In her tell-all book, the Oscar-winning actress also recalls her childhood experiences with racism as she was a victim of an anti-black attack in the third grade.
- Apr 13, 2022
AceShowbiz - Viola Davis is not an exception when it comes to experiencing racism and colorism. In her upcoming memoir "Finding Me: A Memoir", the award-winning actress shares that she was scrutinized over her physical appearance after being cast in "How to Get Away with Murder".
The SAG Award-winning actress addressed racism and colorism throughout her career in a lengthy New York Times profile. Speaking of the hit ABC series, Davis shared that she had an unpleasant experience after she was tapped to play sharp, bold and beautiful lawyer and law professor Annalise Keating on the series.
She revealed that following her casting, a friend of hers came to her after overhearing several actors and actresses - all of whom were black - say that "she wasn't pretty enough to pull it off," according to the Times. The "Fences" star noted that it was unlike the other colorist, racist and anti-black criticism that the then 47-year-old star had endured.
However, Davis said that she could see a shift when she filmed for upcoming film "The Woman King", which is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and based on actual events in the African Kingdom of Dahomey during the 18th and 19th centuries. " 'The Woman King' reflected all of the things that the world told me were limiting: Black women with crinkly, curly hair who were darker than a paper bag, who were warriors," she shared.
In her tell-all book, Davis also recalled her childhood experiences with racism. She revealed that she was a victim of an anti-black attack in the third grade when she was often chased home in Central Falls, Rhode Island, by a group of around eight or nine boys, who regularly hurled insults, slurs, stones and bricks at her.
She was once physically caught by the group. While some of the boys pinned her arms back, the leader of the group who is from Cape Verdean and black like her, called her both ugly and a "black f**king" N-word. When the young Davis replied, "You're black too!" the group leader, who identified himself as Portuguese to differentiate himself from African Americans, punched her.
Davis also discussed the impact of anti-black racism not just within physical communities but within institutions, including her acting school, Juilliard. She claimed that she felt trapped after enrolling, "limited by its strictly Eurocentric approach." It forced her to wear wigs "that never fit over her braids" and listening to white classmates wonder out loud how good things would have been in the 18th century. "The absolute shameful objective of this training was clear - make every aspect of your blackness disappear," she wrote.
