We Need to Have a Conversation…Again…About Black Men and Violence

Photo by Rajan Alwan on Unsplash

So, like half the country, my entire Facebook feed is full of people who have opinions on Will Smith smacking down Chris Rock live on stage.

I didn’t watch the Oscars, which I generally find more and more irrelevant as time goes on. Movies that win Oscars aren’t typically movies I like. I don’t really care.

But of course, everyone, everyone has an opinion on this, and I’m watching people on my Facebook feed fight over whether Smith was justified or not.

But not everyone…especially not my white friends…is bringing up the elephant in the room.

The Paul Tracy Incident

So, I’m going to start with a digression. A few years ago there was an IndyCar driver named Paul Tracy who was notoriously aggressive on the track.

He’s now a commentator who often tells other drivers not to be him. As an older man he acknowledges that he, well, was often wrong.

And dangerously so, for that matter, so in many ways this doesn’t map, but hear me out.

Paul Tracy was involved in a crash that was emphatically his fault. Got out of the car and took off his helmet.

The other driver walked up and punched him.