Arrow Fan Explains Systemic Racism and Islamophobia in Open Letter for Stephen Amell

Last week Stephen Amell responded to the arrest of Ahmed Mohamed by defending Texas in a series of “NotAllTexans” tweets. Although Amell said soon afterwards that he planned to take a break from social media, later that week he posted another tweet condemning what he referred to as “fake cyber rage.”

Now, Arrow fan Jennifer Wattley has shared an incredible “open letter” to Amell’s Facebook page that demonstrates disappointment with the actor is far from “fake.” Wattley also clearly breaks down the differences between prejudice and systemic racism for a foolproof explanation of why stereotyping Texans is not as bad as racial profiling (obviously).

Her video was appreciated by Amell, as well; in a Facebook post addressed to Wattley, he wrote,

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.

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