Maxwell says Black History Month should celebrate everyone’s history

Maxwell found himself in a bit of controversy over a tweet suggesting that Black History Month should celebrate everyone's history, not just that of African Americans.

Feb 9, 2017
Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Maxwell found himself in a bit of controversy over a tweet suggesting that Black History Month should celebrate everyone’s history, not just that of African-Americans.

“[I]ncluding everyone in black history month is beneficial to all of us cause not all of us look a typical black,” the 43-year-old singer tweeted Wednesday, along with a photograph of Lena Horne. He also tweeted the hashtag, “#blackblueredwhitebiegehistory.”

Within moments, Maxwell’s feed was hit with angry tweets over what some perceived as a watering down of African-American history and the importance of the month-long national holiday celebrating contributions of black culture. The singer eventually deleted the controversial tweets — but not before someone managed to screenshot them.

Responding to one person, Maxwell wrote, “there was a president his mom was white do you recall…?” He also reportedly sent a direct message to one person: “Check the numbers bitch.”

While it’s not clear what he was trying to convey by the tweet, it wasn’t enough to silence the critics. Read a few below.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE