"They called me Uncle Ben": The rice commercial reminded the actress Nathalie Emmanuel of racism
Actress Nathalie Emmanuel (32) talked about how she has been facing racist comments for a long time and recalled a situation when a colleague called her "Uncle Ben".
The star of the "Game of Thrones" series Nathalie Emmanuel shared a tweet on Sunday in which she explains how she was triggered by the ad for the rice company "Uncle Ben".
Known for the packaging showing a black man with gray hair, the company changed its name in September 2020 due to the situation with racist branding, and is now known as "Ben's Original".
Leaning on her experience of "casual" racism, Nathalie wrote on Twitter:
"I keep seeing that Uncle Ben rebrand advert… now called Ben’s Original …. And it’s reminded me how many years ago someone I worked with used to like to call me Uncle Ben sometimes like it was a cute nickname…"
" The casual racism you forget and then remember randomly," Emmanuel added, and her followers wrote that they had experienced similar situations. When asked by someone below her post: "Uncle Ben is a racist ???", Nathalie answered: "Yes".
Last year, the actress spoke during the Black Lives Matter protest and reminded people that racism does not stop when someone becomes famous.
In an interview with ITV, the actress said: "I have suffered countless examples of racism, like the usual name-calling in the park, when you play with your friends."
She says she’s used to being called things like “N-word” or “dirty” because her skin is dark, and added that these are all offensive things she’s learned to live with.
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By: Helen B.
