CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 21: Empire actor Jussie Smollett leaves Cook County jail after posting bond on February 21, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Smollett has been accused with arranging a homophobic, racist attack against himself in an attempt to raise his profile because he was dissatisfied with his salary. (Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)
It was
confirmed that on the morning of Feb. 21, “Empire” star Jussie Smollett
surrendered himself into Chicago Police custody, where he was convicted of one
felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. He has
been released on a $10,000 bond.
If you have
access to television or the internet, by now you must have heard about the
Jussie Smollett case. If you haven’t I’ll give you a brief summary of the
situation in question.
On Jan. 29,
Smollett had reported to the Chicago Police Department that he was beaten,
insulted with racial slurs, had his neck tied in a noose and had a mysterious
substance poured on him by MAGA (Make America Great Again) supporters shortly
after his arrival in Chicago. Smollett also reported that he was sent a
threatening letter about a week prior to the beating, to “Empire’s” recording
studio stating, “You will die black fag.”
The claims
were proven false after an intense police investigation in which they found out
that Smollett had sent the threatening letter to himself and paid two brothers
by the names of Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo $3,500 to perform the heinous
crime. They were later released without any charges.
Jussie
claimed that his reasoning behind the staged attack was because he was being
underpaid for his role as Jamal in “Empire,” and he felt like if he catered to
the “racially unstable” part of America, that he would get more support and in
return, get more fame and money.
Overall, I
honestly don’t know what to really make of this so far, let me tell you why.
I have been a
fan of the show “Empire” since it first aired in 2015. Jamal’s character on the
show held so much meaning and power to me because of the fact that he was not
only of minority race but he is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community on screen
and in real life. He related so much of his own personal story to that of his
character Jamal, and I really respected that.
In a way, it
is like a slap in the face to everyone who had previously supported him in his
career because if it wasn’t for the chances he was given in life in the movie
and music industry, he wouldn’t have fans. If he didn’t have fans, he would not
have become famous.
What my question
to him would be, “Why did you do it?” Because sure, he said that all he wanted
was a little pay raise, but if he really wanted that, wouldn’t there have been
another way to go about doing that? Instead he could have used his platform to
speak up about how there is still inequality when considering wages, and how
people of minority races are still being underpaid especially when “Empire” is
mostly consisted of an all-African American cast. Instead, he took his fame and
fortune for granted, setting his community back.
It is already
bad enough that black people are always pointing the finger at one another
instead of putting aside our differences as individuals and coming together as
a strong nation. In this case, I hope that Smollett does get sent to prison and
does real time like anyone else who commits a crime. However, bear in mind that
there have been worse cases like these where certain people have gotten a slap
on the wrist instead of doing the time behind bars as they so rightly deserve.
Hopefully, skin color and race will not be a factor here and it will be a fair
trial.
It has been
released that Smollett will also have to appear back in court for his
sentencing hearing on March 14th. Only time will tell whether or not America
will forgive Smollett of his crimes and how we as American citizens can take
what happened and learn from his mistakes. They say money is the root of all
evil, but I think what happened here was way more in depth than just a money
problem.