Mark Wahlberg's past racist behavior came into the picture when the 49-year-old actor took to social media to post a tribute to George Floyd, a black man who died at the hands of a white police officer. Critics quickly called him out for the aforesaid tribute that didn't coincide with his past actions that comprise racial crimes.
Joining several other celebrities to demand reform after Floyd's death, Wahlberg took to social media. Floyd's death was captured in the form of a video that showed a white officer taking him into custody and placing his knee on his neck for over eight minutes, ignoring his requests to let him breathe.
In his post, the Renaissance Man star deemed Floyd's death as heartbreaking. He urged everyone to work together in a bid to fix this problem. Aside from that, Wahlberg wrote he was praying for everyone and used the hashtag #blacklivesmatter to conclude the post. The tribute was accompanied by a picture of Floyd.
Without wasting a lot of time, fans pointed out that Wahlberg has been involved in racially motivated crimes in the past, suggesting he doesn't qualify to share his opinion about the matter involving racial injustice. The comments section was soon teeming with remarks that recalled two incidents in the 1980s involving the actor. It was widely believed that Wahlberg's violent behavior was led by racism, Fox News reported.
One of the comments recalled an incident when the You Gotta Believe star threw rocks at little black girls, advising him to delete his post. Another user said it is shameful that he is posting a tribute for a black man when he has been involved in multiple racially triggered misconducts. The user also noted that Wahlberg was seeking pardon for all these hate crimes he committed.
An extremely upset user said Wahlberg should be in jail and should not be bearing the celebrity tag. Aside from that, the user regretted shelling out money to watch his work, vowing never to do that again. Another user not only reminded the actor about his past hate crimes but also accused him of trying to expunge them from his record, adding that no one will forget that.
Back in 1996, when Wahlberg was just 15, he was involved in a group of white boys who harassed a group of black students in fourth grade, according to court documents. When these black fourth-graders were on a field trip to the beach, the document says Wahlberg and the other white boys chased them down the street and threw rocks at them and shouted racial slurs. After this incident, the Boogie Nights actor was issued a civil rights injunction.