Samuel L. Jackson says President Donald Trump's America reminds him of growing up "during apartheid".
Samuel L. Jackson
The 70-year-old Hollywood star believes racial tensions in the US have increased since Trump began his presidency in 2017 and claimed it reminds him of his childhood in the 50s and his "developing years" in the 60s during the height of the civil rights movement.
In an interview with Port magazine, he said: "I know what 'Make America Great Again' means when I hear it. I'm part of the sixties in terms of my developing years."
The 'Pulp Fiction' star acted as an usher at the funeral of activist Martin Luther King in 1968 as well as participating in a march four days after King's assassination to continue his work supporting a garbage workers' strike.
He added: "I mean, I lived in America during apartheid. I was born in 48 and grew up in Tennessee in the fifties. So I saw the signs. I knew where I could and could not go."
The 'Avengers: Endgame' actor went on to explain that he feels a "responsibility" as a performer to "reflect the times we're in" - using his wife LaTanya Richardson as an example of a star who uses their art to teach a social lesson - before branding the president "greedy and toxic".
He said: "In entertainment there is a responsibility somewhere in us to reflect the times that we're in. You can do that in the theatre. Like my wife is doing in 'To Kill A Mockingbird' in Broadway.
"As old and well known that book is, there is still stuff that resonates with what's going on right no. To have somebody who is as under-read and greedy running the country, he's just toxic."
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