The Oscar Slap: Field N***A vs House N***A, Massa Don't Like It! [Video]

Chris Rock & Will Smith - Oscars 2022

It has been approximately 7 days, 22 hours, and 31mins (as I'm writing this) since the slap heard round the world has caused much conversation and even more division. The moment in television history on March 27, 2022, when esteemed actor, director, producer, and entertainment mogul, Will Smith, slapped the dog shit out of actor, comedian, producer, director, Chris Rock. The smack came on the heels of - what some would consider - a lighthearted joke regarding Jada Pinkett Smith's hair - or the lack thereof. Chris Rock gibed at Jada saying,

"Jada, I love ya', G.I. Jane 2? Can't wait to see it! Aight?"

To which Jada grimaced and side-eyed. Will, on the other hand - though starting with a laugh - saw the discomfort in his wife's face and decided that he would walk onto the stage and high-five Rock's face in front of millions of viewers.

Now, for those of you needing a little bit of backstory, Jada has been very vocal for the last two years in regard to the fact that she has been diagnosed with alopecia - an autoimmune disease that affects hair growth either on your head or your entire body. Jada has been quite resound in saying that she embraces her baldness and has since had a new found freedom and power since shaving it all off due to her diagnosis. However, just because one might find resolution in their own situation doesn't mean they allow for the mocking (or joking) of it by someone else.

I have - on my social media - spoken my piece about this whole slap scandal. It is no secret that although I would not have handled the situation as Will did, I am also of a lived experience where I can understand the energy and reasoning behind it. In the same way as I look at Chris Rock like a complete bitch in that moment - blame my lived hood experience - I ALSO am able to understand why he chose to be non-retaliatory.

Albeit, what I have witnessed in this last week is the supremacy of fickle hearts and mob mentalities of our beloved Black community. I have seen and listened to people be so divided over this moment that they have praised one, condemned the other, all while demonizing the Black woman who the joke was about in the first place. I have seen arguments like,

"It's comedy! Get over it!"

Or

"Will Smith is a disgrace to the Black community as a whole!"

First and foremost, I find it interesting, that a man who has - for the bulk of his career - been as squeaky clean as an actor can be in an over 30-year career, is now this thuggish degenerate poster boy for anti-Blackness and violence. I also find it alarming that many of you have demonized the very woman who was the punchline of this whole ordeal. It is not an uncommon conversation that Black women are often the most brutalized, attacked, disrespected, and unprotected group of people on the planet! Much of which is enacted upon by the very Black men that they are trying to love and support. This entire situation is giving me very much "massa" (the Oscars) pitting house nigga against field nigga and breeding discourse into the community at large.

Let's start with Will - were his actions necessary? If I'm being honest with myself, NO! They absolutely were not necessary. Were his actions understandable? YES!!! Very much so!

Photo taken by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin

I would hope that in a moment of relationship and marriage that when my partner sees my displeasure, the disrespect that I feel, and (quite possibly) the embarrassment I feel before millions of people, that SOMETHING in him would shift and he would take a stand for me. Even if that stand is not the stand I would have wanted him to take in the moment, in the way that I would have wanted him to take it, I would love on him for TAKING it in the first place on my behalf. We can later talk about his how, after I acknowledge and respect his WHY!

Furthermore, for the Facebook and IG therapists with no degrees, no certifications, no licenses, no experience, and NO desire to seek your OWN therapy?! The attempt to diagnosis this man as being mentally ill is both disgusting and laughable! Even if you are a licensed therapist, Will is NOT your patient. Projecting misplaced rage on him? Saying he should enact the very violence on ANOTHER Black man (August Alsina) but not Chris because all Chris did was make a joke? Can we talk about hypocrisy and straight up bullshit?!

Because of the nature of the industry, we knew there would be consequences. However, the media coverage/fan conversation of the consequences feels akin to a town of people talking about the woman with a scarlet letter on her chest. It's the virtual side-eyes, the badmouthing, the disdain in each and every post about it. The Oscars' protocols sound more like the Vatican - a government within a government - more than anything else. Quite frankly, why are WE all offended? We didn't get smacked! The second hand embarrassment? Okay, fine, I can understand that, but the second hand offense?! Chyle BYE!!!

It is also utterly disgusting that much of what I have read concerning Jada herself is dripping with venom and even more disrespect. Bringing up August Alsina is completely irrelevant because Jada did not CHEAT on her husband. Cheating occurs when you violate the borders surrounding YOUR relationship and it has been very clear that the borders surrounding the Smith's relationship are not - by any means - conventional. And if we're being honest, many of you have stayed in toxic ass relationships for much less and/or much worse, so mind your tongues and judgements there!

Now, Let's talk Rock! Whereas I completely understand the incessant need to praise Chris Rock for the way he responded - or didn't respond - at the Oscars, I cannot help but side-eye this reimagining of Chris as a long lasting, stand up, moral person! It seems to me that when Black artists start out, everything is pro-Black! Think Rock's early career: Boomerang, In Living Color, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - in which got up in the drag gig; portraying an unattractive and ghetto Black girl, to name a few. Then, as white money gets introduced, that pro-Blackness gets a little diluted with caucus allowance in order to remain at the tables with white folks. Many of you commend Chris Rock because you feel he made Black people look decent while Will made us look like violent animals. Albeit, how far do we go to make white people comfortable with us? Where do we draw the line?

Exhibit A:

It is this kind of display that leads me to believe that many of you are not upset with what Will did. You're upset at where he did it and in front of whom he did it. It's the inbred respectability politics that white supremacy has taught Black people to have. Because Black folks have rarely been welcomed to the Oscars (let alone to win one), having a Black person produce the show - Will Packer - it becomes of great importance that "we" be on our best behavior, otherwise Mr. Whitey won't allow us back in the house!

**Insert MASSIVE Side-eye**

Now, many of you may say,

"As true as that may be! Did Chris deserved to be assaulted?!"

Did he deserve it? Absolutely! Should he have gotten it on camera? Probably not, but the reality is, he DID! As the producer of one of the most controversial and enlightening documentaries created by Rock himself - I'm speaking of none other than Good Hair - it behooves me how or why he would think it was in good taste to poke fun at a Black woman's hair in the first place! Whether he knew about her condition or not, he spent months with Black women discussing the importance of their hair and how much of their identity it is. That alone, should have been enough not to crack an unrehearsed joke at the expense of a Black woman - AGAIN!!! Let's not forget his Jada joke a few years back. An Oscar ceremony, in which, Jada wasn't even attending....

If Chris would have retaliated in ANY way, he would have been well within his rights to do so, but he didn't. I believe that, in part, he didn't because he knew in that moment he had gone too far with what many call a "joke". He knew that had it been HIS wife on the comedic chopping block, dealing with a diagnosis outside of her control, that he probably would have wanted to act in the same way. I choose to believe that Rock's lack of action - both during and post the ceremony - is in large part to understanding an unspoken yet highly respected code in urban Black communities aka The Hood: Don't let yo mouf write a check yo ass can't cash!

At a recent comedy show, Chris Rock had this to say about the whole ordeal:

At the end of the day, whether you agree with Will, defend Chris or sit on the fence between both these Black men, this is MY take away:

1 - I will not condemn an ENTIRE BLACK MAN for a moment he had, however undesirable it was. I have to look at the totality of actions a person has shown me. The crucifixion of Will Smith's character and attempted assassination on his career is the very product of how community will turn on you when you disrupt their ability to look good in front of whiteness OR when they really didn't support you as a person to begin with.

2 - Chris Rock does not immediately become a saint to me because he did not respond to being smacked AFTER voluntarily disrespecting a Black woman AGAIN in the name of comedy! When I am the punchline of a joke, I and I alone get to dictate the appropriateness and offense of that joke! NO ONE ELSE! Hopefully Rock's wife was able to sit him down and get her husband to understand, "Babe...you went too fucking far!"

3 - Both these men had a moment in the middle of two long standing careers. The way we, as the public, have so definitively taken sides and concluded who these men are, in totality, makes me so very glad that we no longer have the ability to cheer and shout as a person is literally lynched in the town square over an undesirable moment.

4 - Black women - who are often receiving the brunt of the violence and disrespect - are so hated! Even from within our own Black community. The way we have handled Jada in this situation makes my heart heavy and makes my rage grow deeper and wider. That we are willing to demonize her for having a man who wants to protect her from another man who chose to disrespect her. We then justify it by proclaiming that those who stand with Will & Jada condone violence as a cause of recourse. Let me be VERY clear!!!! I do NOT condone violence. And, also, I understand that in some moments violence becomes a necessity for a person. Therefore, because I am unable to determine a person's account of that necessity, I conduct myself with caution when making someone the target of my own words or actions.

True peace & true kindness can ONLY be chosen when one knows true cruelty and true violence. If you do not know the latter, you can not be peaceful or kind....you can only be harmless and accommodating. And those two things are NOT the same...

Sources:

Daily Mail: Chris Rock SAVED the Oscars with his 'grace and aplomb' and allowed the 'show to go on' after being slapped by Will Smith who 'sucked the life out of that room', says producer Will Packer

Good Morning America: Oscars producer speaks out on what happened behind the scenes right after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock

Cover photo courtesy of DNAIndia.com - Fair Use

Inlay photo courtesy of Axelle/Bauer-Griffin - Fair Use

Inlay photo courtesy of Kanopy.com - Fair Use

Inlay video courtesy of Entertainment Tonight's YouTube Page

Inlay video courtesy of ExtraTV's YouTube Page