The Slap: Pearl Clutching At It’s Finest

I’ve been up for a while. I partially blame the thunder. The sound of the rain hitting my window should lure me to sleep, but tonight I’m too distracted. Against my better judgment, I went down the Will Smith rabbit hole.

I’ve had a chance to read a few think pieces on the infamous slap: the slap that has white folks in a tizzy on social media. I told myself I wouldn’t write a think piece, but here I am writing a think piece.

There are so many ideas floating around the web, but there was one that stopped me in my tracks. One brotha wrote he believed “the slap” set Black men back. While I appreciate differing opinions and thoughts, I have to kindly disagree with that sentiment. Here’s why.

Will Smith’s behavior was indeed wrong and he admitted that. The notion that his behavior set us back is a fallacy at best. Black people have always, and will always be held to a higher standard. We could exhibit undeniable brilliance, like Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and still be subject to unreasonable scrutiny. This is one of the unfair aspects of the Black experience.

White folks stormed the capital, openly praise the use of deadly force, salivate over guns, refuse to acknowledge the damaging effects of slavery, participate in systematic racism while stating they don’t see color, willfully look the other way when Black men and women are murdered in cold blood, but somehow are deeply wounded by a slap that honestly has nothing to do with them? The proverbial clutching of pearls is disingenuous and is being used as a way to perpetuate anti-Blackness. Society continually hunts for reasons to demonize Black people. This time is no different. In fact, this demonization is deeply American, and will likely continue to be the case.

White fragility has always been the common denominator when critiquing the Black community at large. When you dig beneath the surface you realize this isn’t really about a slap. They don’t give a damn about a slap. The outrage is a convenient excuse for whites to pick apart the Black community under the faux guise of virtue. We’ve seen this before.

Sometimes I feel like people create strawman arguments because they’re bored and intellectually lazy.