Who is Moses Ingram? Star Wars issues statement of solidarity after Obi-Wan Kenobi actress is subjected to racism 

Moses Ingram received a lot of racist backlash online for appearing in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Image via Twitter/@TheSWU/@wizardsjedi_
Moses Ingram received a lot of racist backlash online for appearing in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Image via Twitter/@TheSWU/@wizardsjedi_

The official social media handle of the fantasy franchise Star Wars has come to the defense of actress Moses Ingram after she was slammed with hundreds of racist messages and comments online.

Taking to their official Twitter account on May 31, the franchise said that they are "proud to welcome" Ingram to the team, who recently starred in the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"If anyone intends to make her feel in any way unwelcome, we have only one thing to say: we resist. There are more than 20 million sentient species in the Star Wars galaxy, don't choose to be a racist."

In the new Disney+ series, Ingram plays Reva Sevander, or the Third Sister, who is on the quest for Obi-Wan Kenobi for Darth Vader.


All you need to know about Moses Ingram and her recent social media backlash

Moses Ingram is a well-known actress who starred in Netflix's The Queen's Gambit. Ingram studied at the Baltimore School for the Arts and received a theatrical honor from the National Society of Arts and Letters in 2015. She later graduated from Yale School of Drama in 2019.

Some of Moses Ingram's other credits include The Same Storm, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Ambulance, etc.

On May 31, Ingram took to her Instagram stories to share several examples of racist messages and remarks, stating that she had received hundreds of messages, some of which featured the N-word.

One user wrote:

“You’re days are numbered.”

Another user commented:

“You suck loser.”

A third user wrote:

“You’re a diversity hire and you won’t be loved or remembered for this acting role.”

In the video posted, she said:

"There's nothing anybody can do about this. There's nothing anybody can do to stop this hate. The thing that bothers me is ... this feeling of like, I just gotta shut up and take it, I just have to grin and bear it. And I'm not built like that. Thank you to the people who show up for me in the comments and in the places that I'm not going to put myself. And to the rest of y'all, y'all weird."

Following her Star Wars debut, Ingram's experiences have resonated with many; actors John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran have both spoken out about the racial abuse they got after starring in the Star Wars films.

The first woman of color to play a prominent part in a Star Wars film, Tran penned an op-ed in the New York Times about the abuse she faced after appearing in The Last Jedi in 2017. Tran stopped using social media and went to counseling because the hatred became too overwhelming.

In 2014, Boyega's debut in the teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens sparked a social media campaign called #BlackStormtrooper when many people were suspicious of his casting and made racist remarks.

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