Dane Bowers sparks furious backlash after asking if George Floyd's death was race-related
DANE BOWERS has sparked a furious backlash after he shared a Facebook post questioning if George Floyd's death was race-related, as the former Another Level singer accused protesters of "jumping on the bandwagon with this whole black power thing".
George Floyd: Dane Bowers apologises for his comments
Former Another Level popstar Dane Bowers, 40, has been branded an “absolute muppet” after asking if George Floyd’s death was race-related in a now-deleted Facebook post in view of his 1,875 followers. The singer sparked a furious backlash from social media users after posting his comments yesterday.
In the post, Dane accused protesters of "jumping on the bandwagon with this whole black power thing" after George’s death.
Floyd died on May 25 shortly after a white Minneapolis officer kneeled on his neck for eight minutes as George pleaded for his life and said, “I can’t breathe”.
The incident was caught on camera and now, four police officers are facing charges over his death.
The killing has caused mass protests in the US and across the world.
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In the message, which has since been removed from the social media platform, Dane wrote, according to The Mirror: "Ok so I’m getting frustrated with everyone jumping on the bandwagon now with this whole black power thing.
"Can I just ask, and this is mostly out of ignorance, but how is the George Floyd situation automatically down to race?
"Yes he was black, the policeman was white, but why does that automatically make it a race aggravated crime?"
Dane’s post sparked outrage from social media users, with some pointing out he made “music of black origin” during his time in Another Level.
One person wrote: "Mate, you (badly) make (cheap, 3rd rate) rnb, music of black origin, and you don’t understand the race issues in the world? what a first rate, grade A, CRETIN you are. Go do some research, before making yourself look a f*****g fool.”(sic)
Another Twitter user added: "Dane Bowers absolute muppet."
A third wrote: "That Dane Bowers post is Buggin me. It just shows Another Level of ignorance. I would have to be Out Of My Mind before thinking like that Freak.”(sic)
A fourth person commented: "Dane Bowers is more than a moron. He is a moron who made his dinner money appropriating black music. Now this t**t is talking fraff in the effort to remind us all he’s still alive. Stay 'dead'. I insist.”(sic)
Dane tried to explain his comments in a follow-up post, which said: "OK so now I've had a few ignorant comments (which is what I was looking for. I'm going to squash a couple of things. I'm mixed race. My granddad was black and a lot of that side of my family are mixed race (most afro haired). This means that lots of racism has been encountered and part of my life.
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"I don't actually look anywhere near black, so the only racism I've encountered is to hear people being openly [racist]..."
Following the backlash he received, Dane shared a video with his 18,000 Instagram followers yesterday in which he apologised for offending people.
He said: "It’s been brought to my attention that people are assuming I’m undermining this effort and Black Lives Matter. By no means am I doing that. At this time when things are still raw, I agree my timing and the way I said things were wrong."
The singer went on to claim he has "received racist comments" himself as a "mixed-race person".
He continued: "As a mixed-race person who has received racist comments, I do believe that there has been people jumping on the bandwagon. With the hashtag Black Power, I saw really negative comments and videos of violence, when I believe the people behind the Black Lives Matter movement wouldn’t have liked those posts and wouldn’t have liked that hashtag to be saying that.
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"Can white people come out of black power? Yes, if they know what the connotations are. Black power was originally about oppression, achievement through adversity and racism and being proud of that, which black people encounter every day.
"My point of saying the bandwagon was 100% those people who are jumping on for negative reasons and not getting the right message out there – I stand by that. The black power thing, people took that as racist and I’m not, I’m mixed-race myself."
Bowers concluded by saying: "People can say I’m ignorant and have been using that as my bulletproof vest, but it’s true. I have seen different forms of racism of my life, even though I haven’t had the horrible misfortune to take it on as a black person, but I’ve been around and seen it.
"I feel I do need to apologise to the people that took it the wrong way. I’m not undermining the problem, I’m underlining that too many idiots have jumped on the bandwagon and done negative things.
"I do understand why black people are angry, I can’t fully as I’m not black. In my view, the way certain things have been done and jumping on the racial side of things, I don’t agree with, I’m sorry to say... This isn’t to backtrack or get myself out of trouble, I just wanted to get my side clear.
"I want to apologise again to those who took offence, but not for what I think, thought and for wanting to ask questions. Hopefully now you at least see what I meant,” Dane added.
