{"id":425413,"date":"2022-04-02T03:03:29","date_gmt":"2022-04-02T00:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-true-horror-is-urban-violence-not-the-will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-slap\/"},"modified":"2022-04-02T03:03:29","modified_gmt":"2022-04-02T00:03:29","slug":"the-true-horror-is-urban-violence-not-the-will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-slap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-true-horror-is-urban-violence-not-the-will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-slap\/","title":{"rendered":"#The true horror is urban violence, not the Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40a45f44111\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a40a45f44111\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-true-horror-is-urban-violence-not-the-will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-slap\/#%E2%80%9CThe_true_horror_is_urban_violence_not_the_Will_Smith-Chris_Rock_Oscars_slap%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;The true horror is urban violence, not the Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CThe_true_horror_is_urban_violence_not_the_Will_Smith-Chris_Rock_Oscars_slap%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;The true horror is urban violence, not the Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>On Sunday, much of America \u2014 those on Facebook, Twitter and other <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a>, in particular \u2014 lost their collective mind when actor Will Smith sauntered up to a grinning Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars and smacked him across his face.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Rock\u2019s lame GI Jane joke at the expense of an alopecia-stricken Jada Pinkett didn\u2019t warrant Smith\u2019s theatrical display of machismo.<\/p>\n<p>While the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/2022\/03\/27\/chris-rock-will-smiths-beef-before-oscars-2022-outburst\/\">David-vs.-Goliath match-up<\/a> didn\u2019t sit well with fans of either man, the outrage expressed on social media and in the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> was out-of-proportion to the incident \u2014 and dwarfed public fury over the real-life horrors on the streets every day, including those Smith and Rock grew up on.<\/p>\n<p>I was initially mostly agnostic and dismissive of the whole affair before seeing a friend\u2019s Facebook post and others who characterized the slap as \u201chorrific.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHorrific? Horrific was Junior Guzman-Feliz being killed inside a Bronx bodega,\u201d I replied. \u201cHorrific was a homeless maniac shoving a young woman [Michelle Go] to her death in front of an oncoming subway train.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As the week dragged on, we saw the inevitable use of a racial-inequality lens to refract thinking about The Slap.<\/p>\n<p>The Guardian declared, \u201cWhite outrage about Will Smith\u2019s slap is rooted in anti-Blackness.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-nypost-medium-post\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"322\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/2021-10-02_01_00_57-nypost_20211002_BRXP-3_001-2-.pdf.jpg?w=322\" alt=\"The Post highlighted at least 21 children dying from street violence in New York City in 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-21751425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/2021-10-02_01_00_57-nypost_20211002_BRXP-3_001-2-.pdf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=483 483w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/2021-10-02_01_00_57-nypost_20211002_BRXP-3_001-2-.pdf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=322 322w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/2021-10-02_01_00_57-nypost_20211002_BRXP-3_001-2-.pdf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=161 161w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/2021-10-02_01_00_57-nypost_20211002_BRXP-3_001-2-.pdf.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\"\/><figcaption>The Post highlighted at least 21 children dying from street violence in New York City in 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NY Post Illustration<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWill Smith and the unfair burden Black men face,\u201d harrumphed USA Today.<\/p>\n<p>AP went with \u201cWill Smith\u2019s slap sparks debate on defense of Black women.\u201d (Frankly, I\u2019m surprised \u2014 but not triggered \u2014 that the Associated Press even uses that cisgendered term.)<\/p>\n<p>It was the equivalent of these writers and news outlets telling white people, \u201cLeave Will Smith\u2019s name out of your f\u2013king mouths.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yet while the Smith-Rock dust-up drew so much of a stir about violence, the daily carnage in New York City and other urban areas barely gets even mere handwringing \u2014 except, of course, to blame police, unemployment and the lack of opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>You want \u201chorrific\u201d? On Oscars weekend and during the week that followed, the city witnessed these incidents:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>On the Friday before the telecast, a 16-year-old boy was shot a few blocks from Benjamin Cardozo High School in Queens.<\/li>\n<li>A 3-year-old girl was struck by a stray bullet while walking past a Brooklyn day-care center also on Friday.<\/li>\n<li>Two 15-year-old boys were shot in their legs during a dispute near a public-housing complex in East Harlem on Wednesday night.<\/li>\n<li>While sitting in a car on Thursday night, a 12-year-old boy was shot in the head and killed in East Flatbush.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And that\u2019s just a taste of the week\u2019s violence in the city.<\/p>\n<p>It angers me to no end that the daily tragedies visited upon New York City, Chicago, Baltimore, South Central LA, Philadelphia and other urban communities don\u2019t merit similar attention \u2014 and loud demands for law and order \u2014 as The Slap Heard Round the World.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Child_Shot_Presser_002.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Mayor Eric Adams talks to the media at the scene of a shooting where a 12 year old  was shot and killed on Thursday, March 31, 2022,  on E 56 St. off Linden Blvd. in Brooklyn.\" class=\"wp-image-21751471\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Child_Shot_Presser_002.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Child_Shot_Presser_002.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Child_Shot_Presser_002.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Mayor Eric Adams is trying to stop New York City\u2019s crime plague by deploying more NYPD officers.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Robert Mecea<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Did The Post\u2019s extraordinary Oct. 1, 2021, front page, which featured <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blank\">21 kids killed in street violence<\/a> last year cause outrage or trigger elites? Ha! The sound of crickets was the response from far too many people, despite the numerous unfortunate young black males gone too soon.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Smith slaps Chris Rock and everybody loses their minds, whether they support or condemn him.<\/p>\n<p>People are \u201ctraumatized.\u201d It was \u201chorrific.\u201d Whites are holding Smith to a higher standard.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Kade-Lewin.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Kade Lewin, 12-years-old, was fatally shot on March 31 while sitting in a car in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.\" class=\"wp-image-21751510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Kade-Lewin.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Kade-Lewin.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/Kade-Lewin.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Kade Lewin, 12, was fatally shot on March 31 while sitting in a car in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, dozens of inner-city minorities are getting their lives shredded at the hands of their peers and . . . crickets.<\/p>\n<p>That in itself is outrageous. Inner-city violence and chaos should be far more \u201ctriggering,\u201d traumatizing and life-altering than Smith\u2019s and Rock\u2019s sandbox behavior.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>On inner-city streets, any number of slights \u2014 from a dumb joke about your girl to someone accidentally stepping on your brand-new kicks to a diss about your Facebook post \u2014 can result in senseless stabbings and shootings.<\/p>\n<p>Wouldn\u2019t it be nice if all the A-listers (and ordinary folk) horrified by Will Smith\u2019s behavior last Sunday night turned their outrage against violence into action that saves the lives of young black men in the \u2019hood? Wouldn\u2019t it be nice it some of them actually dedicated themselves to supporting violence-reduction and positive interventions?<\/p>\n<p>C\u2019mon: Let\u2019s be \u201chorrified\u201d enough to actually end the bloodshed so that every mother\u2019s son and daughter alive today are alive to celebrate Mother\u2019s Day with their moms next month \u2014 and many more thereafter.<\/p>\n<p><em>Michael Benjamin is a member of The Post\u2019s editorial board.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/01\/the-true-horror-is-urban-violence-not-the-will-smith-chris-rock-oscars-slap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The true horror is urban violence, not the Will Smith-Chris Rock Oscars slap&#8221; On Sunday, much of America \u2014 those on Facebook, Twitter and other social media, in particular \u2014 lost their collective mind when actor Will Smith sauntered up to a grinning Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars and smacked him across his face&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":425414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/SmithEditorial.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[127411,69311,4998,78534,4953,12115,7342,5001,16221],"class_list":["post-425413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-4-1-22","tag-chris-rock","tag-crime","tag-minorities","tag-new-york-city","tag-police","tag-shootings","tag-violence","tag-will-smith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}