He was attempting to educate his followers about what he claims is the socio-political climate in South Africa, but instead, Tyrese found himself facing an onslaught of backlash. The multihyphenated entertainer has often found himself bearing the brunt of criticism over things he posts on social media, and his recent Instagram post about South Africa was no different. A narrative has continued in the media that White South Africans are under attack from Black South Africans, claiming that they are being murdered and attacked in droves. Some people believed that Tyrese perpetuated that dialogue with a recent image.
Tyrese reposted an image from another Instagram account that was split into four photos. Three of those pictures came from photographer Chris Buck who shot them for a series or O Magazine. The series highlighted what stereotypes and race issues would look like if ethnicities were reversed. In the fourth picture, a black farmer was surrounded by his White, shackled slaves. "The flip........ Get on YouTube this is what's going on in South Africa......." Tyrese wrote in the caption.
Quickly, people began calling him out, especially Black South Africans who didn't appreciate being painted to be oppressors of Whites. Tyrese asked one commenter why they took his post "so literal," saying he was trying to compliment South Africa and he's visited there over 10 times so he's speaking on what he's seen. "I didn't grab this out of the sky..... Sh*t is still bad in SA as it is everywhere in the world.... But things in certain ways there is much better than it is here." He later deleted the post after Black South Africans demanded an apology. Swipe through below to check out Tyrese's post and to read through a few responses.