Former Miss Universe Malaysia apologises over ‘coloured people’ comment

This post is published on The Star online and is posted here for educational purposes only.                                          

                                           

PETALING JAYA: Former Miss Universe Malaysia Samantha Katie James has apologised for her controversial remarks on the ongoing nationwide protests in the US.

“I do hear you, I’m sorry.

“I know you’re hurting. I know it’s unfair. I’m not in your shoes to understand this fully, ” she said in an Instagram post on Monday (June 2) night.

James, a Miss Universe Malaysia 2017 winner, also explained what she had meant in her controversial post that had outraged social media users around the world.

"Throughout my journey, I have learned that we are more than just this temporary physical body, like an avatar, merely a tiny speck of dust in this vast infinite universe, we tend to overlook that from time to time.

“In our process towards evolution as a human being, on earth, we choose our body, our family, our place of birth, our name and our lessons from the path we take tailor-made for us," she said.

James also accepted responsibility for her remarks, acknowledging that she could have articulated it better.

"To clear the air, yes I did poorly articulate myself when writing ‘black people chose to be black’ and ‘to the black people, relax, take it as a challenge, it makes you stronger’.

“If I had been more attentive in how I wrote it, the message would have been understood as a heartfelt message to all victims of racism be it any colour, ” she said.

She also said that she is of a Malaysian Chinese-Brazilian parentage, who was raised by Malaysian Indians.

On Monday (June 1), James posted several controversial Instastories linked to the protests in the US, which were triggered by the killing of African-American George Floyd.

She had said coloured people "chose to be born as a coloured person in America for a reason", claiming that it was for them to "learn a certain lesson".

Floyd was suffocated to death by a police officer who knelt on his neck for over eight minutes in Minneapolis on May 25.

Many social media users have since condemned James' remarks.

 

    Personally, I am glad she apologized. But I do feel sometimes its better to not say anything and stay quiet. By reading her apology posts on social media, I still feel she is still not clear about the issue and some statements that she clarifies doesn't make sense. If you asked me I would prefer a 'sorry for being rude and inconsiderate' without any explanation of what is being said because the posts were beyond explanation and totally different interpretation.