Justin Bieber is reflecting on the racist comments he made as a teen.
On Tuesday, the singer, 25, shared a vulnerable post on Instagram about the insensitive remarks he said in the past. Captioning a photo of a message that read, “Stand Against Racism,” Bieber owned up to his mistakes and expressed how he plans to become a voice for equality.
“When I was young I was uneducated and found myself saying really hurtful things not knowing the power of my words,” Bieber began in the caption. “Racism Is still very prevalent and I want to use my voice to remind we are all human being and all of EQUAL VALUE BEFORE GOD!”
Bieber’s post came just one day after he spoke about the “shortcomings” of his past.
Sharing a photo of a Drew-themed Christmas tree illustration, the “Sorry” singer wrote, “I’m determined this holiday season to take ownership of all my shortcomings and work on them for myself and the ones I love! What is your goal?”
In 2014, a then 19-year-old Bieber came under fire after two videos surfaced of him using the N-word when he was 14. In one clip, which was obtained by TMZ, the “Baby” singer was heard saying, “Why are black people afraid of chainsaws? Run n—-r, n—-r, n—-r, n—-r, n—-r.”
The second video, also published by TMZ, Bieber made a parody of his song “One Less Lonely Girl” with racially insensitive lyrics: “One less lonely n—-r/ One less lonely n—-r/ One less lonely n—-r.” Later in the clip, he added, “If I kill you I’ll be part of the KKK.”
Not long after the footage went public, Bieber issued a statement and apologized for his actions.
“As a kid, I didn’t understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt,” Bieber said at the time, per People. “I thought it was okay to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn’t realize at the time that it wasn’t funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance.”
“Thanks to friends and family I learned from my mistakes and grew up and apologized for those wrongs,” he continued. “Now that these mistakes from the past have become public I need to apologize again to all those I have offended. I’m very sorry. I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake.”
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