According to Progressives, Only Black People May Publicly Opine About, Discuss or Analyze, the Will Smith 2022 Oscar’s Slap of Chris Rock – Why I Kind of Disagree
This post has been edited after publication to add more content
I’m not sure if all or most progressives would state their position on this subject as being, “Only POC (People of Color) can or should discuss actor Will Smith slapping stand up comic and actor Chris Rock” or not.
For those not familiar (are you living under a rock?!), both Will Smith and Chris Rock are black, celebrity men, and, Will Smith, who is a movie actor, slapped Chris Rock across the face during the Oscar program for telling a tepid joke about Smith’s wife; Rock told a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair (or lack thereof) at the 2022 Oscars ceremony.
This topic is quite close to one I’ve been meaning to blog about for months now, which I may get around to later.
Here’s one example of several I’ve seen ever since The Slap, where progressives of whatever skin color are telling non-Blacks to shut up:
(Link): ‘Sit this out’: MSNBC host says white people ‘do not understand’ Will Smith slap
I have a few reasons why I don’t really agree with progressives on this topic.
At any rate, progressives are all over the map on this. When they say “only black people” can or may discuss Smith slapping Rock, what do they mean, exactly? Do progressives mean POC, or only Black people?
How are they defining “Black” and “POC?”
Because according to progressives who are into identity politics, black men can be white (here’s one example of what I mean, via the Los Angeles Time site): (Link): Column: Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy. You’ve been warned by Erika D. Smith, August 20, 2021)
Furthermore, according to intersectional progressives, Asians and all Jews (even ones with dark, or non-white skin), are no longer categorized as being POC, but are said to be “white adjacent.”
That is, “POC” (such as black, conservative males like Larry Elder) are not considered to be black men by progressives, because those particular men do not agree with leftist politics.
How about Rachel Dolezal? She is physiologically a White person but identifies as Black. Is Dolezal allowed to chime in on this topic?
(There are also persons who appear to be White but who are partially black and/or who identify as Black, such as (Link): these people. Are they allowed to comment?)
I guess if any of those persons adhere to leftist political views, your average progressive would say, why, of course, they may comment on it. I’m not always clear on how this works, though.
Here below are a few of the problems I have with this perspective that non-Blacks should not be allowed to publicly comment on the Will Smith situation (is it acceptable for non-Blacks to talk about it privately? Or to at least form their own conclusions about it in their own minds, or is that verboten as well?), as well as a few of my other thoughts on the subject.
Those Involved Are Public Figures Who Acted Publicly
Will Smith, Chris Rock, and Jada Pinkett Smith are all celebrities. They are all public figures.
The slap took place in a televised, public program aired on a major American network, and it was covered on social media by different news accounts.
If this incident occurs among public figures, and/or on public television, I’d say yes, anyone of any political beliefs or skin color can and should have a right to discuss it. There should be no shaming of anyone of whatever skin color that wants to have an opinion about it and discuss it publicly.
I don’t have to be a Black person, with a lived Black experience, to comment on this specific instance of a physical assault that happened among famous people in public at an awards ceremony.
If persons who are Black want to weigh in and give their opinions about any dynamics going on with The Slap that they perceive to be specific to Black experience, that is all fine and dandy.
And I’ve already seen some progressives jump in to do that very thing, and unfortunately, in this context, some of them are resorting to Blame Whitey as a defense.
No.
Will Smith, regardless of his skin color, regardless of past, historic racism in the nation, or any perception of on-going racism in society, is still responsible for his own behavior.
If I saw a White actor slap a White comedian (or comedian of whatever skin color) during an awards show, and over a harmless joke about his wife’s hair style, I wouldn’t support those actions.
I’m against sexism, but as a woman who detests sexism, if I were a movie actor, I would not storm up to the stage to slap the face of an Oscar host who just made a joke about me (or about women in general).
Two wrongs don’t make a right. That a culture may contain some on-going sexism, or has historically contained sexism, would not make it acceptable for a woman to slap a comedian on stage across his face for telling a joke that comes across as sexist or that happened to be aimed at a woman.
At what point, in progressive thought, is a Black person responsible for his or her own actions? I may do yet another blog post on that topic.
I’m amazed at how far this progressive social justice nonsense extends, to the degree, that people (especially white liberals and progressives) don’t want to hold black people today responsible for their actions – all in the name of “social justice.”
Again, I’m a woman. I loathe sexism. The United States has historically had problems with sexism, and I think to an extent, it still does. Would that existence of sexism then excuse me looting stores? Slapping stand up comics on stage? Mugging people? No, it would not.
On a related note:
(Link): Will Smith’s attack on Chris Rock is teachable moment for ‘black-on-black’ crime, pastor says
Excerpts:
March 30, 2022
By Leonardo Blair, Senior Features Reporter
…While Smith’s affirmations may be true, his reaction to Rock’s joke about his wife on Sunday was seen as a “letdown” by some Christian leaders, like civil rights activist Rev. Jeff Moore.
“It was such a letdown and such a letdown for us as black men,” Moore told KPIX 5, a San Francisco-based news outlet. “I would have hoped that if anything he would have walked up and maybe said, ‘Hey man, just apologize to my wife.’ But to go to violence was not the answer.”
…While he respects Smith’s apology, Peterson said he hoped that Smith’s attack on Rock “will become a teachable moment where we can highlight the reality of black-on-black crime.”
Mika Edmondson, lead pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church’s Koinonia, in Nashville, Tennessee, was not happy with what he saw.
“We all just watched a physical assault play out right before our very eyes. And the person who did it was comforted as if he were the victim and talked about it as though it were an act of love. We have to denormalize violence as a response to feeling disrespected,” he wrote on Twitter.
— end excerpts —
I was disturbed that nobody seemed to ask how Chris Rock was doing after the slap in the minutes or days after the slap!
I saw clips online of actors consoling Will Smith. I did not see anyone running up to Chris Rock to ask if Rock was okay. In the days after, nobody was asking how Rock was coping.
Black People Don’t All Agree With The Slap
There are some black people who’ve spoken out who disagree with Smith slapping Rock. Here’s a few of them. I agree with them:
One was actress Wanda Sykes:
(Link): Wanda Sykes says she is ‘a little traumatized’ from Will Smith’s Oscars slap
(Link): Wanda Sykes Calls Out Oscars for Letting Will Smith Stay After Chris Rock Slap: ‘How Gross Is This?’
There’s also the Conservative Twins on You Tube (Link): Will Smith Smacks Chris Rock On Stage At The Oscars
There was Chris Rock’s brother, who was angry that Rock was slapped:
(Link): Tony Rock slams Will Smith during comedy show: ‘You gonna hit my motherf–king brother?’
(Link): Chris Rock’s brother wants Will Smith’s Oscar revoked, isn’t accepting his apology
“It eats at me watching it over and over again because you’ve seen a loved one being attacked and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Kenny Rock told the Times in an interview. “Every time I’m watching the videos, it’s like a rendition that just keeps going over and over in my head. My brother was no threat to him and you just had no respect for him at that moment. You just belittled him in front of millions of people that watch the show.”
— end excerpts —
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wasn’t too thrilled, either:
(Link): Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says Will Smith’s slap ‘perpetuated stereotypes’ against Black people
Zoë Kravitz (Black actress) didn’t support Smith’s slap of Rock:
(Link): Zoë Kravitz Is Trending After She Shaded Will Smith For “Assaulting People On Stage”
(Link): Zoë Kravitz hit with backlash after shading Will Smith’s Oscars slap
George Wallace, Black comedian:
(Link): ‘I love Will Smith, but not today’: Why comedian wants Chris Rock to sue
Tatyana Ali (Black actress):
(Link): Tatyana Ali Weighs In on Will Smith’s Oscars Slap: Chris Rock ‘Didn’t Deserve to Be Hit’
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actress condemned her former costar’s move while saying she still believes in him in a brief message shared on Twitter a week after the incident
April 3, 2022
Tatyana Ali believes Chris Rock “didn’t deserve to be hit” by Will Smith over a joke told by the comedian during the 94th Academy Awards.
One week after Smith’s slap, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actress condemned her former costar’s move in a brief message shared on Twitter.
“I love #WillSmith very much,” Ali, 43, wrote before emphasizing her belief that Rock, 57, “didn’t deserve to be hit” by Smith, 53. “Period.”
People online point this out:
(Link): Will Smith Joked About a Man’s Baldness in Viral Clip. Now That Man Weighs In on Slap
Why Was The Husband Acting on Behalf of His Adult Wife?
If Jada Pinkett Smith had a problem with Chris Rock’s joke about her hair, she should’ve been the one to confront Rock about it after the show.
Pinkett-Smith should not have relied on her husband to do so.
That she did in fact do so is one sign of codependence, and it’s barfy to watch the small number of women (including actress Tiffany Haddish) romanticize the situation, by saying it’s so chivalrous to see a husband “defend” his wife.
I mean, really? If you’re a grown adult woman in an audience at a show where the comedian’s crack about your hair is upsetting to you, you handle it on your own.
You don’t turn to your husband and expect him to get up and confront the comedian on your behalf.
You yourself contact the guy later, by e-mail or phone, or maybe backstage after the show, and politely let him know his joke was hurtful or offensive.
You don’t hide behind your husband in a situation like that, but it looks like that is what Pinkett-Smith chose to do.
(It looked as though after the joke, she shot Will Smith a look as if to say, “Honey, that really displeased me. Now get up and confront this guy for me, or you will be in the dog house!”)
Here’s an article that explains why Smith’s slap of Rock was bad:
(Link): Why experts say Will Smith’s Oscars ‘act of love’ is dangerous
Excerpts:
by M. Marples
March 31, 2022
“Love will make you do crazy things.” That’s what actor Will Smith said during his Oscars acceptance speech at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony.
That shouldn’t include resorting to violence, said Joel Wong, professor and chair of the counseling and educational psychology department at Indiana University Bloomington.
…When a man who embodies unhealthy masculine behaviors like violence sees a family member being attacked, he often takes it as a personal affront to his honor, Wong said.
…It’s less socially acceptable for men to be vulnerable, so they may try and regain control in a violent way, Powell explained.
…Love as a scapegoat for violence
For domestic abuse survivors, Smith’s rhetoric was all too familiar. When some men act out violently, they claim it’s in the name of true love, according to a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
People who engage in bad behavior often have a vague sense that they are conducting themselves in a way that may not be consistent with who they are, Wong said.
They have to find a way to justify what they’ve done and make the decision look righteous, he explained.
“I think it’s important for people to call it what it is and not let Will Smith sort of get away with saying it’s all about love,” Wong said.
Throughout our children’s lives, we teach them that love shouldn’t hurt, Powell said.
“Anytime we equate love with physical violence or aggression, there is a danger that those lines can be blurred,” she said.
— end excerpts —
You’re Supposed to Self Censor, According to Progressives – Some Issues I Have With This View
As I’ve written of before, I was taught to believe in and live by Christian gender complementarian teachings by traditional Christian parents as I was growing up. (This is a topic I may return to in a future, separate post.)
As part of that indoctrination in traditional gender roles (“gender complementarianism”) by parents and the church they raised me in (Southern Baptist), one of many things I was taught was that as a female, my opinions do not matter.
Under secular sexist cultural conditioning and church based complementarian teachings, I was taught that my voice does not matter. I was discouraged from speaking up, from stating my opinions on just about any topic.
In addition to parents and church teaching me that as a girl and woman, my thoughts don’t matter, and that being out-spoken was reserved for men only, secular culture also sent me that same message. Women are not to speak up. We’re supposed to be quiet, docile, non-threatening, and non-opinionated (or at least keep our views to ourselves).
Church, parents, and secular culture also encouraged me to think that due to my biological sex, female, that my needs and feelings do not matter.
I was supposed to live life keeping my head down, never stopping to think about myself, who I am, or what I want. I am to just listen to others and help other people. If I spoke up, I would be deemed bossy, bitchy, or unfeminine, and some conservatives would accuse me of “trying to be like a man.”
I spent years of my life not speaking up, of not sharing my views, not going after I wanted – because we’re living in a sexist society that encourages girls and women to think and act that way.
And now, here I am, being lectured by far left liberals and progressives to hold back my views, don’t speak up.
The progressives want to get into their Intersectional Propaganda and tell me because Group X supposedly had life worse as a group, as opposed to those in Group Z, that I should keep my thoughts to myself, if I am not a part of Group X.
Wrong. I will not.
Caveats: there are some situations that only someone who has lived through them can fully understand and appreciate, so there may be a time for other groups or persons to hold back, but I don’t see how one man slapping another one publicly is one of those times.
I know that a lot of Christians who’ve never had clinical depression or anxiety disorders don’t understand mental health problems, for example, so they regularly give insensitive or bad advice to Christians who do have mental health problems.
Maybe the Christians who’ve never actually lived with depression and anxiety should not be so quick or willing to speak up about those topics, at least until they spend some time researching the issue.
I’ve also seen “transwomen” (biological men) who were not socialized to be girls, so they have no clue what being a girl or woman is really all about, and a lot of (biological) men are clueless about the sexist everyday garbage and sexist double standards women have to navigate.
I think the “Me Too” movement may have opened the eyes of a lot of (biological) men to the garbage (biological) women put up with regularly that (biological) men do not.
I do think there are caveats, where maybe it’s true that people from Group A should maybe not loudly state their opinions when Group B is talking about something very specific to Group B, but I really don’t buy into this being an iron clad rule in all cases for all people at all times.
I already spent too many years in this codependent zone, where I stifled my voice and did not share my opinions, because secular and Christian culture advised me that as a girl and woman that it was wrong for me to express myself, that speaking up was for men only.
I will no longer do this in accordance with Christian Gender Complementarian teachings, and I sure won’t do it to please the progressive Intersectionality, Identity Politics scolds out there.
If I choose to publicly discuss my views about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, then I will do so – as I’ve just done!
So the woman in this video below can get bent – she is sending me the same message as I heard growing up from parents, secular culture, and church: that I should refrain from stating my views on a topic.
In my life, it’s gone from – under sexism and complementarianism – as a female, I shouldn’t voice my thoughts, to now – under progressive intersectional, identity politics – I have progressives like her telling me not to speak up because I am not a Black person.
To address some of her points in that video:
The situation was not “nuanced.” It was a husband being pushed to slap another man because his wife pressured him to do so because she didn’t like the joke he made about her hair.
The situation with Rock and Smith was fairly straight forward, even if one wants to get into side arguments about how hair is so very important to Black women, how Black husbands interact with their Black wives, etc.
Some Black women – such as Wanda Sykes – believes what Smith did to Rock was wrong; I agree with her, and I’m not a Black woman. (Though I could start identifying as one, which should be fine with progressives, since they don’t believe in objective truth or reality.)
Yes, this is “my business,” because again, these are all public figures acting out in a public venue.
A Few Concluding Thoughts
I’m old enough to remember hearing and seeing Will Smith songs and music videos on Mtv, or on the radio back in the day, when he was performing as part of the “DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince” duo.
I also grew up seeing Smith’s movies either on cable television or at movie theaters. I think I saw “Independence Day” in the theaters with my brother when that first was released.
I have to say, I always thought that Will Smith seemed like such a likable guy. I am disappointed and weirded out by his behavior towards Chris Rock.
Speaking of weird.
I find it really, really weird that progressives are upset that any non-Black people are upset that a Black man was physically assaulted.
Really stop and ponder that.
I’ve never met Chris Rock, so I don’t know why kind of guy he is in real life. Regardless, I felt bad to see him get slapped, nobody rushed to ask how he was doing in the aftermath. That bothered me. I think others of all skin colors shared similar concerns.
You’d think race-obsessed progressives would be happy to see that a lot of Americans were empathetic with a Black man being slapped, but no, they spent all their time on social media and cable news shows still condemning all White people (or oddly, blaming White people) for one Black man slapping another Black man.
Additional Content
(Link): Is It Racist to Criticize Will Smith for Slapping Chris Rock? It Shouldn’t Be
by Bob Hoge
April 8, 2022
…So, these are the facts; Will Smith slapped Chris Rock; Smith has since resigned, and has now been punished. There you have it. The facts aren’t really up for debate.
What is up for debate, apparently, is whether or not criticism of Will Smith’s behavior is… you guessed it… racist.
That debate picked up steam on social media Friday night, with many proclaiming the punishment of Smith overly harsh, and that the severity of the punishment is because he’s black. Just type “Will Smith Oscars racism” into the Twitter search bar and you’ll find a maelstrom of vitriol from both sides of the debate. However, it is important to note that the Academy did not take back his Oscar.
…But the debate shouldn’t be that complicated; in fact, it shouldn’t be complicated at all. A much larger male–whether Latino, white, Asian, doesn’t matter–walks up to an unsuspecting, much smaller male (of any race), and slaps him (hard!) across the cheek in front of an international television audience. Not to mention, this takes place in one of the holiest chambers of Hollywood. Why do we need to take the race of the perpetrator into account? A man committed an assault, and therefore should pay the consequences.
I like Will Smith, and think he’s a great actor. Men In Black? C’mon man, that’s good stuff. I don’t wish him any ill will. It’s hard not to feel empathy for him, especially after he appeared in possibly the most cringeworthy video of all time, a (Link, to You Tube video): “Red Table” talk, where his wife openly talked about her affair with another man. (“Red Table Talk” is a talk show starring Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow, and her mother Gammy.)
The story was never about race at all. It was about violence.
But when we can’t criticize one man for slapping another in fear of being called racist, it shows that the Left’s obsession with race–and constantly pushing us to view every single thing through the lens of race–means we can barely converse at all.
April 29, 2022
…In a recent interview with Big Boy, Wayans gave some more input on the slap heard around the world, sharing that Smith’s achieved the opposite of what he set out to do during the Oscars by putting way more attention on his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, after slapping Chris Rock on stage. …
… “I was like, ‘Hey brother you may want to go get you about three hours of therapy,’” he recalled telling Smith. “15 hours this week, you need to sit down with a therapist and have a long talk. Something is going on with you.’ And that wasn’t him. See, I don’t have that kind of pressure. He’s been Black excellence for 30 years, I’ve been Black alrightness, ain’t too much pressure. … People expect me to do dumb stuff, but him? Nah, not Will.”
Here are various memes, tweets, and videos about The Slap, or Related Topics:
(Link): (21 minute video): RED TABLE TALK – FULL VIDEO – JADA PINKETT – WILL SMITH – AUGUST ALSINA- INTERVIEW – REACTION
Nine minute video on You Tube:
(Link); Blame Whitey! It’s NOT Will Smith’s fault for Chris Rock slap at Oscars 2022!
Satire (the Smith marriage is notorious for being “open.” Pinkett-Smith has had one or more extramarital flings – the humor here is rather mature, so be forewarned, 3 minutes long):
(Link): Chris Rock Smooths Things Over With Will Smith By Sleeping With His Wife
on You Tube: (the humor here is rather mature, so be forewarned, 3 minutes long):
(Link): A Message to Will Smith From Jada’s Entanglements
Satire – (Link): Seat Fillers from SNL
Is she (the MSNBC lady) seriously telling white people to sit in the back of the bus?
She’s wanting non-Black people to be (Link): today’s Rosa Parks.
(Link): Jada Pinkett Smith Is TERRIBLE | How HER Actions Led To Will Smith Slapping Chris Rock At The Oscars – 11.45 minute video
This post may be edited in the future to add more links, tweets, or videos
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