Anne Hathaway calls out white privilege in passionate post about 'unspeakable' murder of Nia Wilson

Anne Hathaway is using her platform for a powerful cause.

Outraged by the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Nia Wilson by a white man, the Oscar-winning actress dedicated an Instagram post to honoring the young black woman. Wilson and her sister, who survived the attack, were stabbed at the BART MacArthur Station in Oakland, Calif., on July 22.

But Hathaway’s post was more than a passive tribute to Wilson — it was a call to arms and condemnation of those who hide behind their “white privilege” and fail to take action in the face of violence and racism.

Describing Wilson’s murder as “unspeakable,” the Ocean’s 8 star acknowledged her own privilege while calling for white people to step up.

Anne Hathaway paid tribute to the late Nia Wilson on social media. (Photo: Theo Wargo/FilmMagic)

“White people — including me, including you — must take into the marrow of our privileged bones the truth that ALL black people fear for their lives DAILY in America and have done so for GENERATIONS,” she wrote. “White people DO NOT have equivalence for this fear of violence. Given those givens, we must ask our (white) selves — how ‘decent’ are we really? Not in our intent, but in our actions? In our lack of action?”

She ended the message with the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, as well as #AntiRacist, #NoExcuse,
#SayHerName, and #EarnTheRightToSayHerName.

Hathaway shut off the comments for the post, but that hasn’t stopped fans from responding. Many are now praising her as an ally.

Of course, Hathaway’s passionate plea received a fair share of critics. One troll called her a “self-hating white bitch who constantly does the most to get the acceptance and approval of black people online… so f***ing pathetic and cringey.” 

“Saying white people will never feel fear like black people is wrong,” another critic commented under one of Hathaway’s older posts. “There’s thousands of white girls in the world who are too scared to leave their homes after they’ve been abused, raped, and trafficked by men. There’s many white girls who have been murdered by men. Like I get it you’re privileged as hell and think every white woman is the same as you but that’s now how it works. Racism is disgusting and white supremacy needs to die but some of the stuff you said is just wrong.”

Hathaway’s not the only celebrity to speak out for Wilson. Amber Tamblyn also posted about her murder this week, though some accused her of shaming white women.