Jussie Smollett has been the center of controversy since a threatening letter was mailed to him when he was on the set of “Empire.” It wasn’t until he was attacked by two masked assailants that Smollett garnered the support of the entire Hollywood community. Nearly a month later, he faces felony charges and exile.
Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. The police and the state attorney’s office have confirmed that the charges are in response to evidence that suggests Smollett staged his own attack. If convicted, he could face up to three years in jail.
As a fan of “Empire,” it has been hard for me to see Smollett in this position. I’ve tried to remain impartial, but the truth is, I want to believe he didn’t do it. Unfortunately, many people do not feel the same way. Celebrities quickly deleted any tweets that were in support of Smollett and fans bombarded Twitter with posts featuring the hashtag “#JussieSmollettHoax.”
This incident is an example of how the social spotlight can be like a magnifying glass under the sun capable of destruction. We are supposed to believe that people are innocent until proven guilty, and Smollett has not been proven guilty. There is still a chance that he did not orchestrate the attack and if that is the case, people have been victimizing the victim and falsely accusing an innocent black man from the LGBTQ+ community.
Whether or not Smollett is innocent, I want to reiterate what Emma Cohen said in the Clarion’s last article about him. We shouldn’t let all of the controversy surrounding this story detract from other stories of hate. It’s unfortunate that something like this has to happen for us to acknowledge these injustices but at least now, we can reflect upon the facts. The FBI determined in their national analysis that over 7,000 hate crimes occur each year. In a survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, it was determined that 250,000 hate crimes occur each year. There is a large discrepancy between these two numbers but that’s not the focus. The focus is on the fact that there are any hate crimes at all because hate crimes do not just coincide with your news feed.
