Journalist ‘Too White’ to Interview Black Writer Was Placed Under Police Protection

A Belgian journalist deemed “too white” to interview far-left African-American essayist Angela Davis, required police protection after receiving serious threats from activists.

Journalist Safia Kessas interviewed Angela Davis earlier this week at the National Theatre in Brussels and had to be placed under police protection during the event due to the number of threats she had received as activists claimed she was “too white” to interview the black writer.

Activists were allegedly angry that Kessas was chosen to interview Davis because, despite being part Algerian in her background, she was not black herself.

“As Black and queer activists, we strongly question the choice of Safia Kessas to have a conversation with Angela Davis. Indeed, Angela Davis has worked and is still working every day for the liberation of Black people and against the prevailing negrophobia in the West,” activists said, the Belgian newspaper 7sur7 reports.

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“We are tired of our oppressors taking our place in places that should be reserved for us (…) We will not remain silent in the face of the negrophobic behaviour of people who claim to be our allies,” the activists said.

Angela Davis reacted to the alleged controversy herself, stating that the activists were posing a “bad question” and called the issue a “disturbing” example of “cancel culture.”

According to a report from the French magazine Marianne, the multiple threats to Kessas were so serious that during the event she had to be placed under police protection for her own safety.

Kessas is also said to have filed a police complaint against the activists, which the activists claim put them in danger, claiming the police were an “institution known for its racism.”

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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 24, 2020

A far-left activist since the 1960s and an avowed Marxist, Davis has been supportive of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, which gained momentum in European countries like Belgium in 2020, following the death of George Flloyd.

In June of 2020, riots broke out in Brussels with at least 150 arrested during a BLM protest that devolved into violence and saw shop windows smashed, shops looted and fires set by the rioters.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.