Australian WNBA star Liz Cambage has called out ‘fake’ social media activists for ‘pretending’ to support the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of George Floyd protests Down Under.
The Las Vegas Aces player, 28, is of mixed Australian-Nigerian heritage and was brought to tears speaking about her own experiences of racism in Australia during 67 videos posted to her Instagram stories from her Melbourne home on Thursday.
She said it was hypocritical that Australians were so concerned about the treatment of African-Americans in the US while turning a blind eye to violence against Indigenous people in Australia.
Cambage also said many racist Australians casually use the N-word, make fun of Uber drivers and ethnic minorities who serve them.
‘You’re all full of f**king sh*t. You’re all fake! Australia, you’re fake as f**k! You do not give a f**k about black lives Australia, at all!’ Cambage said.
Australian WNBA star Liz Cambage (pictured) called out ‘fake’ social media activists for ‘pretending’ to support the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of George Floyd protests Down Under in a series of videos posted to Instagram on Thursday
‘If you care, check out of America, Australia because we have sh*t we need to sort right here because we have blood on our hands and we really need to fix it.
‘If you really care about black lives, I’ll see you on Saturday. You can post and pretend all you want right here, but until I see you guys out in the streets being real-a** allies, you ain’t f**king sh*t.’
Protests for George Floyd and Indigenous deaths in custody will be held in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle on Saturday.
It comes after millions of people posted black squares to Instagram in support of the BLM movement for ‘Blackout Tuesday’, which ironically drowned out protest details.
‘Please, stop with the bulls**t, go delete the black square. Doesn’t mean sh*t. Doesn’t mean f**king shit,’ Cambage said.
The basketballer said if people truly cared about equality, they would do practical things like hire people of colour and allow for more representation in the media.
Cambage with the late Kobe Bryant, who died in February. The 28-year-old said she found it hypocritical that Australians were so concerned about the treatment of African-Americans in the US while turning a blind eye to violence against Indigenous people in Australia
Cambage with Australian rapper Iggy Azalaea. Cambage said she stopped going to hip hop and RnB clubs in Australia when she was a teenager because people kept on screaming the N-word in her face
There have been 432 Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia since 1991, which Cambage said is part of the country’s long colonial history of racism.
‘We have blood all over our hands, Australia. We are covered in it and you don’t even know – you don’t even understand why!’ Cambage said at one point, crying heavily.
‘How dare you say Black Lives Matter! How dare you say that! When we have the darkest, most twisted, disgusting past when it comes to Indigenous Australians and the treatment of Indigenous Australians.’
The basketballer said Australians casually use the N-word and say ‘disgusting things about Uber drivers and the people that serve you’.
‘I had to put up with a house of white girls the other night saying “put on that rich n***a song, put on the rich n***a song”. And I didn’t even have the energy to say “Why the f**k are you saying that f***ing word?”,’ she said.
Cambage said she stopped going to hip hop and RnB clubs in Australia when she was a teenager because people kept on screaming the N-word in her face.
Cambage drives a basket over an English player while playing for the Opals. Cambage said historical mistreatment of Indigenous Australians and current deaths in incarceration are part of Australia’s racism problem
Cambage, who is 6 feet and 8 inches tall, said ‘being a very big, mixed girl was very f***ing hard’ when she grew up in Coffs Harbour and later, the Mornington Peninsula.
‘It took for me to learn my own identity when I moved to America when I was 19 years old and I was so shook by how whitewashed out country was,’ she said.
‘All the sh*t I dealt with growing up, the name calling, being left out of things because no one wants to play with the black girl.’
She said she would use blue contact lenses and bleached her hair just to fit in with white kids.
As a mixed-race woman, Cambage said she felt more ‘at home’ in the US than Australia. But now, the basketballer is solely focusing on racial issues Down Under.
Cambage (centre) cries after winning gold with her team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. As a mixed-race woman, Cambage said she felt more ‘at home’ in the US than Australia. But now, the basketballer is solely focusing on racial issues Down Under