Is Chivalry Dead? A Tale Of Two Women
No Me Digas. Op-Ed: Keith Price
Well, what a week, huh? We experienced the actual definition of grace under pressure while watching the three-day confirmation process of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Every true American viewing that circus thought the same thing, “if I were her, then I would have not made it through that, because honey (insert neck and eye roll)…” Anyone with a sense of memory, especially of the last two confirmation hearings, might remember different things like Justice Comey Barrett and her faux paux struggling to remember the five freedoms protected under the First Amendment, or Justice Kavanaugh crying and later screaming how much he likes beer, in addition to his smarting off to Sen. Klobuchar on her drinking habits. Needless to say, those moments are etched into the annals of history.
As a person of color in this country, it seems that no matter how often we try to meet the challenges of life that are thrown at us on a regular basis, we are still met with utter contempt and disrespect when we dare to not only meet those challenges but exceed them. The disrespect tends to come from those who are seemingly envious of the effort, energy, and praise that are rightfully due to those of us who dare to dream, work hard, and reach for the golden rings.
This last week also again showed the frailty of the cisgender, white, possibly impotent men, and less than a week later, that white fragility was then met by the news of the Will Smith/Chris Rock Oscar Smackdown. As gratuitous and shameless as the moment was, it potentially has probably affected a few black film relationships with Hollywood. It could possibly cancel 30 years of Mr. Smith’s career, and all because he couldn’t find a better way for conflict resolution.
Evidently, there must have been some deep, public history that I must have missed between Chris Rock and Will Smith. Black people, especially those on BlackTwitter, are now conflicted again. We spent one week being full of pride and hope, as Judge Jackson stood there and let those ignorant, conniving, and possibly corrupt politicians try to impugn and malign her career, judiciary decisions, her character, and even her religious practices.
One bad bald joke, at the expense of someone who is the famous wife of someone famous, and who has also shared her health condition publicly, and we start a new week with this foolishness:
The generally outspoken Jada Pinkett Smith was made the butt of a joke that honestly was not Chris Rock’s best moment, but it did not deserve the response Will Smith gave it.
Remember. No one came to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s defense after the abuse she endured publicly, except for Sen. Cory Booker. His eloquence did more damage to those ass hats that came for her than any slap would have satisfied. It also showed us a different form of gallantry. By the end of the hearings, Judge Jackson proved that she did not need anyone’s help. However, I am sure that she wished someone could have given Senators Cruz, Sasse, Hawley, and Kennedy a smack to the face, too. Yet, in that forum, there is decorum.
Who would have thought that the Oscars telecast could devolve into a smackdown over a joke? One highly intelligent, overqualified black woman trying to make judicial history while being tossed stink bombs disguised as “legitimate questions” and handling them brilliantly, will get lost in our Black History. But two wealthy black men, fighting over a “meh” joke about a woman’s looks disguised as protecting her honor, will live in infamy for all of the wrong reasons. Sadly, ignoring it will make you look like Ted Cruz after Trump called his wife ugly. There has to be a happy medium.
Many are divided because they know that choosing one side over the other means that you either thinly support gallantry and condone violence over a joke, or you support a comedian telling a joke that may have been pointed and possibly crossed an unseen line. I guess rich, black celebrities are just as sensitive as we are. However, I am more in line with Roger Ross Williams, a Black member of the Academy’s board of governors, in response to the kerfuffle “…It reinforces stereotypes about Black people and it just hurts me to my core…work it out someplace else; not on the stage.”
Mr. Smith did win the award that night, but his behavior gave a lot of haters more grist for the rumor mill. He has apologized to Mr. Rock since the incident. He most certainly will earn an asterisk next to his name when compared to the other Black Best Actor winners. As for Mrs. Pinkett-Smith, there will most certainly be several Alopecia commercials coming her way. I just hope that Judge Jackson makes it all the way and can step over the coat that Sen. Booker verbally placed over that SCOTUS puddle.
VIA JAPANESE TELEVISION: The uncensored exchange between Will Smith and Chris Rock pic.twitter.com/j0Z184ZyXa
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) March 28, 2022
