“First I’m Ms Angelou, I’m not Maya, I’m 62 years old. I have lived so long and tried so hard that a young woman like you or any other has no…you have no license to come up to me and call me by my first name.” – Those were some of the first words iconic poet and Civil Rights activist Maya Angelou uttered to a 14-year-old girl who addressed her by her first name in a talk show.
In the 30-year-old video that recently resurfaced and went viral on social media, the young lady wanted to know Angelou’s thoughts on interracial relationships but she started on the wrong foot.
“I wanted to ask Maya her views on interracial relationships,” she said.
Angelou responded and demanded she
“Also because at the same time I’m your mother, I’m your
Take a look at the video below:
Though the video was not shown in its entirety, Angelou later apologized to the young woman. Take a look at it below:
— heykim (@heykim) March 15, 2019
The video sparked a huge debate about respect on Twitter with some people saying Angelou was right for putting the young girl in check and others saying she was a bit too harsh.
Take a look at some of the reactions below and share with us your thoughts.
A lot of you are missing the point in my opinion. Yes the young girl should show respect to her elders, as we all should, but she clearly did NOT mean any disrespect in that moment. The point is that Ms. Angelou could have corrected her WITHOUT coming at her the way that she did.
— Derek (@Doogi_) March 15, 2019
