A well-known Black actor had his housing application denied.
Wendell Pierce, who played Detective Bunk Morehead on the critically acclaimed series The Wire, took to social media on Monday to share that his application for a New York City apartment had been denied, which he alleged was due to race, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Even with my proof of employment, bank statements and real estate holdings, a white apartment owner DENIED my application to rent the apartment…..in Harlem, of all places,” Pierce wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Racism and bigots are real. There are those who will do anything to destroy life’s journey for Black folks. When you deny our personal experiences, you are as vile and despicable.”
Pierce, despite the chaos, is still doing his thing well beyond The Wire. He wrote in the same X tweet that he is currently starring in two television series, Elsbeth and Raising Kanan. He is also currently filming Superman. Additionally, he noted that he finished the fourth season of Jack Ryan two years ago, while also finishing a Broadway run of Death of a Salesman just last year.
He provided evidence of all these jobs, but his application was still denied.
The very next day, Pierce shared a link to a Wall Street Journal story pertaining to an appeals court that blocked Atlanta-based investment firm, Fearless Fund, from running a Black woman grant program.
“While I appreciate the response to my own personal experience of discrimination in housing, I only mentioned it as an example of the insidious nature of bigotry,” Pierce wrote. “This court decision is profoundly more disturbing and injurious. CALL TO ACTION.”
Before sharing the article, Pierce also published a whole X thread about the appeals court decision, writing the following: “The effort being made to deny Black folks from participating in ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ is abhorrent. A private business deal blocked by the courts. What happened to less government intervention in our lives.”
“It makes me sick motherfucker how far you will go to destroy our ability to live our lives in peace and prosperity. Attacked in schools, attacked by police, attacked for expecting to live the stated values of this country, and attacked when successful in business. We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. For generations we have embraced that lie as the violence against our community proves otherwise. It’s getting harder to stay in denial. America.”
Photo Credit: Twitter – @WendellPierce
