Earlier this month while on a promotional tour for his new film Cold Pursuit, Liam Neeson made some staggering comments about an incident that took place nearly 40 years ago.
In an interview with The Independent, Neeson recalled a time where he discovered that his close friend was raped.
The only information about the assailant was that he was a black man.
As a result, in a blind rage, the action star admitted that he wanted to seek out revenge and “[…] hope some ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could… kill him.”
Neeson talked about this time in his life and continued in the interview to display great remorse for those feelings he once had, but that isn’t the conventional issue with the comments made.
On one hand, it’s an appalling thing to reveal and it’s probably good that Neeson showed regret.
After all, he spoke truthfully and that should count for something, but still, Neeson shouldn’t come across as a hero in this story.
Neeson’s comments reflect a type of behavior that’s so incredibly despicable and something that still unfortunately exists in our society.
There are some people who will claim racism isn’t a major issue in our country—or just in general—but comments like this show there’s still a root of hate that exists.
While Neeson may be reformed, who is to say that there are others who still hold onto this belief?
Walter Greason, Ph.D., an associate professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Counseling and Leadership at thinks Neeson’s comments are reflective of the continuing chasm due to the racism in our world today. “Until universities and media organizations take the depth of the hatred against black people worldwide seriously, these fantasies, and the action they inspire, will persist,” said Greason.
Making the rounds on a promotional tour to come forward with this admission seems like just a means for Neeson to come to terms with his own regret.
And again, looking at this apology should seem like a good thing.
When people are hurtful and racist in their lives, the end goal is that they reform those beliefs and learn from their mistakes.
Neeson has essentially done that, but the comments he made were not correct.
It’s a bit dangerous to just let bygones be bygones with just a public apology.
If every hateful person addressed the public and admitted their racist believes and said ‘I’m different now and I regret saying those things,’ there would be no way to know if it is actually true.
Greason believes that Neeson could have talked about his rage appropriately without bringing the racial elements into his story. “Once he started down that path,” said Greason, “he needed much more knowledge than he disclosed.”
Changed behavior and literal action are what shows that you are a reformed person, that you can make actual changes to your life to back up those claims.
I don’t want to infer that I think Neeson is lying and that he isn’t actually a better person, he very well may be.
The conventional problem here is that he shouldn’t be getting a pass for making these comments and they deserve closer attention.
His thoughts that he revealed in interviews deserve to be inspected and allow for discourse because it is such an issue in todays world.
The backlash over these comments weren’t incredibly drastic.
His red carpet premiere of his movie was cancelled and Neeson has received criticism on social media and with other news outlets.
However, it looks like the actor may still have the opportunity to work again, which isn’t really a major concern, but should at least be mentioned. Neeson’s old beliefs were incredibly vile and something that probably should have been left unsaid to the public.
The tricky part about this whole thing is that Neeson has done right in reforming his thoughts and behaviors, but he shouldn’t be using this story as a way to learn a lesson.
The actor should be working to change his real life actions and show support for minorities and not use this story as way to pat himself on the back for changing.
This isn’t something that should be swept under the rug or thrown to the side.
Continued discussion will make everyone involved better off than they were before, both the public and Neeson.
IMAGE TAKEN FROM LA LIVE
