By: Maria Thompson Corley – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
I believed Jussie Smollett because nooses are appearing in public places, I’ve heard Trump supporters make racist statements on camera, and people have been attacked, even killed, for their sexuality/skin color for eons. The only thing I questioned was how little visible damage he suffered—one small scratch beneath an eye. I thought that perhaps he had bruises elsewhere.
My sister doubted him from the outset, saying, as many are now, that the whole thing was a bit too over-the-top. A corner of my heart hopes that he is somehow vindicated; it seems too unnecessary, too stupid, too ______ (words fail me) for him to have orchestrated this. And yet, the evidence is piling up. If the motive was truly to get a higher salary on Empire, the joke’s on him. If convicted, on top possible jail time, he will have to pay for the 12 officers who were working round the clock on his case. Which seems fair to me.
People are saying that he has set the causes of the LGBTQ community and people of color back, because nobody will believe claims of being targeted in hate crimes. Um…excuse me? Let’s examine this. Anybody remember Susan Smith? Way back in the 90’s, she falsely accused a black man of stealing her children. In the end, she had murdered them. Let’s go back further. How many black men in the South were imprisoned or lynched without a fair trail because of the accusation of a white woman? I am not suggesting that white women are the only ones who make false claims (though the recent rash of stories seems to present them in a rather unflattering light). The thing is, do we automatically disregard white women as possible victims of a crime because of Susan Smith or her predecessors? The possible exception: They are accusing a white man of sexual assault.
There is no excuse for Jussie Smollett’s behavior, if the current narrative is the truth. And yet, he is one person, albeit famous, but only one. I have often thought that we will truly have overcome when the mainstream opinion of the African American (gay, Latinx, Muslim…) community won’t have to rise and fall because of the behavior of a few, whether they be exemplary or heinous.
One last thing. The Chicago police have a horrible history in dealing with African Americans, but Smollett’s fame made his case worthy of their focused attention. I hope that, one day, another black man (woman, child) or member of the LGBTQ community, less famous, will spur such efforts. Not holding my breath, and this has nothing to do with Chicago.
More by Maria:
Jussie Smollett is a Headline, but His Story Plays Out Over and Over Again Every day
Maria Thompson Corley is a Canadian pianist (MM, DMA, The Juilliard School) of Jamaican and Bermudian descent, who has experience as a college professor, private piano instructor, composer, arranger and voice actor. She has contributed to Broad Street Review since 2008, and also blogged for Huffington Post. Her first novel, Choices, was published by Kensington. Her latest novel, Letting Go, was published by Createspace, along with a companion CD of solo piano performances by the author. “Malcolm,” a poem about her son which she presented at the 2016 National Autism Conference, is featured periodically on the Scriggler All Stars Twitter page. “Drop Your Mask” was awarded second place in New York Literary Magazine’s love poetry category and appeared in that publication’s AWAKE anthology in December, 2016. Her short story, “The Road to Jericho,” is slated for publication in the inaugural edition of Midnight and Indigo.
Twitter: @MariaCorley
