Wednesday, February 20, 2019

What the Jussie Smollett Story Reveals

These thugs, who shouted Trump slogans as well as racist and homophobic slurs, seemed to know who Smollett was on sight, meaning they were aficionados of the splashy black soap opera Empire, on which Smollett is a main character.

Until this twist, smart people were claiming that the attack on Smollett was the story of Donald Trump's America writ small-that it revealed the terrible plight of minority groups today.

His Twitter stream is replete with counsel about matters of spirit, skepticism, and persistence that sounds a tad self-satisfied from someone in his 30s. His mother associated with the Black Panthers and is friends with the activist Angela Davis, and in interviews Smollett has identified proudly with the activist tradition.

A key difference between Brawley and Smollett, pointing up the difference between 1987 and 2019, is that while Brawley lied to escape the wrath of her mother's boyfriend after she ran away from home for four days, Smollett may have lied to look good to the public.

This story has been reminiscent, again, of Brawley, except that she was 15 and Smollett is, at 36, more than twice her age then.

Smollett told Robin Roberts, amid initial skepticism about his account, that people would have been more open to his story if he had said the attackers were black or Muslim-missing, apparently, that the attackers' being white made the story the most interesting possible one to all the people he was seeking to reach.

Did it not occur to Smollett that if this blew up in his face, he would be tarring by association actual and legitimate claims of racist and homophobic abuse? As someone seeking to be seen as a concerned activist in the vein of his mother and Angela Davis, could Smollett really not understand that a stunt all about making himself more famous was not exactly the wokest approach?

https://outline.com/Y65rvP

No comments: