Caleb McLaughlin Shares Racism Experience

At the Heroes Comic Con Belgium convention on Sunday (September 25th), Caleb McLaughlin shared that he started to wonder at age 14 why Stranger Things fans didn’t like him as much as the rest of the cast.

“Why am I the least favorite? The least amount of followers? I’m on the same show as everybody from Season 1,” he wondered when he was younger.

“My very first Comic-Con, some people didn’t stand in my line because I was Black. Some people told me, ‘Oh I didn’t want to be in your line because you were mean to Eleven [Millie Bobby Brown],’” he said.

McLaughlin continued, “Even now some people don’t follow me or don’t support me because I’m Black. Sometimes overseas you feel the racism, you feel the bigotry. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about and for people to understand, but when I was younger it definitely affected me a lot.”

The Concrete Cowboy actor added, “My parents had to be like, ‘It’s a sad truth, but it’s because you’re the Black child on the show’ … Because I was born with this beautiful chocolate skin, I’m not loved. But that’s why with my platform I want to spread positivity and love because I do not give hate back to people who give hate to me.”

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