The petition claims a white person would have been fired for the speech

A petition has now been started calling for him to be fired from his job

Jesse Williams' passionate speech at this year's BET Awards demanding equal rights and an end to policy brutality has seen some calling for him to be fired from Grey's Anatomy.

Williams brought the audience to their feet last week with his remarks while accepting the Humanitarian Award, saying at one point: 'We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries, yo, and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil.'

He then closed by saying: 'The thing is that just because we’re magic doesn’t mean we’re not real.'

Those words however are not sitting well with some, who want to see Williams punished for his remarks, and have started a petition to get him kicked off the ABC medical drama.

Williams meanwhile is enjoying some time off in Maui, where on Tuesday his Grey's co-star Ellen Pompeo shared a photo of the two paddle boarding, followed by a video of Williams causing her to fall off her board and in to the water.

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Relaxing: Jesse Williams is on vacation with co-star Ellen Pompeo in Maui, and the two posted photos together on Tuesday (above)

Taking a spill: Pompeo posted a video of Williams knocking her off her paddle board and into the coean

'Jesse Williams spewed a racist, hate speech against law enforcement and white people at the BET awards,' reads a Change.org petition that has already gathered thousands of signatures.

'If this was a white person making the same speech about an African American, they would have been fired and globally chastised, as they should be, but there has been no consequences to Williams' actions.'

The petition then states: 'There's been no companies making a stand against his racist remarks and no swift action condemning his negative attitude.'

The petition goes on to compare Williams' words to comments made by Isaiah Washington, who was let go after the show's third season following an incident in which he called his co-star T.R. Knight a 'fa**ot' on set.

Knight publicly came out as gay soon after this, and while Washington initially denied he ever said those words, Knight later said in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres that this was not the case and that the entire set heard him use the homophobic slur.

Washington did however make a return to the show for the 2014 finale episode, though by that point Knight was no longer on the program.

Williams responded to the petition over the weekend, writing on Twitter: 'Do not promote empty people & their tantrums. Pure clickbait to gain followers, attention & money, for themselves, not you. Never you.'

The petition also seems to have already run into trouble no many how many signatures it gathers, with Grey's creator Shonda Rimes writing on Twitter Monday: 'Um, people? Boo don't need a petition. #shondalandrules.'

Call to action: Jesse Williams delivered a passionate speech at the BET Awards (above) demanding equal rights and calling for an end to police brutality

Backlash: A petition has now been started calling for him to be fired from his job on the long-running ABC show Grey's Anatomy, which he responded to on Twitter (above)

Final say: Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rimes also responded, writing: 'Um, people? Boo don't need a petition. #shondalandrules' (above)

Powerful words: 'We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight,' said Williams in his speech (above with castmate Elen Pompeo)

Rimes, and the rest of the Grey's cast, were also just a few of the millions of Americans who found Williams' BET speech both inspiring and necessary, taking to social media to voice their respect and admiration for the 34-year-old actor.'

'In woods. Far from wifi. Get signal! What'd I miss? "Just because we're magic doesn't mean we're not real." @iJesseWilliams' speech. YES,' wrote Rimes.

Pompeo wrote: 'In our world of media where entertainers are only interested in promoting themselves @iJesseWilliams is selfless & as refreshing as it gets.'

And Jessica Capshaw wrote: 'Every once in a while someone gets it so right that it feels like magic but I know that @iJesseWilliams is for REAL.'

She then added: 'AND because part of the real-ness is watching his oratory excellence in motion please watch him serve it up hot...'

Proud: Grey's leading lady Pompeo praised Williams, writing: 'In our world of media where entertainers are only interested in promoting themselves @iJesseWilliams is selfless & as refreshing as it gets.'

Magic: Jessica Capshaw wrote: 'Every once in a while someone gets it so right that it feels like magic but I know that @iJesseWilliams is for REAL'

Impressed: She then added: 'AND because part of the real-ness is watching his oratory excellence in motion please watch him serve it up hot...'