In our beautiful country almost everything is viewed at some point in time or another under the lens of the social construct of "race". Our Nation was founded by Europeans immigrants escaping some of the traditional socio political constraints of the old continent. Seeking religious and political freedom, the founders of the United States of America murdered the Asian natives who pre inhabited the land, and imported African slaves to work the vast American land. Out of that struggle, evolved the greatest nation on Earth, the land of the free and home of the brave. God Bless America.
TakeSlap at TakeSlap.com is a blog inspired on Will Smith's infamous attack on the dignity and freedom of speech of Chris Rock. The blog puts words together to make you think about life, history, entertainment, and more.
Our country remains racially divided through the present day. However, contrary to popular belief, the country is more united and more racially inclusive than ever in our brief history. The historic slap on our ego represented by the "original sin" of having a genocidal and slavery-fueled foundation motivates us to keep improving and doing better in bringing social justice to the world. And we have been engaged on that liberating pursuit for a long time in America. We even fought a brutally deadly civil war to end slavery. What other great nation in the world can say the same thing? Where else does a transformational civil war took place to liberate slaves?
Now, as is almost always the case, when discussing the social construct of race we mix it it up with the issue of slavery. We have been brain washed by culture to believe that slavery and race must necessarily go hand in hand. We are not educated, or we quickly forget, about the fact that slavery began all around the world without a racial connotation. Slavery began with the advent of the agricultural era. When humans were hunters and gatherers, slavery was not practical and thus not practiced. After all, you cannot arm a slave and force it to hunt with you without you quickly becoming the prey game. As soon as humans settled down to work the land, slavery developed as a pleasant way for masters to get free labor from slaves. Initially, the slaves and masters were of the same geographical region and thus were of the same "race". Perhaps masters and slaves were members of different tribes, but they had the same race. Only with improvements in transportation and globalization, slavery began to develop a racial connotation.
What modern day Americans and most homo sapiens in general refer to as "races" as just ancestral biological adaptations to the different environments and climates around the globe. For example, tribes that evolved in warm areas along the Equator line, with higher exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, developed a darker skin melanin pigmentation (natural sunscreen) than tribes evolving in colder areas far from the Equator and with less UV radiation. Tribes that evolved crossing snow covered mountains, developed an epicanthic fold (natural sunglasses). It's all good. We're all storytelling primates regardless of our external shells. We are all members of the same race, the human race.
Anyways, since in American culture everything has a racial connotation, let's examine or mention how the different "races" are perceiving Will Smith's colossal face slap smack down of Chris Rock during the Oscars. Many "blacks" perceive it as a regrettable violent incident shaming black culture. Many "whites" see it as a staged publicity stunt. The "brown" latinos and Asians are all over the place.
It is kind of obvious that blacks perceive the incident as shameful. It was a shame. Will Smith was an embarrassment to all blacks. Chris Rock was a jukebox hero for taking the slap so elegantly and composed. But why do so many whites see it as a staged publicity stunt?
You see, in the programmed minds of many whites, blacks are entertainers. Their role is to entertain white audiences and pacify minority audiences. True, both Chris Rock and Will Smith happen to be entertainers. They are both rich and famous Hollywood entertainers. Otherwise, they would not be on national TV. Otherwise, the would be seen as thugs inciting violence. Perhaps both would have been charged for the public violence incidence. Now, since they are entertainers, a white "conspiracy theory" is that the slap was just a publicity stunt.
Whether Will Smith's assault on Chris Rock was staged or not, for sure, more money will come their way. We can see the Super Bowl commercial where they make peace enjoying a Coca Cola, or the more ethnically marketed, Sprite. Or perhaps going to the Nike store together, they become friends again. In our beautiful country, everything is a big commercial opportunity. And that can be a good thing.
Will Smith's and Chris Rock's incident also brings unlimited opportunities for charities and education. For once, Will Smith can donate money to anger management organizations and mental health causes. Chris Rock can do an emotional sequel to its documentary about black hair. Alopecia charities can leverage this opportunity to create awareness about the serious and real autoimmune disorder affecting millions around the world.
Blogs like TakeSlap.com can be written to talk about the incident and spur up social thinking. What do you think?
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