US protests: Ex-Miss Universe Malaysia apologises for controversial comments
KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — Former Miss Universe Malaysia 2017 Samantha Katie James, who caused outrage in the past 24 hours for her off-colour remarks over the Black Lives Matter movement, has apologised.
“I do hear you, I’m sorry,” said James in an Instagram post posted tonight.
“I know you’re hurting. I know it’s unfair. I’m not in your shoes to understand this fully,” she said.
The 25-year-old went on to explain what she really meant by making the controversial remark “black people chose to be black” that triggered massive backlash both at home and abroad.
A post shared by Samantha Brahmacharini (@samanthakayty) on
Jun 2, 2020 at 7:46am PDT
“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.”
James also admitted that she could have phrased her content differently, and accepted that she is responsible for her words.
She pledged that she will make sure to articulate her speech in a proper manner.
“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 added.
She then clarified that she is of a Malaysian Chinese-Brazilian parentage.
She came under fire after she posted on Instagram Stories on Monday that the reactions shown by protesters in the US over Floyd’s killing was apparently proof that the “whites (have) won.”
James also told African Americns to “take it as a challenge” and claimed that they “chose to be born as coloured (people) in America.”
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