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While Talking About Will Smith’s Behavior, Don’t Forget To Also Talk About The System That Helped Create It
Maia Niguel Hoskin
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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Providing provocative views on racism, pop culture, and mental health.
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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: Will Smith accepts the Actor in a Leading Role award for ‘King ... [+]
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Everyone is still talking about last night’s Oscars when Academy Award-winning actor and director Will Smith slapped award-winning stand-up comedian, actor, writer, producer, and director Chris Rock after Rock made a distasteful joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Of course, social media immediately exploded, and people began dishing out their opinions and providing theories about the slap heard around the world. Various conspiracy theories have run the gamut from the incident being staged for ratings to being staged to emasculate Black men further.
But perhaps the larger question that should be asked is why Blacks in Hollywood have routinely been expected to grin and bear embarrassment and degradation without expressing any discontent or risk being viewed as angry? Furthermore, why is it permissible for a Black woman’s health condition to be made content for a few cheap laughs at an award show and how will this incident overshadow the hard work of Will Packer, the Black man who produced the award show along with an all-Black team for the first time in history.
While hosting last night’s Oscar’s Awards ceremony, Chris Rock said, “Jada, I love you. GI Jane 2, can’t wait to see you,” in reference to Pinkett-Smith’s bald head. Will Smith then emerged from the crowd and served Rock with a fresh open hand slap in response. What might seem to have been an innocent joke was highly personal and hit a cord for Smith. Jada is not rocking a bald head to be on-trend or to appear avant-garde. She currently has short hair due to alopecia. In an interesting twist of fate, Smith won Best Actor for his role in “King Richard” just minutes after the altercation. During his acceptance speech, Smith said,
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“In this time in my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world. Making this film, I got to protect Aunjanue Ellis, who was one of the most strongest, most delicate people I ever met. I got to protect Saniyya (Sidney) and Demi (Singleton), the two actresses that played Venus and Serena. I’m being called on in my life to love people and to protect people and to be a river to my people.”
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 27: (L-R) Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith attend the 94th Annual ... [+]
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He also shared that he has had to turn the other cheek in previous incidents in which he felt disrespected throughout his career, “You gotta smile you gotta pretend like that’s OK,” he said. However last night, The Fresh Prince appeared fed up. Some argue that while violence should never be condoned, perhaps there is space to hold empathy for a man who works in an industry that promotes stepin and fetchit politics and asks for Blacks and other people of color to grin and bear experiences of embarrassment and degradation or risk being labeled as angry or aggressive.
Some argue that this is not about Will Smith and Chris Rock being Black or Will Smith “setting Black people back.” This is about a much larger systemic issue rooted in white supremacist culture designed to police the behavior of Blacks amongst the who’s who in Hollywood and beyond. Respectability politics suggest that equity and fair treatment require that Black people — both inside and outside of Hollywood — conduct ourselves in a manner deemed acceptable to whites. Furthermore, expressing any emotion other than complacence, apathy, or agreeance directly violates those norms, disqualifying Black people from receiving the same equitable treatment that whites enjoy as a birthright. And sadly, there is a large group of Blacks who have internalized this toxic messaging.
Again, most will agree that grievances should not be met with balled-up fists or open-palmed slaps. But perhaps there is space to challenge the system and the cultural norms and expectations that have created a pressure cooker for repressed and stereotyped emotions and behaviors of people of color. Bottom line: the joke was made in extremely poor taste. Many have pointed out that it is far from the norm for the health of white actresses to be made the butt of a joke in such a public and esteemed space. So, why should it be acceptable for Black women to be made the exception, and why is the public so eager to only wag their fingers in judgment of Smith’s behavior and not question the racist system that was designed to incubate his and so many others’ frustrations. Perhaps, the most tremendous disservice this rumble has caused was overshadowing history being made — the hard work of Will Packer, the first Black man to produce the esteemed award ceremony with an all-Black production team.
