Jesse Williams Target Of Petition Looking To Have Him Fired From ‘Grey’s For BET Speech

Jesse Williams delivered a passionate speech at the 2016 BET Awards that some people on the Internet see as grounds to have him fired from Grey’s Anatomy.

Jesse Williams Petition

“We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo, and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil,” Williams said in his applauded remarks. He then memorably closed by saying, “The thing is that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real.”

The petition, which calls Williams’ speech a “racist rant,” reads, “Jesse Williams spewed a racist, hate speech against law enforcement and white people at the BET awards. If this was a white person making the same speech about an African American, they would have been fired and globally chastised, as they should be, but there has been no consequences to Williams’ actions.”

“There’s been no companies making a stand against his racist remarks and no swift action condemning his negative attitude. Why was Burke’s character fired from Grey’s Anatomy after his inappropriate homophobic slur, but nothing for Jesse Williams? Why the one-way street? Why the support for a hater? Why the hypocrisy? #AllLivesMatter All humans bleed the same color,” The petition goes on to state.

Though the petition has so far accumulated nearly 9,000 supporters, roughly 1,0000 shy of its 10,000 goal, it’s likely to fall on deaf ears. Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes not only praised Williams’ speech on Twitter, she also used the social media platform to dismiss the petition.