Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds have donated $ 200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which is committed to racial equality. The actor couple was motivated to do so by the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after a heavy-handed arrest last week.
“We are ashamed that in the past we were not sufficiently informed about how deep-seated systematic racism is”
“We never worried about having to prepare our children for other rules, laws, or what could happen if they were arrested in the car,” Blake and Ryan, who have three children together, write on Instagram.
“We don’t know what it’s like to experience that life every day. We can’t imagine what it’s like to feel that kind of fear and anger every day. We’re ashamed that we weren’t informed enough in the past about how deep-seated is systematic racism. “
The actress and actor say they raise their children differently from how they themselves were raised. “We want to know more about other people’s experiences and talk to our children about everything, about everything … especially our own complexity. We talk about our prejudices, blindness and own mistakes. When we look back we see so many mistakes that we now carefully investigate who we are and who we want to become. “
The couple promises to make their children more aware of the racial inequality that still prevails. Blake and Ryan call on others to do the same and also donate to funds that fight against it. The two also promise to vote in all local elections and educate themselves on all school boards, police chiefs, mayors and city councilors.
“Most of all, we want to use our privilege and platform to be an ally and help alleviate the pain of many who feel abandoned.”