Fashion designer and recording artist Pharrell Williams has come under fire after criticizing what he termed "bullyish" behavior by Ferguson, Missouri's Michael Brown shortly before his deadly confrontation with police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.
In an interview published on
Ebony magazine's website before the decision by a grand jury not to indict Wilson, Williams denounced Wilson's actions, asserting that he had used "excessive force" in shooting Brown, 18, and should serve jail time.
But when asked if he had seen the surveillance video allegedly showing Brown stealing cigarillos from a local store and shoving a much smaller store employee, Williams said he was troubled by that behavior as well.
"It looked very bullyish; that in itself I had a problem with," he said. "Not with the kid, but with whatever happened in his life for him to arrive at a place where that behavior is OK. Why aren't we talking about that?"
After the grand jury reached its decision this week, Williams drew fire from fervent defenders of Brown, who said he had no business criticizing the young black man.
For example, Madeleine Davies, who blogs for a website called
Jezebel, said Brown (who died after an altercation in which he allegedly tried to attack a police officer) was killed for stealing cigarillos.
She wrote that "we should probably be spending more time critiquing the American white supremacist culture where it's okay to shoot an unarmed teenager for allegedly stealing cigarillos than we spend critiquing why Michael Brown stole those cigarillos in the first place."
It's not the first time Williams has come under attack for criticizing what he regards as ill-considered efforts by African-Americans to portray themselves as victims. In an April interview with Oprah Winfrey, Williams said he defines himself as a "new black" – which he defines as someone who "doesn't blame other races for our issues."
In response, a blogger named Feminista Jones created the Twitter hashtag #whatkindofblackareyou?
Jones labeled Williams' comments a "slap in the face" to people who do not fit in with his narrow ideas,
The Guardian reported.
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