Halle Bailey responds to ‘The Little Mermaid’ racism: ‘You just expect it’

nypost.com:

her role as Ariel in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” which premieres on May 26.“As a black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore,” Bailey told The Face.Racist trolls hurled vile slurs online about the 22-year-old actress when she was cast in 2019 as well as when the teaser was released in September.“I never read my comments.

Don’t ever read the comments,” she said. “When the teaser came out, I was at the D23 Expo and I was so happy. I didn’t see any of the negativity.”Bailey has instead focused on the impact of her groundbreaking role and being a positive influence on children of color.“I know people are like: ​’It’s not about race.’ But now that I’m her… People don’t understand that when you’re black there’s this whole other community,” the actress said. “It’s so important for us to see ourselves.”The actress knew she made the right decision after seeing a plethora of videos featuring black children excitedly reacting to her first appearance as Ariel.“I was crying all night for two days, just staring at them in disbelief,” she said. ​”It makes me feel more grateful for where I am.”Even Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade’s daughter Kavia shared her excitement in a video, wearing a “Little Mermaid” costume, with a caption saying “#RepresentationMatters.”However, it didn’t stop racist fans of the 1989 cartoon from sharing their appalling thoughts and disapproval of the casting on social media.“When you’re doing a remake of anything, everyone’s gonna be like: ​‘Well, this isn’t how I liked it in the original,” said Bailey.One artificial intelligence scientist decided to exclude Bailey from part of their world by creating a white AI version of the Little Mermaid.