Three days after first weighing in on the controversy surrounding Texas high school student 14-year-old Ahmed Mohammed and his homemade clock, Arrow star Stephen Amell is still dealing with a backlash on social media, and has now apologized for defending the State of Texas.
After Mohamed was arrested this week for bringing a clock that was mistaken for a bomb to his school in Irving, TX, the CW actor took to Twitter Wednesday to share his take, defending Texas from those attacking actions taken by Ahmed’s school and members of law enforcement:
Stereotyping Texas isn't any better than stereotyping Ahmed. Just so we're clear.
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) September 16, 2015
Amell also posted a series of other tweets defending his position on the controversy, and was initially unapologetic.
After Jennifer Wattley, a fan of Arrow, shared a video to his Facebook page accusing him of unwittingly promoting “systemic, institutionalized racism and Islamaphobia,” Amell has now changed his tune.
Wattley asserted Texas was merely a “plot of land” with no cultural significance and slammed the actor for his tone.
“You will never be the victim of institutionalized racism,” which affects “all non-white people of color” in the United States, she said to the actor.
“Your feelings are so secondary,” she tearfully added, “a little, brown 14-year-old boy named Ahmend took a clock to school and was arrested.”
After viewing the video, Amell posted the following apology:
Hey Jennifer Wattley – thanks for taking the time. I know that a lot of people wouldn’t put themselves out there in front of a large audience and produce something so raw. I’m also appreciative because part of the reason this whole ordeal metastasized is anonymity. The other 99% was me commenting on a social issue / doubling down / saying I was going away and then doubling (tripling) down again because I felt mistreated by a few headlines. (Poor me… I know.) This led to me poking the bear… and here we are. Now… I’m could go point / counterpoint on your video. You saying I don’t care… that I don’t get it… that I was simply equating two things when I explicitly stated that was not my intention… I don’t want to do that. I want to apologize. For a couple of reasons. First, just because. Pride gets in the way sometimes. So let’s get rid of that. I’m sorry. If you were offended, found me trite or disingenuous, I’m sorry. Second, I made specific statements… but in a medium where people can’t hear my tone of voice, and the inability to be particular in tone made people that were in my corner (that’s a weird thing to type) feel disrespected. So I’m sorry. I have a very, very large audience, a high school education and no safety net or filter in front of me. I’m an actor. I’m not a Professor of sociology or an expert on the psychology of anyone who has to exist in any culture as a minority. I’m not an expert on religion or the history of particular regions. Quite simply I should have left things to smarter people. So again, I’m sorry. Concurrently, this whole social (media) experiment is a two way street. I come forward with no filter and that has engendered me a lot of good faith. If that faith is jeopardized… Well, I’d regret that any of this happened even more than I already do. You be well, Jennifer. And if anyone feels like Jennifer, then please consider this abnormally long paragraph penance for a few lousy days in an otherwise fruitful relationship. I’m sorry. And everything being equal, I’d really like to move on. PS – I think your voice is lovely.
Check out Wattley’s video below:
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