Current Events > Hey, Will Smith, 'White people are looking at you'

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/CapehartJ/status/1509606975126003716?t=QM666LrW_6Yk4nrDff7QhA&s=19

When Wanda Sykes was a child, the comedian shared in her 2009 special, her mother always stopped her from dancing in the car. White people are looking at you! she would say.

Black folks, we always got to be dignified, Sykes observed. Yeah, cause we know if we f--- up, we just set everybody else back a couple of years, right?

White people were looking Sunday night, too, when Sykes co-hosted the Academy Awards. And they certainly saw when Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock across the face. That smack was a blow to all Black people who have worked for our dignity and acceptance and especially to the legacy of those Black performers who made Smiths presence at the Oscars possible in the first place.

So listen. This opinion is really fucking bad.

https://twitter.com/Sassy_Miss_T/status/1509628477263290369?t=7R3nD05qWrCjj252IyDTFQ&s=19

And this is why.

"You're right, Jonathan. We white people are definitely watching and judging Black Americans."

Who cares about who is watching - you can have sex in my car if you want

RedLuigi posted...

Who cares about who is watching - you can have sex in my car if you want

pics of car

Does this idiot not realize that hes just giving those racist white people justification by saying dumb shit like this?

Will Smith fucked up and gave the crazies ammo and for that he should be deeply ashamed.

I can understand feeling frustrated knowing that racists are gonna be likely to think less of you because somebody set a bad example that "fueled the fire"

Jonathan isn't claiming that Chris Rock's reaction isn't admirable. His point is that racists don't care if Rock acted nobly. all they see is Will smith having a temper tantrum, they're gonna point to that and say "yeah see this is what happens when you let black people do this"

racists aren't gonna say "well to be fair, rock took it very well"

Jonathan is pointing that out, and I can see why he's frustrated by it. he's not saying "white people are gonna judge us badly for this [and it's fair for them to do that]", he's saying "now white people are gonna judge us for that [even though it's not a fair judgment]"

i had a similar reaction to jussie smollett. angry at him because now straight bigots are gonna think we gay people fabricate hate crimes for attention.

i like wanda in Curb but dear god this is one of the worst takes ive seen on anything in a long time. anyone bringing race into this incident should be deleted from your brain

Guess Chris Rock isn't black? Lol seems more like a toxic masculinity (or really just mental health) thing than a race thing.

Most of the racist white peeps I've seen found a way to blame both Smith and Rock, and dragged Jada too for good measure.

PatrickMahomes posted...

i like wanda in Curb but dear god this is one of the worst takes ive seen on anything in a long time. anyone bringing race into this incident should be deleted from your brain

Smashingpmkns posted...

Guess Chris Rock isn't black? Lol seems more like a toxic masculinity (or really just mental health) thing than a race thing.

Did you guys try thinking for at least three seconds before saying something that fucking stupid?

What a worthless line of reasoning.

DrizztLink posted...

Did you guys try thinking for at least three seconds before saying something that fucking stupid?

thank you. guessing theyre not black otherwise they wouldnt be saying this shit

Bump in hopes ml white liberals unironically agree with bullshit.

He's not wrong.

It's not inaccurate to say that White people tend to be judged by their best, while Black people tend to be judged by their worst.

PatrickMahomes posted...

i like wanda in Curb but dear god this is one of the worst takes ive seen on anything in a long time. anyone bringing race into this incident should be deleted from your brain

Ignoring racism doesn't make it go away.

I wonder if people saying his take is bs are white.

Its like, black people have always had the added baggage of needing to be a step above perceptions. Its why the low bar for how to act as a president for white people is Donald Trump.

If Obama had acted even half as childish, wed never hear the end of it.

Hes not wrong. How much it matters is a different story.

cuttin_in_farm posted...

Its like, black people have always had the added baggage of needing to be a step above perceptions. Its why the low bar for how to act as a president for white people is Donald Trump.

If Obama had acted even half as childish, wed never hear the end of it.

A double whammy for Obama because between the political parties the Democrats are treated like the child who tries to do what is right but others around them never find it to be 'enough' whereas Republicans are the eternal screw up of a child who always gets more chances given to them. Now as a result of such behavior the Supreme Court has become a partizan hatchet with no credibility.

Why is TC acting like the second tweet is a counter? It reinforces the point the first one is trying to make.....

Is TC not self aware, or do they genuinely not understand what they are trying to discuss?

For white people, dark skinned folks with so-called "class" (a [REDACTED] term imo) are considered as the anomaly, not the usual. Sykes mother said that to her because it was lived experience not a delusion in her head.

Why do you think all the focus is on Smith instead of Rock...? It not because he is more famous, it because he was the aggressor, you the thing that white people have intentionally drilled into peoples head that black men can only be for literally hundreds of years. Rocks reaction does fit the narrative so folks ignore it, or more relevantly... they actually discuss how he shouldnt have said that stuff in the first place he is surely aware of the issues black women face because of their hair in the first place so it becomes problematic from all angles

Smashingpmkns posted...

Guess Chris Rock isn't black? Lol seems more like a toxic masculinity (or really just mental health) thing than a race thing.

I just saw it as a dude slapping another dude. Race didn't factor into it at all

Why does everything have to be about fucking race. it's so tiresome

I was looking. So I guess she's right. I feel like everyone was looking though. We all remember where we were when we first read that Will Smith punched Chris Tucker.

cuttin_in_farm posted...

I wonder if people saying his take is bs are white.

Its like, black people have always had the added baggage of needing to be a step above perceptions. Its why the low bar for how to act as a president for white people is Donald Trump.

If Obama had acted even half as childish, wed never hear the end of it.

Hes not wrong. How much it matters is a different story.

I dont think I was clear about my criticism. He is absolutely right. But his article is framed in a way that validates that mindset. Look at the top reply alone, which I quoted in the OP.

Now I can appreciate that the article isn't really meant for white America, but it's sure being praised by it and not for the right reasons.

zado19 posted...

Why is TC acting like the second tweet is a counter? It reinforces the point the first one is trying to make.....

I'm not. That was the point of my quote:

RobertDoback posted...

And this is why.

"You're right, Jonathan. We white people are definitely watching and judging Black Americans."

She praised the article while proving his point.

RobertDoback posted...

I dont think I was clear about my criticism. He is absolutely right. But his article is framed in a way that validates that mindset. Look at the top reply alone, which I quoted in the OP.

Southernfatman posted...

I get a bit irritated how it's always "white people" this and "whites" that and not "white racists" in various pieces. Thanks for lumping all of us non-asshole white people in with the bigots. I get what they're saying and all, but stuff needs to be phrased differently.

inb4 comments calling me "sensitive" and "fragile" and crap.

Unfortunately the idea that we need to behave in front of white people is something left over from the older generations. As long as we don't act violent or ghetto in the presence of them, we don't make the rest of the community look bad and prove that we're below them in their eyes. That's what the idea behind it.

Btw y'all, Wanda didn't say this about what happened between Will and Chris. She's being quoted by the guy who wrote the article in the OP.

It's dumb because if racists want to utilize a black person acting foolishly in order to make a point about about all black people, there will always be an example, and there always has been.

Black people cannot live tethered to white gaze. Will Smith's actions were wrong, and they would be wrong in a vacuum. But they were also human. The idea that we're constantly performing for white people and letting them know that we're not a threat is the most nonsensical way of looking at the world.

This is respectability politics 101. This is when Black people have to be perfect because if one of us acts the fool all of us get blamed for it. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was doing this . Talking about will made us (black people) look bad. No Will is still better than your murderous son Kareem

It scares me how everything in certain places are 100 race focused instead of individual focused

RobertDoback posted...

I'm not. That was the point of my quote:

She praised the article while proving his point.

Thanks for the clarity, I misread there