by Venus Sanders & Danielle Wright
Image Credit: Brownie Harris | Getty Images
James Earl Jones, phenomenal actor in both film and theater—one of the few performers to achieve an EGOT—sadly passed away at the age of 93 on September 9, 2024.
Known for his roles in ‘Coming to America,’ ‘The Sandlot,’ and most notably, the voice of Mufasa from Disney’s ‘The Lion King,’ as well as Darth Vader from the ‘Star Wars’ franchise. Naturally, when the post made its way onto The Shaderoom via their Instagram, the comments were flooded with condolences from men and women alike, with Black women making up the majority.
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However, a few voiced that they would, in fact, not send their condolences because Jones was very open about his dislike for Black women. His ex-wives, Cecilia Hart and Julienne Marie, are both White women, whom James openly married throughout his career.
In a now-resurfaced clip, when asked to discuss his take on Black women, he remarks, “The bad habits are not just from the white establishments; the bad habits are from Black women who hate to see a star who’s Black, married to a wife who’s white. That’s a bad habit there. I mean everyone wants to squeeze as much juice out of that racist thing.”
It’s a common misconception that has been holding true for years—that Black women loathe Black men who are successful and choose to marry White women. This is the furthest thing from the truth. The issue, then and now, is that Black men cannot simply live in their truth and be confident in those choices without having to reference back to Black women.
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Kenyetta Tisha Barnes on X (formerly known as Twitter) summed up another resurfaced clip from James Earl Jones; she says, “In earlier videos, he shames Black women and called them not feminine, masculine, and militant. One can honor a great pioneer, but we don’t get to pick and choose the legacy. He said that. He called Black women militant and shamed us for not being more like Aunt Jemima.”
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