Jane Fonda just said some important things about white privilege

'Because we’re white, we have had privilege'

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Jane Fonda has spoken out on the concept of white privilege.

The American actress and model appeared on CNN today for an in depth chat about the conversations surrounding racism (opens in new tab) happening all over the world, sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man from Minneapolis, USA.

Floyd died last month after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest, triggering outrage across the country and overseas.

During a video link interview, Jane spoke about white privilege (opens in new tab) - the concept that the world's white population have an inherent privilege throughout their lives that Black people do not, simply because of the colour of their skin.

READ MORE: These are the bestselling books about racism you can read right now (opens in new tab)

(Image credit: Rachel Luna)

"Because we’re white, we have had privilege," the 82-year-old political rights activist, who is one of the many celebrities coming forward to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement, stated.

"Even the poorest of us have had privilege. And we need to recognize that, and we have to understand what it is that keeps racism in place — the policies, redlining, banking policies, mortgage policies.

"All of the things that are really making it very, very difficult for Black people to lift themselves up."

Highlighting that there is change that needs to happen in many aspects of society when it comes to how los of people view racial issues, she went on, "The policies have to be changed, and then white people have to understand the history that has led to this and we have to try to change within ourselves. And we have to get to know Black people...and we have to understand the reality that they live in, and we have to do it now.

"I think what matters is, is that more and more people, white people, are getting it."

Caitlin Elliott