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Liam Neeson denied being racist, having confessed to attempting to kill a black man who provoked him.
The actor is facing a major racist storm since he made these comments in an interview published Monday by The Independent.
He had said that he was walking the streets with a weapon about 40 years ago, hoping to defeat his anger after one of his relatives was raped by a black man.
Neeson said on ABC, "Good Morning America": "I'm not racist".
Neeson added that he wanted his initial comments to open a wider discussion on racism.
When asked what he wanted people to learn from his experience, he told the facilitator, "Speak open."
"We all claim that we are all politically correct in this country … in mine too, sometimes you only touch the surface and you discover this racism and fanaticism and it is there."
The Hollywood star told ABC's Robin Roberts Tuesday that about 40 years ago, one of her close friends – who has since pbaded away – informed her that she had been raped.
Neeson said it made him want to take violent measures.
He said: "I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primary urge to bad, and I asked him:" Did you know the person, was it a man? "No" Race? "She said that he was a black man."
The actor said that he "was deliberately made in the dark areas of the city seeking to be arrested so that I could unleash the physical violence."
He added, "I may have done it four or five times."
Star Taken baderted that he would have acted the same way if the badailant of his friend had been white.
He told ABC: "If she had said an Irishman, a Scotsman, a Briton or a Lithuanian, it would have had the same effect, I know.
"I was trying to do honor, to defend my dear friend in this terribly medieval way."
Neeson said about his actions: "It shocked me and it hurt me … I looked for help."
The actor said that he had confessed and that he had walked for two hours each day to try to overcome his anger.
"Collective punishment"
Neeson has been subjected to enormous criticism since the publication of his original interview on Monday.
In this, he was talking to promote his new movie Cold Pursuit, a thriller about a man who seeks revenge for the murder of his son.
When asked how his character turned into anger, he replied that "something primordial" is triggered when one of your loved ones is a victim of violence.
Gary Younge of The Guardian wrote: "The next time someone asks me why I have a chip on my shoulder, I no longer need to sweep the question with disdain.
"I can honestly say," Because there might be an Oscar-nominated actor who wants to kill me, so I have to be alert at all times … "
"Neeson is angry and upset and decides to invest his rage in the collective punishment inflicted on a group of people based on the color of their skin."
"Merit a medal" & # 39;
However, John Barnes, a former footballer and anti-racist activist in England, defended Neeson during an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live.
"He was ashamed for a week, he realized he was wrong to think what he did.
"And we must have this conversation.
"Because there are so many people who have this perception, a false perception, Blacks, Chinese, based on what they were told wrongly.
"One understands why he thought as he did, because that's what the world has shown him badly."
He added that Neeson "deserved a medal" for confessing that he had been deceived so soon after the event.
Many social media have also had their say since the story started on Monday.
Being upset has attacked your family, that's understandable, but targeting innocent black men for a week with a weapon, while you did not even know that the WHO had done it, was racist. Do you know how many innocent blacks have lost their lives in the past for such things? THIS IS NOT OK.
– TheSafePlace (@ItsTheSafePlace) February 4, 2019
End of @ItsTheSafePlace's post
Frederick Joseph, who works for better portrayal in the media, wrote that Neeson's story "shows how black life without meaning and without consequence is for some".
Liam Neeson is ready to face what one of them would have done by a dark life, which shows how dark life is insignificant and of no consequence to some.
Even telling him the story demonstrates a level of privilege and underestimating that there might not be any repercussions.
– Frederic Joseph (@FredTJoseph) February 4, 2019
End of @FredTJoseph's Twitter post
But some agreed with Barnes that Neeson should not be criticized for admitting such thoughts, but realizing that they were wrong and saying that he had learned them.
Liam Neeson had a terrible impulse on which he had not acted, that he knew to be terrible and that he had learned from him. If we are going to cancel people who have been incited to act badly or have trouble solving a problem before coming to the right conclusion … well, we are going to be busy.
– Eric D. Snider (@EricDSnider) February 4, 2019
End of Twitter post by @EricDSnider
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