Justin Bieber Denounces Racism, Supports Black Lives Matter

Justin Bieber takes a stand against racism.

On Friday (Sept. 22), the pop superstar showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement with a message on Instagram.

“I am a white Canadian and I will never know what it feels like to be an African American but what I do know is I am willing to stand up and use my voice to shine light on racism, because it’s a real thing and it’s more prevalent now than I have ever seen in my lifetime,” he wrote. “we are all Gods children and we are ALL EQUAL.”

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Bieber has had a troubled past with race-related issues. In 2014, a video that was recorded when he was 14, showed the superstar singing a version of his “One Less Lonely Girl” song with the n-word in it. “If I kill you, I’ll be part of the KKK, then there’ll be one less lonely n****r,” he sang.

In another leaked video, which was reportedly filmed when he was 15 years old, Bieber made an offensive joke that also included the n-word. “Why are black people afraid of chainsaws?” he asked. “Run n****r-n****r-n****r, n****r.”

Following the publication of these videos in 2014, Bieber offered an apology. “As a young man, I didn’t understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt,” he said. “I thought it was OK 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.”