Zoe Saldana Catches Heat for Comments About ‘Black Struggle in the Dominican Republic’

*Zoe Saldana is catching heat for her responses to an Instagram post about Dominican Independence Day. 

The actress is reportedly receiving death threats for the comment she shared on a post on Refinery29’s Somos Instagram account on Feb. 27.

Per Ace Showbiz, the 10-slide long post asked readers, “What to the Afro-Dominican is the 27th of February.” The comments on the post have been disabled, but screenshot shows Zoe wrote, “Maybe just say ‘What to the Dominican is the Independence Day.’ ”

She then took to her Instagram Story to blast Somos’ post.

READ MORE: Zoe Saldana Admits Nina Simone ‘Deserved Better’ Than Her ‘Blackface’ Portrayal [VIDEO]

“You owe all Dominicans – regardless if they’re Black, white, or Taino – an apology. On our independence day, we do not need to be schooled by others on what we ‘should’ know about ourselves #CancelCultureIsStartingToSuckSometimes,” the actress wrote.

She then called for the Somos team to issue an apology by writing, “Waiting for your apology about this post. Shame on you and shame on all platforms who reposted you – you all know who you are! But that’s okay, the sun will always continue to shine on La Bella Quisqueya.”

Internet users fired back by asking what made her so mad about the post. “Zoe Saldana really thinks she’s white, I’m convinced. Bye girl. Tf are you mad for??” asked one person. 

In response to Zoe’s posts, InCultured Co. founder France Francois said, “When Dominicans like Zoe Saldana try to deny the history of Black struggle in the Dominican Republic, what they do is try to uphold white supremacy and silence the struggle of Blackness that has been continuous within Latinidad.”

“Saldana called on us to apologize, but we will not apologize for working to dismantle the anti-Blackness that exists within Latinidad,” Francois added. “Part of that is making it clear that we’re also not here to cancel Saldana either in part because she’s shown a capacity to learn and grow.”

“I have so much love and pride for my culture and my family’s country, and part of that is having enough love to want things to change for the better. Somos holds all of Latinidad to the same standard. Our work facilitates dialogue that sparks action and conversation, challenges the status quo, and fosters our readers’ abilities to learn about and inhabit different perspectives within and without Latinidad,” he continued.

Francois concluded, “I hope that those like Saldaña take a beat here to understand how hollow it is to celebrate something if you all refuse to see it for all it is. ‘The sun will always continue to shine on la bella quisqueya,’ she wrote on Instagram Stories. But practicing real love means looking in the shadows, too.”

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