowe era might have strong feelings against this. And that’s understandable… But what I’m saying is this is 2015… And even tho we are still far from where we need to be and black people are still being literally KILLED by a RACIST and [expletive] up system… We have also reached a point where the word can no longer have a negative connotation if we so choose. And who is to say only black people can use it? The way I see it, it’s a word that unifies the culture of HIP-HOP across ALL RACES, which is actually kind of a beautiful thing. It’s a word that can be used out of camaraderie and love, not just exclusively for black people. What’s the point in putting all these built up ‘rules’ about it. It’s time to let go. You can hate me or love me for it, but can’t nobody tell me what I can or can’t say. It’s got nothing to do with trying to be a thug. It’s about the culture of the music. And that’s all I have to say about that (no pun intended) lol. It’s all love. Some people will get it, some people won’t. Either way, Ima keep living my life however the [expletive] I want. ALL LOVE.
Hanks has since deleted his Instagram account, but before doing so posted a second video clarifying some of the above statements. He said that he would only use the term considered a racial slur among friends.
“It’s an unspoken thing between people who are friends, who understand each other,” he said.
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