Jenny Slate, the white actress who voices a Black character in the animated show, Big Mouth, has quit the show — she says that Black characters in animated shows should be played by Black people.
“At the start of the show, I reasoned with myself that it was permissible for me to play ‘Missy’ because her mom is Jewish and White — as am I,” wrote Slate in an Instagram post. “But ‘Missy’ is also Black, and Black characters on an animated show should be played by Black people.”
She continued, “I acknowledge how my original reasoning was flawed,” said Slate, “that it existed as an example of white privilege and unjust allowances made within a system of societal white supremacy, and that in me playing ‘Missy’, I was engaging in an act of erasure of Black people.”
Many actors are walking away from offensive roles and removing Blackface episodes as the Black Lives Matter movement continues to gain momentum.
Perhaps this will now free up a lot of roles in the entertainment industry for Black actors — who are grossly underrepresented.