I haven’t been able to read any of the articles out recently about the attack on Jussie Smollett, and the possibility that the entire episode might have been orchestrated. What I have read are the comments under such articles.
It’s interesting watching the arc of sympathy bend over time, from full-throated support to a kind of disowning I can only describe as similar to having your significant other speak with your boss at your office Christmas party… drunk: The situation matters to you, but you don’t want to be too closely associated with it until you see what the outcome is.
My personal feelings aside, the more interesting comments are those that say something like “aww man this sh*t is going to set us ALL back.” Who? Who is getting set back, and why?
The suggestion is that if this Smollett situation turns out to be a fraud (and I sincerely hope it doesn’t) future allegations of hate crime – especially race-based ones – will be taken less credibly. But why?
This is America. The land of individual rights and liberties. Where bald middle-aged men still get to drive unmarked white vans and walk by playgrounds without anyone screaming “stranger danger,” despite decades of SVU educating us better.
The only people to whom “set us all back” should hold true are those who never wanted to see you move forward to begin with. Those with poor contextual reasoning skills; the sort of people who draw patterns from single occasions, or who troll their “enemies” against the backdrop of unfortunate circumstances. In public. On Twitter. Trumps.
As for the rest of us, it’ll be interesting to see how this story plays out, but before that comes it’s worth remembering that the very definition of discrimination is the treatment of or disposition towards a person based on a larger group to which they belong.
Discrimination isn’t always done to you from outside others. Sometimes it is committed against one’s self. Like suggesting that fraud committed by one member of your race somehow makes you and your stories less credible.
Bernie Madoff didn’t cause a backlash against Jewish investment professionals, and the actions of a certain idiot savant president haven’t (yet) caused us all to question the leadership fiber of old white men.
Regardless of how Jussie’s story bears out, it will be his story alone. He would have set back or elevated only himself, on the merits of his perseverance or on the wickedness of his fraud. We –God forbid such tragedy ever befall us – should all enjoy the same privilege. This too is equality.