Commentary
COMMENTARY: Justice for Jussie Smollett? What About the Rest of Us?
Smollett stuck to his own story and had a few character witnesses. But the jury determined the truth. Jussie Smollett lied to us all. The attack was the charade, not the trial. The attack was done as a play for our sympathy. If you weren’t a fan of Smollett on “Empire,” maybe you checked it out. That appears to have been the goal. Smollett became an overnight sensation and people saw him as a traumatized survivor.
By Emil Guillermo
And so now the verdict is in. Jussie Smollett was found guilty of five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct, connected to the night Smollett claimed he was mugged by two masked men in Chicago.
The breaking news of the “attack” two years ago only breaks our hearts today. Because the perps were friends and associates of Smollett who testified under oath that it was all planned and staged.
Smollett stuck to his own story and had a few character witnesses. But the jury determined the truth. Jussie Smollett lied to us all.
The attack was the charade, not the trial. The attack was done as a play for our sympathy.
If you weren’t a fan of Smollett on “Empire,” maybe you checked it out. That appears to have been the goal. Smollett became an overnight sensation and people saw him as a traumatized survivor.
Some commentators have suggested Jussie be placed on probation, given no prior record. But not so fast.
There is somewhere under $175,000 the city of Chicago wants back to pay police overtime for investigating the matter. That’s real, and a civil matter. But criminally, he should face some time. Should the system go light on a person who willingly concocted a story of hate? And refuses to be held accountable?
Some commentators mention the ‘dog’ woman in New York’s Central Park, Amy Cooper, who falsely claimed a bird-watching Black man was harassing her. She got community service, but compassion was shown after she admitted her guilt.
Jussie continued to tell his story on the stand. And his defense even says, they will appeal because of the one not-guilty count. But a juror told the media this week they were giving Jussie a break on the sixth count — that of filing a false report on an aggravated battery (the attackers were masked). Since the attackers were always masked, a juror told a reporter that with further deliberation “I think we probably would have found him guilty.”
Hate crimes are real. We don’t get justice for the real race crimes against our communities.
We shouldn’t waste an opportunity for justice on a fake one.
The real harm is that Jussie has now unleashed doubt on all our claims, credibility be damned.
Suni Lee, the Asian American Hmong Olympic champ, a few weeks ago claimed that she was accosted by a passerby in a car who yelled out a racial epithet.
As I recounted the story on my web show “Emil Amok’s Takeout” on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, a viewer put in the chat how he doubted the story. He said it was just like Jussie Smollett. After all, wasn’t she appearing on “Dancing with the Stars,” a show that takes public votes?
I didn’t even think about that. But afterward, I questioned — was there a police report? No. What about her girlfriends who were with her. Did anyone corroborate the story? No.
But the story made its way to all the major outlets, NBC, CNN, New York Times, etc., because there was trust in the Olympic champion.
How about for you or me?
From here on, Jussie Smollet has spoiled that trust for all people of color who speak the truth about race crimes. The hill we climb for justice is steeper than ever.
It’s not like it wasn’t hard enough already.
Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator. A former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” see his work at www.amok.com
Commentary
Opinion: Lessons for Current Student Protesters From a San Francisco State Strike Veteran
How the nation’s first College of Ethnic studies came about, bringing together Latino, African American and Asian American disciplines may offer some clues as to how to ease the current turmoil on American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning. Protesters did the same in 1968.
By Emil Guillermo
How the nation’s first College of Ethnic studies came about, bringing together Latino, African American and Asian American disciplines may offer some clues as to how to ease the current turmoil on American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war.
After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning.
Protesters did the same in 1968.
That made me think of San Francisco State University, 1968.
The news was filled with call backs to practically every student protest in the past six decades as arrests mounted into hundreds on nearly two dozen campuses around the country.
In 1970, the protests at Kent State were over the Vietnam War. Ohio National Guardsmen came in, opened fire, and killed four students.
Less than two weeks later that year, civil rights activists outside a dormitory at Jackson State were confronted by armed police. Two African American students were killed, twelve injured.
But again, I didn’t hear anyone mention San Francisco State University, 1968.
That protest addressed all the issues of the day and more. The student strike at SFSU was against the Vietnam war.
That final goal was eventually achieved, but there was violence, sparked mostly by “outside agitators,” who were confronted by police.
“People used the term ‘off the pigs’ but it was more rally rhetoric than a call to action (to actually kill police),” said Daniel Phil Gonzales, who was one of the strikers in 1968.
Gonzales, known as the go-to resource among Filipino American scholars for decades, went on to teach at what was the positive outcome of the strike, San Francisco State University’s College of Ethnic Studies. It’s believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. Gonzales recently retired after more than 50 years as professor.
As for today’s protests, Gonzales is dismayed that the students have constantly dealt with charges of antisemitism.
“It stymies conversation and encourages further polarization and the possibility of violent confrontation,” he said. “You’re going to be labeled pro-Hamas or pro-terrorist.”
That’s happening now. But we forget we are dealing not with Hamas proxies. We are dealing with students.
Gonzales said that was a key lesson at SF State’s strike. The main coalition driving the strike was aided by self-policing from inside of the movement. “That’s very difficult to maintain. Once you start this kind of activity, you don’t know who’s going to join,” he said.
Gonzales believes that in the current situation, there is a patch of humanity, common ground, where one can be both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel. He said it’s made difficult if you stand against the belligerent policies of Benjamin Netanyahu. In that case, you’re likely to be labeled antisemitic.
Despite that, Gonzales is in solidarity with the protesters and the people of Gaza, generally. Not Hamas. And he sees how most of the young people protesting are in shock at what he called the “duration of the absolute inhumane kind of persecution and prosecution of the Palestinians carried out by the Israeli government.”
As a survivor of campus protest decades ago, Gonzales offered some advice to the student protesters of 2024.
“You have to have a definable goal, but right now the path to that goal is unclear,” he said.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. A veteran newsman in TV and print, he is a former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
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