Last night’s Academy Awards ceremony was filled to the brim with jaw-dropping moments. From Beyoncé’s legendary opening performance of “Be Alive” to Megan Thee Stallion dropping some of the hottest bars of the year in her “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” rendition, there is so much to be said about the celestial talent displayed by Black creators at the annual awards show.
What also should have been a topic of discussion was Will Smith taking home the Best Actor award, but unfortunately, that was overshadowed by Smith’s altercation with comedian Chris Rock. Earlier in the telecast, Rock made some disparaging comments about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, that took jabs at her hair.
Rock compared the actress to G.I. Jane, likely in reference to the similarities in haircuts but apparently, Will didn’t find the joke to be funny in the slightest as he walked onstage to slap the fledgling comedian. Social media immediately erupted with hot takes from celebrities and fans alike, with some praising Will for defending his wife and others taking the route of respectability politics to condemn him for such behavior at the swanky event.
White people are not the standard
Now, whether you agree with Will’s actions or not, there needs to be some genuine dialogue on why the condemnation of the actor to preserve white fragility is problematic. When did the descendants of colonizers and murderers become the standard of proper decorum? As a matter of fact, why are they the standard?
Just last year, these same blue-eyed gangsters stormed the nation’s Capitol in an attempt to commit all sorts of thuggery from thievery to property damage; yet Will is being frowned upon for defending his wife and the mother of his children? A simple scroll through Twitter will find that the same people in our community lambasting Will for his behavior have likely posted about Black liberation and protecting Black women.
this question is rhetorical. why is it that white feminists have labeled will smith’s behavior “toxic masculinity” but not chris rock’s pattern of belittling jada pinkett-smith and black women as a whole?
— Loni (They/Them) (@jaowrites) March 28, 2022
The Black elite's double standards
Any conversation on Black liberation is null and void if we have refused to liberate ourselves from the shackles of white supremacy in which Black people are shunned for the very same behavior that white people have enacted for centuries to the detriment of our minds and bodies.
Unfortunately, the byproducts of these laughable double standards is an entire generation of Black people who believe their proximity to whiteness, be it financial status or skin tone, will safeguard them from the perils of being Black in America should they use these factors as an excuse to criticize us in the same way. What these faux upper crusts, Black elite people fail to realize is that perpetuating the same anti-Blackness toward members of our community to gain the favor of our oppressor, will never guarantee equality.
What’s most alarming to me is the sudden amnesia taking place when it comes to Rock and his history of anti-Blackness.
White people when cops murder unarmed Black folks, asylum seekers are locked up and their kids stolen, prisoners die of Covid at Rikers bc they couldn’t afford bail: 🦗🦗🦗
White people when Will Smith slaps Chris Rock for a disgusting joke: VIOLENCE IS NEVER THE ANSWER— Kristen (@mediaperuana) March 28, 2022
Chris Rock's history of anti-Blackness
In 2011, while appearing on the HBO series Talking Funny, Rock took the opportunity to transform into his truest form — a coon. In the clip that has been widely circulated, Rock can be seen encouraging his white counterparts, Louis C.K. and Ricky Gervais, to use the n-word repeatedly while he just laughed on. That being said, it comes as no surprise that Rock was exuding misogynoir and anti-Black rhetoric when he attempted to tear down Jada in an audience full of the fair-skinned, straight-haired demons that he so gallantly rides for.
Never mind the fact that Rock released the documentary Good Hair in 2009 that seemingly praised Black women for the beauty of their hair. Of course, Rock seized the opportunity to capitalize off of Black women to supplement his enervated comedic career, but when it came time to stand up for a Black woman who is suffering from a heartbreaking disease, he quickly jumped ship to feed his preference of showing up for Black women only when he can commodify them.
This is more nuanced than “was a slap warranted.” Chris Rock was committing violence against an immunocompromised black woman. Black women always have their hair picked apart and degraded. I understand non black people are taken aback, but I think the black community are the
— Botanica Lopez Brown (@BotanicaBrown) March 28, 2022
Protect Black women
Two summers ago, a movement started calling on Black men to protect Black women. Is this movement real or is it simply a campaign to preserve the fragile egos of Black men and people who secretly fetishize the opportunity to be on an equal playing field with our colonizers?
In short, I do not think that Will is wrong, and his show of support for his wife and other Black women is a lesson that many Black men can learn from. Black liberation will never be the end result when Black women are being maligned, especially in situations that they cannot help.
