" Grey's Anatomy" star Jesse Williams' acceptance speech for a humanitarian award at the 2016 BET Awards sparked a lot of buzz and controversy amongst viewers. The unapologetically outspoken activist used his celebrity and the BET stage to deliver an impassioned speech on the inequality and microaggressions the Black community continues to face. In his speech, he brought up victims of police misconduct such as Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, and most notably Tamir Rice who would have turned 14 just a day before the awards. Williams spoke some hard truths about what it is like to be Black in today's world. Of course, Williams' perspective did not mull over too well with some individuals who viewed his speech as radical propaganda. Anti-Black Lives Matter conservatives Tomi Lahren and Stacey Dash made their critiques (albeit extremely ignorant) of Williams well known to the public.
Tomi Lahren is the host of Tomi for TheBlaze — a conservative entertainment network. Lahren is probably best known for her blatant criticism of Beyonce's Super Bowl 50 halftime performance which she controversially deduced was a cry of support for the Black Panthers. Lahren has repeatedly expressed her disdain for the Black Lives Matter movement and so it was no surprise when she spoke out about Jesse Williams. Lahren opened up the "Final Thoughts" segment of her show with a review of the BET Awards. She stated that they were notably "very Black" (did no one tell her what BET stands for?) and went on to say that while the awards were supposed to celebrate Black entertainment they instead were a three hour show filled with victimhood and police bashing. Lahren then moved on to Jesse Williams, claiming that he only won his humanitarian award for perpetuating a war on cops (let's just ignore all the work he has done for achieving equality for Black people, the programs he has made for the advancement of Black people, and the fact that he is one of few celebrities who will actually use his status to fight for social justice and inform the masses).
In regards to Williams' reference to the killing of Tamir Rice, Lahren made the comment that while some of the Black people who have died at the hands of the police were in fact unarmed, numerous have tried to reach for the officer's gun or some other form of equipment with which to harm the officer. Of course she provides no evidence to back this claim up and her argument is completely irrelevant in the case of young Tamir Rice who was playing in a park with a toy gun and was gunned down within seconds of police arrival. Lahren of course knows this but has to draw up another scenario where officers are painted in a more positive light (who is exhibiting victimhood now Tomi?). She goes on to say that just because they were unsuccessful in their attempts to harm the officer, Black victims do not get a "free pass" and that people should in fact be critical of the Black Lives Matter movement and its hatred of the police. I do not understand where this idea that Black Lives Matter hates all police stemmed from and how it got so widespread. This is a dangerous accusation that does a lot of harm to the movement and all that it stands for. Black Lives Matter does not hate all police. Instead, it just wants to remove the corrupt officers (who do exist) who abuse their power and cannot see beyond racial biases.
To make matters worse, Lahren presents a white savior complex argument later on in her segment. She informs us that her ancestors and all the ancestors of White America fought in the Civil War and constituted a majority of the enlisted soldiers and casualties. While my estimate may be a bit off because I learned this in the third grade, I am pretty sure that free Blacks could not fight in the war until about late 1862 (nearly halfway through the war) and the rest could not enlist in the Union's army because of the whole slavery thing. So that's probably why more Whites constituted a majority of the casualties Tomi. Even so, just because some indeed did fight to end slavery does not give you or any of their other descendants who still continue to oppress us and ignore our inequalities a free pass. Many of those who did fight on the Union's side still advocated for segregation, saw Blacks as insubordinate, and were precursors for white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Lahren speaks as though just because some Whites fought to end slavery 150 years ago, Blacks should feel forever indebted to them and keep quiet about our inferiority. She forgets who put Blacks in America in chains.
And then there's Stacey Dash. To quote Williams, "If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest, if you have no interest in equal rights for black people then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down." That's exactly what Dash needs to do. Sit down. Dash is mostly known for her role as Dion in the hit comedy film ironically called "Clueless." She has also made appearances on Fox News, played the lead in the short-lived television show "Single Ladies," and has guest starred in literally every BET show ever made. Okay, the last statement may be a slight exaggeration but she has received way too many paychecks from BET to be as critical of it as she is.
Dash recently made headlines with her argument that BET advocates for segregation and is again stirring up controversy by calling Jesse Williams a "Hollywood plantation slave." This whole situation is very ironic in several ways. Firstly, Dash likening Williams to a plantation slave is rich when she is possibly the biggest Uncle Tom there is. Secondly, her statements completely embody all that Jesse Williams says in the aforementioned quote. While Dash definitely has an established critique for the resistance, constantly reiterating the phrase "All Lives Matter" and showcasing her disdain for BET and their "discriminatory" awards, her record of critique for the oppressors is almost nonexistent. She was quick to call out the lack of diversity at the BET awards (a show that specifically recognizes achievements in Black entertainment) but where was she when the Academy Awards (a show that is supposed to recognize achievements in the film industry and is not supposed to be geared towards a specific race) nominated all white actors two years in a row?
Tomi Lahren and Stacey Dash, while entitled to their opinions, are extremely misinformed. They have made themselves ignorant to the world around them and display no interest in what others have to say. Since the feel the world is idealistic and that there is equal opportunity for everyone, I say ignorance is bliss and let them eat their cake. If they feel no equal rights need to be given and they have no interest in hearing out those who do feel that way, I suggest that they take Jesse Williams' advice and sit down. Forever. The world would be a much more progressive place if they, and everyone with similar mindsets, took several seats.
