Opinion: Tom Hanks Is A Non-Racist. It's Time For Him To Be Anti-Racist
TV critic Eric Deggans says the Oscar-winning actor whose career has been rooted in films based on U.S. history needs to take responsibility for helping dismantle the notion of white exceptionalism.
First, I must note how much I love Tom Hanks as a performer, Hollywood citizen and all-around stand-up guy.
Of course, he's a consummate actor, with two Oscars and starring roles in landmark films such as Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. He's been an outspoken advocate for gay rights and environmentalism. He even helped us get through the pandemic, setting a graceful, confident example when he and his wife, Rita Wilson, were among the first celebrities publicly revealed to have COVID-19.
So when I saw for calling for more widespread teaching about the – when white mobs in Oklahoma burned a prosperous Black neighborhood to the ground in 1921, killing between 100 and 300 people — I was sincerely heartened.
