Fox News reports that actress Octavia Spencer says she has experienced more racism in Los Angeles than she ever experienced in her Alabama hometown.
She is originally from Montgomery, Alabama, and she says that she has seen more racism while working on movies out in Los Angeles than she ever experienced in Alabama.
During a recent podcast interview that Spencer was on, she said that she expected to experience a free and liberal thinking place in California but that she was met with more direct racism. At the same time, there than she did in Alabama. She commented on the podcast WTF with Marc Maron.
The topic was mentioned when Spencer brought up her experiences growing up in Montgomery. This statement from Spencer seemed to catch the host of the podcast off-guard, as there are often stereotypes about the South being an intolerant and racist place. However, Octavia Spencer firmly stated that her experience of Los Angeles versus Alabama did not live up to the stereotypes people want to put about these places.
Referring to racism as a whole, Spencer stated: I think everywhere is heavy. Everywhere has its history. You know what I mean? Its I think everywhere has problems.
She also mentioned how she grew up during a more racist time in the South and stated: Well, whats beautiful for me is, that stuff preceded me. You know, I was a child of the 70s You know, as you grow older and the things that you can remember. That wasnt a part of my history. I learned about it. Its not everything anything that I experienced.
Maron asked if racism directly impacted Spencers family in any way, and the actress flatly said, No.
She continued by saying: My mother, you know, taught us about the world and the realities, the harsh realities of the world and history. She also stated that But growing up in Alabama, Im going to be honest, I felt more racism when I first moved here than I ever, ever had in Alabama,
Maron found this interesting and pointed out that people of different races have lived side-by-side in the South for many generations, but that is not the same for many other parts of the country. It could be the case that places like Los Angeles are now seen as MORE racist than the South because people in LA dont have the same integration of races that other areas have had.
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