Former Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington has sparked controversy after claiming on social media that some of “the best elementary school teachers” and “neighbors” he grew up with were members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Washington shared a recent post on Facebook with a picture of two female members of the KKK and a baby dressed as a klansman, along with a lengthy caption describing his experiences growing up with “Klan members.”
In his post, Washington said he “knew where they stood with me and they also knew where I stood with them.”
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The actor noted that he still played with their kids, but was not allowed to drink from their outside water hose or enter their houses to eat.
He continued by saying despite all of this, his “mother never refused to let their kids into her house to eat a summer lunch and drink from our vintage JFK water glasses.”
The Survivor’s Remorse star ended his post by wondering if some of the KKK members currently support his career because he showed them “love” and “respect.”
The post was met with backlash from social media users who accused Washington of “normalizing hate.”
One person repied to the post, “You can’t be serious.”
Another wrote, “That’s not spreading love. It’s enabling racism. Only allies will ever get unconditional love from me.”
Someone else reacted, “Your mother was nice to those children out of pure fear. She had to feed them because if they went home with a complaint about her or anyone of your family, you wouldn’t even be here to type this post.”
Another comment read, “Normalizing hate isn’t the flex you apparently believe it is.”
After several media outlets wrote about Washington’s comments, he posted an update on Facebook writing, “This is yellow journalism at it’s best.”
The entertainment insider has long been considered a talented actor. He played Dr. Preston Burke on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy before he was fired in 2007, after reportedly using a homophobic slur during a dispute on set.
As previously reported, earlier this year he announced his retirement from acting over frustration with “haters.”
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