On Thursday, former Empire actor, Jussie Smollett was convicted by a Chicago jury on five felony charges for staging a fake hate crime attack on himself, nearly three years ago. Sadly, false accusations of racism have become almost commonplace in America because people understand that our society gives victims of racism social credit and status. These types of false accusations are very easy to make because most people knee-jerk accept them without much proof or evidence. Smollett was trying to use his victimization status to propel his career to a higher level. The first major hate crime hoax occurred back in the 1987, when 15-year-old, Tawana Brawley falsely accused white police officers of a hate crime and rape. Reverend Al Sharpton exploited her false accusation to elevate himself onto the national stage as a spokesman on race, and 35 years later, he still has not stepped down.
There have been a rash of these false accusations by celebrities choosing to play the race victim to gain “street cred” or to distract their fans from seeing how privilege a life they are leading. In 2017, LeBron James made unproven charges of a hate crime when he made the unverified claim that racist graffiti had been spray-painted on the gate of his Los Angeles mansion. Race car driver, Bubba Wallace made a false accusation of a hate crime in 2020, claiming that a rope that pulls down a garage door was a noose. And actress Meghan Markle made dubious accusations of racism against anonymous members of the British Royal family with zero evidence. These accusations are designed for these people to gain sympathy while living the elite lifestyle.
If America is systemically racist as politicians and celebrities on the left like to claim, there would be no need to create fake hate crimes. Hate crime incidences would be so prevalent that Jussie Smollett or Lebron James would simply have to wear a body camera to prove it. Yet, they are so rare that these people have to create elaborate hoaxes to play the victim.
Ironically, Smollett used the term “MAGA country” in his racist hoax to exploit the real prejudice against Republicans and conservatives that is being engrained into the collective psyche of America by our legacy and social media. These entities have made it okay to judge and discriminate against Republicans and conservatives based on a narrow, one-sided view on who they are. And Smollett cynically assumed that accusations of racism against Trump supporters would immediately be believed with specious evidence. As it turned out, Smollett proved the exact opposite; these type of accusations should not be automatically believed, and that it is more prudent to wait until all the facts come out before making a judgement.
Hate crime hoaxes like in the Smollett case are not much different than the general sweeping accusations of racism against certain people, or an industry, or the country itself. They are designed to gain sympathy, attack an opponent, or to seize power. Is Joe Biden claiming that white supremacy is the “most lethal threat” in America any different than what Jussie Smollett did? Is Ilhan Omar calling President Donald Trump’s political events Ku Klux Klan rallies any different than what Smollett did? Is Barack Obama calling the police forces throughout our country institutionally racist any different than what Smollett did? Is the woke mob characterizing America as systemically and irredeemably racist any different than what Smollett did?
This is not to claim that black people in general do not have a more difficult time in this country than white people, but that reality is not a result of systemic racism or white people keeping black people down, it is a direct result of the failed policies in Democratically run cities where most of the black communities are. The Democrat party has failed the black communities and yet black people continue to overwhelmingly vote Democrat mainly because the Democrats have effectively made these false accusations of racism against Republicans stick. The Democrats go-to argument in policy discussions against Republicans is accuse them of racism. They use these accusations of racism to tap into black people’s fears and stir up their prejudice, to gain political or social advantage for themselves.
So, in policy discussions, instead of engaging in legitimate debates based on the merits of each side’s position, the people on the left simply make accusations of racism to win the argument. So, we hear that securing our border is racist, the 2nd amendment is racist, prosecutingcrime is racist, cutting taxes is racist, school choice is racist, voter ID is racist, Covid-19 is racist, math is racist, and the list goes on and on. Whenever, they do not agree with a position, they characterize that position as racist.
Ironically, the Democratic Party’s obsession with falsely charging Republicans with racism completely contradicts the well-documented history of racism of the Democratic Party, from slavery to Jim Crow to segregation to internment camps. All these atrocities were committed by the Democratic Party, yet they are the one’s using the haunting racist history of our country that they perpetrated to stir up fears in minority communities through false charges of racism against Republicans to get minorities to vote for them so they can implement policies which continue to keep the minorities down.
If black people want safer communities, they should vote Republican. If black people want better jobs, and higher wager, they should vote Republican. If black people want better school opportunities for their children, they should vote Republican. The only argument that the Democrats use to get black people to vote Democrat is the false accusation that Republicans are racist.
Under President Trump, Black and Hispanic people had the lowest unemployment and highest real wages in history, yet they overwhelmingly voted against Trump. Republicans would put vouchers in the hands of black mothers and fathers so they can send their children to the schools that the white kids get to go to so their children can compete in the work force for good high paying jobs. Yet Democrats like Barack Obama block school choice programs every step of the way, and Black people overwhelmingly vote for Obama and the Democrats.
We, as a society, must reject prejudice and stereotyping, wherever we see it - whether it takes the form of racial, religious, gender, class prejudice, or a false accusation of racism. Until we start viewing each other with the full expanse of our humanity, we will always have division where there should be unity because we will focus solely on our few small differences while overlooking our many similarities, and all of that is magnified when false accusations of racism are levied at each other.
Judd Garrett is a graduate from Princeton University, and a former NFL player, coach, and executive. He has been a contributor to the website Real Clear Politics. He has recently published his first novel, No Wind.