Jesse Williams Gives Epic ‘Black Lives Matter’ Speech at BET Awards: WATCH

When actor Jesse Williams gave his passionate and politically charged acceptance speech during Sunday night’s BET Awards after accepting the 2016 Humanitarian Award, he may not have known that his words would ignite a social media frenzy across the nation.

But after the actor’s acceptance speech, scores of Facebook and Twitter users are using the spotlight to trade shots about modern day race relations in America and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Williams’ fiery diatribe – which some pundits are calling one of the most memorable in awards show history – blasted critics of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has come under fire from law enforcement agencies and other opponents for its political views and tactics.

“If you have no interest in equal rights for black people, then do not make suggestions to those who do,” Williams said. “Sit down.”

• See related article: Church's 'Black Lives Matter' Sign Invokes Uproar
• See related article: Was Church Right to Remove 'Black Lives Matter' From Sign?

During his speech, Williams invoked the name of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Cleveland in 2014, as well as other high-profile cases such as those of Rekia Boyd, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland and Darrien Hunt.

“What we've been doing is looking at the data, and we know that police somehow manage to de-escalate, disarm and not kill white people every day,” the actor said. “So what's gonna happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country, or we will restructure their function, and ours."

“I don’t want to hear about how far we’ve come when public servants can pull a drive-by on a 12-year-old and go home to make a sandwich," he added.

He thanked “the real organizers all over the country” such as activist civil rights attorneys, parents and teachers, as well as the “black women who have spent their lifetimes dedicated to nurturing everyone before themselves.”

Williams also called out entertainment industry profiteers who make money off black culture without promoting equality.

“We've been floating this country on credit for centuries and we're done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind, while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil… black gold. Ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”

Watch a video of his speech below, via The Washington Post.

Williams is probably best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC Television series "Grey's Anatomy," but he has also appeared in major films such as "The Butler," "Cabin in the Woods" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2."

But the Chicago native and Temple University alum is also a staunch supporter of civil rights. He’s the youngest member of the board of directors at civil rights advocacy group The Advancement Project, as well as the executive producer of “Question Bridge: Black Males,” a media project focused on the black male identity that was an official selection of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival New Frontiers.

Williams also starred in a 2016 documentary titled “Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement” and has lent a public presence to high-profile campaigns including protests in the wake of Michael Brown’s fatal shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.

PUBLIC REACTION

Several of Williams’ fellow celebs took to social media in support of the actor’s speech.

Williams’ speech also inspired praise from political heavyweights such as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

But not everyone got the social media thumbs-up that they were hoping for, including pop icon Justin Timberlake.

• See related article: Justin Timberlake Gets Heat For Twitter Comment About Racism Speech

Photo: Wikimedia Commons