Ever since Khloé Kardashian split from boyfriend Tristan Thompson amid rumors he’d cheated on her with her sister’s best friend Jordyn Woods, the Good American founder has been posting motivational quotes, images, and memes pertaining to the situation to her Instagram stories.
While most have been fairly general and innocuous—the sort of stuff 14-year-old me would’ve copy/pasted into an AOL away message to hint to my friends of my inner turmoil—her latest post quickly became the subject of contention and vitriol.
Khloé over the weekend posted a photo of a slogan T-shirt that was meant to come across as a message of acceptance, but which instead infuriated hundreds of fans and haters alike.
The T-shirt had the words “Love Thy Neighbor” printed on it, followed by a list of other identities (“Love Thy Muslim Neighbor, Love Thy Black Neighbor, Love Thy Gay Neighbor”), one of which included “Love Thy Racist Neighbor.”
“Love is the only cure,” Khloé captioned the Instagram Story post.
One of these, people noticed, was not like the other.
Khloe Kardashian is facing backlash for posting a "Love Thy Neighbor" shirt that includes "Thy Racist Neighbor" on her Instagram story:
"Love is the only cure" pic.twitter.com/KnVqFCmH6a
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 16, 2019
Screenshots of the post quickly began to make the rounds on Twitter, where one user sent it viral and racked up nearly 30,000 likes with an all-caps condemnation.
People felt as though the post was in especially bad taste considering how often the Kardashian-Jenner family has been accused of appropriating black culture.
As Yomi Adegoke pointed out in a post for The Guardian, Kardashian suggests that the term “racist” is neutral and misunderstood and that “much like being gay or black, it is something you are born with that the world unfairly vilifies.”
“In Kardashian’s mind,” adds Adegoke, “a racist’s struggle is comparable to that of a homeless person or an addict.”
Fans were especially appalled over Khloé’s subscription to the idea that racism isn’t a choice because she is the mother of a black daughter.
THY RACIST NEIGHBOUR?! YOUR CHILD IS BLACK KHLOE! THROW THE WHOLE WOMAN AWAY!
— Marlie (@olaf_pascal) March 16, 2019
Lol. A woman with a black daughter saying “love thy racist neighbor” whew chile ??? https://t.co/4mBYU8UPna
— Mihlali Adams?? (@Mihlali_Adams) March 17, 2019
"love thy racist neighbor" and this bitch has a black child?? somebody call child protective services https://t.co/GIBJSBTd4x
— claRRa dcaprYo (@claradicaprio99) March 18, 2019
i really can’t get over the fact that khloe kardashian literally has a black daughter and she posts “love thy racist neighbor”
— celeste (@knjghtofwands) March 18, 2019
Khloe Kardashian over here talkin bout “love thy racist neighbor” and y’all talkin bout “you missed her point” girl fuck you
— Kylan (@AwwHELLToTheNaw) March 16, 2019
There were those who also quickly came to Khloé’s defense, arguing that she was simply spreading a message of love and acceptance.
Idk what's wrong with this. It's a message of love. Telling someone to show love to a racist isn't problematic, it means you don't want to fight their fire with fire. Showing hatred to hateful people only furthers division. Gotta show empathy and help guide them away from hate
— kevin (@xdxonline) March 17, 2019
Love Thy Neighbor ✨
the racist neighbor ????
Love is the only cure. ????????— epiphany fan account (@deIicate13) March 16, 2019
…are normal. This world's people should give only love and bring awareness instead of hate to society. #NoHate #onlylove
— Ryan (@rj__james) March 19, 2019
h/t Cosmopolitan