THE SLAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD –

April 7, 2022 – Poor confused Will Smith. There he was, sitting ringside on what should have been a glorious Oscar night, surrounded by friends and colleagues, and he couldn’t remember if he had been nominated for “Concussion” or “I Am Legend” or “Wild Wild West” or “Ali” or “King Richard.” So he just combined all his favorite roles and stomped onstage and “hitch” slapped Chris Rock.

Slapped? Yes, children, a slap is more demeaning than a punch, bordering on emasculation. A slap is the deeper disrespect in the Black community since slave masters would mete out punishment in such a manner. A slap will not break a jaw and invite a giant lawsuit by a comedian about to go on tour. And a slap, anatomically, stuns more nerves and tends to render momentary paralysis, silencing the slappee. But not Chris Rock. He kept rockin’ even as the woke crowd fell into a mysterious slumber — as if they too had been slapped. Poor confused Will Smith. He failed the test. One look from Lady Jada and the Fresh Prince became the Fresh King. He equated Richard Williams’s protection of his young daughters, Serena and Venus, to his “protection” of his wife, as if she too were a helpless little girl. Had he watched his own movie, he would have known that Richard Williams defended his girls by instilling fierce independence and self-reliance, not by slapping their opponents. The only physical violence in “King Richard” was perpetrated upon yellow tennis balls. 

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