Like many who were within the room during that now-infamous tense exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock throughout the 94th Annual Academy Awards, David Oyelowo is speaking out about his feelings on the incident.

Oyelowo penned an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter examining the possible ramifications of that altercation. Amid a climate that finds many fellow actors and comedians using language like “traumatized” and “sickened” to explain their feelings on the motion and calling for lawsuits and discipline levied Smith’s way, the actor worries that the apparent racial aspect of the incident will color how The Academy and Hollywood as an entire will handle diversity and inclusion efforts moving forward.

“My experiences of attending the Oscars over the past few years have been steeped in unexpected drama and a relentless intersection of public opinion, politics and race,” Oyelowo wrote, noting the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of 2016 that was partially kicked off by the exclusion of the Black forged of his film Selma from all of the 2015 acting categories.

Oyelowo went on to precise the cruel realities of racial stereotypes that Black people in the general public eye intrinsically carry on their backs – particularly those within the entertainment industry. The concept, rooted in respectability politics, suggests that what one in all us does, all of us are represented by.

“As a Black man in the general public eye, you might be consistently aware of the proven fact that your very existence is political. You’re consistently in a state of either getting used for example to perpetuate or debunk a stereotype,” he continued. “Those stereotypes are tied to criminality, civility, education, sexual prowess, poverty, social responsibility and so rather more. It’s a burden I actually have to simply accept despite it being exhausting in nature.”

The actor went on to say that within the midst of collective shock within the moments after Will Smith walked on stage and slapped Chris Rock, he experienced a flash of tension he feels all Black people experience once we see crimes reported on the news with Black perpetrators, wondering what this may mean for perception of us collectively, and individually.

He says, as expected, he experienced a racially charged tone regarding the incident almost immediately afterward at an Academy Awards afterparty.

“Very soon after the now-infamous Oscar ceremony, I walked into an Oscar afterparty and was immediately confronted by that which I feared. An older white gentleman sidled as much as me with relish in his demeanor and said, ‘He must have been dragged right out of there.’ You might well agree with that sentiment, however it’s not what he said, it’s the way he said it,” Oyelowo clarified. “I do know that relish. I do know that demeanor, and it’s ugly to its core in all of its coded messaging.”

“It could be naive to assume that the incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock won’t be pushed, by some industry professionals, through the lens of race.”

“My fear is that this unlucky incident, which has us all processing, may have a negative effect on the continued push for inclusion. There are those that, in a bid to ensure that something of this nature never happens again, will operate through an unconscious — or conscious — bias,” Oyelowo wrote. “A bias that also governs a lot of the decision-making in Hollywood. It could be tragic if a bid to forestall such an incident from happening again becomes an excuse for ideas about inclusion and variety to backslide.”

The actor ended his piece with a plea to Hollywood powers that be to stay focused on efforts toward progress in diversity and inclusion within the face of those who may use their reignited bias to reverse strides which were made.

“I’m calling on the great individuals with good intentions to remain focused on constructing on the good gains we’ve recently made. They mustn’t be eroded by those with bad intentions who would seek with relish to weaponize this incident to derail those gains and divide us.”