Idris Elba: Success has not negated racism for me

Elba shared that he was raised with the ideas that he had to be "twice as good as the white man" to succeed in life.

Hollywood star Idris Elba says his celebrity status does not make him immune to racism.

Elba shared that he was raised with the ideas that he had to be "twice as good as the white man" to succeed in life, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The actor was a part of a live question and answer session titled "The Reckoning: Kwame Kwei-Armah and Idris Elba on the Arts and Black Lives Matter", where he spoke about his brush with racism.

"Success has not negated racism for me. Asking me about racism is like asking me about how long I have been breathing," he said, according to Daily Mail.

He added that normally the first time black people have "any consciousness" around their skin "it is usually about racism".

"That stays with you regardless of whether you become successful or you beat the system," Elba said.

Talking about work ethic inculcated in him by his late father Winston, who was from Sierra Leone, and his Ghanaian mother Eve, Elba said: "If you want to make it in this world, you have to be twice as good as the white man."