Tyler Perry penned an op-ed on Wednesday talking out towards alleged racial discrimination skilled by his buddies, comedians Eric André and Clayton English.
In his column, printed within the Atlanta Journal-Structure, Perry addresses a lawsuit filed earlier this 12 months alleging that each André and English have been unlawfully stopped by authorities at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Earlier this 12 months, Perry and a number of other different actors — together with Jamie Foxx, Taraji P. Henson, Sterling Ok. Brown and Rege-Jean Web page — filed a friend-of-the-court transient as a part of the go well with.
“André and English have been focused and stopped by Clayton County Police Division (CCPD) officers, a number of months aside, on jet bridges in Atlanta’s airport whereas they have been steps from boarding their flights,” Perry wrote.
Even though each males had been cleared by TSA safety, Perry wrote that the comedians have been approached in plain-clothed law enforcement officials, alleging they have been focused due to “the colour of their pores and skin.”
“Of the a whole bunch of passengers stopped by CCPD’s particular airport drug unit within the months between when André and English have been stopped, a majority (56%) have been Black, whereas solely 8% of that airport’s home air vacationers are Black,” he continued, citing info from André and English’s staff on the Policing Mission at New York College Faculty of Regulation, in addition to Jones Day, Lawrence & Bundy and Canfield Regulation.
Perry went on to say that the officers could have stopped his buddies with the intent of taking their cash, alleging that when authorities cease vacationers, “officers are allowed to grab any property they declare is concerned in against the law, together with money.”
Per his report, “Within the months between when André and English have been stopped, CCPD raked in near $1 million from vacationers who by no means have been charged with any crime.”
The media mogul concluded with a broader be aware about racism in America, writing that “regulation enforcement companies partaking in racial profiling and attempting to cover the reality about it’s nothing new on this nation. Nonetheless, every time it occurs, we’re reminded that, as Black folks, we’re considered — even by our personal authorities — as much less worthy of respect and constitutional safety than our white buddies, neighbors and colleagues. And once we are singled out by police, the very officers who’ve sworn to guard us, we’re confronted with the very actual horrors of what can and all too typically does go improper when law enforcement officials work together with Black folks.”
He added, “each act of racial discrimination is a damaged promise, an affront to our dignity, an insult to Atlanta’s historical past and a vestige of a historical past that America should go away behind.”
Perry additionally famous that his movie studio, positioned in Atlanta, welcomes “1000’s of business professionals yearly to work in Atlanta.”
“When racial discrimination happens unchecked, it threatens that development,” Perry wrote. ” Black folks should have the liberty to journey with out worrying about being stopped due to the colour of our pores and skin.”
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to the Atlanta airport and Clayton County Police Division for remark.