Skai Jackson is definitely not one to be silent when voices need to be raised and actions need to be taken. There have been a handful of celebrities who have disappointed us with their silence or lack thereof on the current fight for racial justice this week. Skai Jackson is not one of them. In fact, Skai means business when it comes to exposing racists on social media. What makes her fans proud, is that the 18 year old is not one to just speak, but the one to show.
How the expose came about
Skai Jackson is bravely using her platform as a celebrity influencer to educate people on the consequences of racist behaviour. The 18-year-old has begun a full campaign expose on America’s most racist students. With an endless amount of receipts and a powerful following to back it up, Skai Jackson is not playing around. She isn’t just reposting videos and tweets out of disgust like most of the celebrities out there. Skai has done some serious research to find out who these people are, which school they attend and other personal info about them.
In what can only be described as a pure moment of solidarity, Skai is being helped out by nearly 3,20,000 of her own followers. It all started when Skai Jackson put out a tweet calling all her fans. “If you know a racist, don’t be shy! Tweet me the receipts.”
It didn’t take long before Jackson’s Twitter timeline was flooded with receipts of racist social media posts by white teens. But she didn’t just stop there. The Jessie actress has put up the perpetrators’ names, high schools, cities, social media handles and phone numbers. Jackson has also exposed screenshots of private messages and videos that leave no room for question. She put all this information for the world to see so that they, hopefully, suffer the consequence of their actions.
Unwanted criticism
The horrific and offensive posts include everything from criticism of the BLM movement to mocking the recent police killing of George Floyd and even the casual use of the n-word. For the last 48 hours, Skai Jackson is circulating derogatory remarks, video and image submissions through direct messages or through the hashtag #exposingracists2020.
Skai’s tweets have gathered quite a bit of attention, as well as unwanted criticism. Many are accusing the actress of bullying and putting minors’ lives in danger. Skai Jackson responded to their allegations by insisting that the teens brought the backlash on themselves.
“So being RACIST isn’t bullying ??”, the actress said. If you feel comfortable to publicly say racist things, then be okay with PUBLICLY getting exposed.. goodbye. “
The Jessie star even changed her bio on the Twitter, “Actress. Author. Racist exposer.” With the help of her followers, Skai Jackson has managed to compile the identities of over 20 racists with evidence of their alleged racism. The child star’s pinned tweet reads, “I expose racist all day, everyday, 24/7 , 10 days a week, and open all hours.”
Colleges respond
Skai is naming names, showing up with screenshots and calling the schools and colleges involved to take action. It looks like the effort is working too. Rowan University took notice of her tweets and has admitted to taking strict action.
“Hi Skai, We do not condone discrimination, harassment, or other forms of illegal mistreatment of others. We take all allegations brought to our attention seriously, and investigate them to the fullest extent possible. This case is being handled by the administration. Thank you,” they responded to her.
Texas Christian University responded to a Tweet about a student who’s been outed as a racist. They quickly responded to the allegations stating, “The actions do not represent the values that TCU upholds. We have reported this student to the appropriate staff members.”
Skai, who is also the author of Reach for the Skai: How to Inspire, Empower and Clapback, is well known for her clapback skills. “Say what you have to say, tell people the truth, and don’t lie about anything. Usually when you make a clapback and you lie about it, people pull out the receipts. So you have to stick to the facts, know that the receipts will come after you.”
Conversations around racial injustices have been front and centre this week as people mourn the recent unlawful deaths of several Black people who have died due to police brutality. Jackson has expressed her grief over the murder of George Floyd, who was killed by MPD officer Derek Chauvin on May 25.
