Social media is a powerful tool. It can be used for amazing things , as well as equally terrible ones. Many of us have seen the deception that social media can be used for in the last few weeks in the case of the Jussie Smollett scandal.
If you don’t already know, Jussie Smollett was an actor on the popular show Empire, and he staged a hate crime against himself at the end of January. When the news of his attack first broke out, an outpour of love and support flooded social media, with many condemning the violent act of hate and bigotry. According to CBS News, the story went like this- Jussie was attacked outside his apartment by two Trump supporters. Eventually, Chicago police caught on and arrested Smollett for filing a false police report.
As a fierce supporter of justice and equality, I am totally shocked that a man who has experienced both racism and homophobia could commit such an act. If he had such a complex understanding of oppression and the danger of hate crimes, how could he manipulate that knowledge in such a way in order to gain money and attention? I am left in a state of total shock, disappointment and dismay. Anger even. Hundreds of people flocked to Jussie to support him and felt his pain. It was proof that this even happens to celebrities. But all of us who spoke up for Jussie were duped into his cruel scheme.
This kind of behavior is seriously dangerous for the victims of hate crimes. The sensational aspect of the case has only worsened the terribly offensive belief that hate crimes aren’t as big of a problem as they actually are- that victims are lying for attention. In this political climate of hatred and apathy that we live in, something like this can only make things worse for members of minority communities.
Whenever these types of crimes are committed, my mind always returns to young Matthew Shepard, a college student- the same age as most of us here at Gustavus. In 1998, on his 21st birthday, he was beaten, tortured, and left for dead outside of a bar in Wyoming. The “reason” for his death? His sexuality. Shockingly, most people today have no idea who he is. His death helped spur legislation to be passed in Congress in an attempt to curtail these types of crimes.
Matthew is only one of many people in the LBTBQ+ community who have continually faced the danger of violence at every turn. In the heyday of the gay community in San Francisco during the 1970’s, there was an entire force of people who patrolled the streets to protect others from being harassed and assaulted. While the LGBTQ+ community has come to be more accepted in main stream society today, the danger is still very prevalent. So what Smollett chose to do cannot simply be dismissed as a silly act of vanity. Smollett manipulated the very serious and intense history of hate crimes against both people of color and those part of the LGBTQ+ community. It is a disgusting use of other people’s trauma for his own gain. His use of the Trump symbolism only goes to trivialize the real culture of hate and bigotry that Trump culture has helped to worsen. While this bias and discrimination has always been a part of American history and American culture, the era of Trump and his supporters have helped to fan the flames of homophobia and white supremacy.
So where do we go from here? I have no answer for that. All I know for sure is the extreme depth and far-reaching affects that lies like Smollett’s can have in the long run. We cannot let his lie detract from real crimes that members of minority groups face on a daily basis. Instead of letting his actions convince us that hate crimes aren’t common, we should use the opportunity to direct attention and help to organizations that work to end hate crimes and discrimination. We cannot let ourselves succumb to the negativity .