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Ashley Banjo says all lives matter slogan is ‘hollow’

Ashley Banjo thinks the "all lives matter" slogan is "hollow".

The 31-year-old TV star has stressed the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, and has hit back at criticism he’s recently received online.

Speaking after race riots in the US, Ashley explained: "One of the points that really gets to me is, I’ve had a lot of people online, you know, hit back at me for using the hashtag Black Lives Matter, with ‘all lives matter’.

"I completely agree all lives matter, I love everybody and want to send nothing but positivity but then like I said, I have a white mum and a black dad.

"But until black lives matter properly, the statement ‘all lives matter’ is hollow and that is what we need to address."

The recent riots followed the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Derek Chauvin, an ex-policeman, has been charged with his murder.

However, Ashley stressed that racism is a wide-reaching problem.

He told ‘Good Morning Britain’: "There is a deep-rooted sort of institutionalised racism.

"Racism isn’t just about being a white supremacist or being, you know, vile – it’s about sweeping it under the rug and seeing what’s happening."

Meanwhile, Ashley’s brother, Jordan, previously revealed he suffered prejudice during his younger years.

The TV star – who grew up in Essex with Ashley, their younger sister Talisa, and their parents, Funso and Danielle – said: "Our school was in a posh part of Essex, and there weren’t many other ethnicities there.

"It was pretty much just me, my brother and sister. My mum is white and my dad’s black, and some kids just couldn’t get their head around it.

"They’d say, ‘You’re not black, but you’re not white. You’re different.’"