Terry Crews: ‘Pimp Culture’ in Black Community Silences Sexual Abuse Victims

“Young Black girls/boys in churches, schools, athletic teams & youth groups are preyed upon by molesters and then told 2 ‘stop snitching'” he tweets

Terry Crews
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In a series of tweets on Friday, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” star Terry Crews blamed what he called a “pimp culture” in the Black community for the encouraging victims of sexual abuse to remain silent.

Earlier this month, Crews shared his own story of sexual assault, saying a Hollywood executive approached him in front of his wife and “groped” him. On Friday, he said sexual predators in the Black take advantage of a “no snitching” attitude to get away with assaults.

“Sexual abuse/assault/harassment happens so frequently [with] Pimp Culture in the Black community it has a nickname– being ‘Turned out,’” he wrote. “Young Black girls/boys in churches, schools, athletic teams & youth groups are preyed upon by molesters and then told [to] ‘stop snitching.’

“Being ‘turned out’ means the girl or boy has accepted their own objectification [therefore] the predator can abuse them as he or she sees fit.”

Crews further explained that those who do speak out about their abuse are “shunned by the community” and “dared” to identify their abusers. “When they don’t, the victim is called a liar,” he wrote. “When they do- the predator parades the victim’s anger/ promiscuity and is labeled a ‘ho’.”

Crews also said some black victims are punished for acting out against their abusers.

“Prison is full of black [people] who’ve simply retaliated against their abuser, choosing prison over the ‘shame’ of revealing what happened,” he wrote. “Secrecy and victim shaming have sadly been a unspoken part of Black culture [for] generations.”

“Any culture can be self-destructive if you accept it’s sicknesses as an identity,” Crews added. “Which is why the veil of secrecy must be broken.”

Read all of Crews’ tweets below:

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