M.I.A. thinks the anti-racist movement is lopsided—and just told other celebrities that black lives aren't the only non-white lives worth defending.
“Is Beyoncé or Kendrick Lamar going to say 'Muslim Lives Matter'? Or 'Syrian Lives Matter'? Or 'this kid in Pakistan matters'?" she told ES Magazine in an interview published Thursday.
"That’s a more interesting question. And you cannot ask it on a song that’s on Apple, you cannot ask it on an American TV program, you cannot create that tag on Twitter, Michelle Obama is not going to hump you back.”
The English hip-hop artist of Sri Lankan descent clarified in a series of tweets that she wasn't criticizing Beyoncé in particular (God forbid) but was questioning which movements get mainstream acceptance and media exposure.
It's not as though #BlackLivesMatter is even widely accepted, though—Beyonce's nod to the movement in her "Formation" video and Super Bowl performance sparked criticism from police across the U.S.
But M.I.A. does make a good point that the issue of racism is literally and figuratively not black and white.
