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Will Smith committed a crime.  He assaulted Chris Rock. There were tons of witnesses. He should be put in jail and should not depend on Chris Rock pressing charges. If I, or anyone else like me, had done that, I would be jailed. But, Will Smith is rich and famous, so, even though he is black, he is above certain laws. Also, this adds to black-on-black crime which is terrorizing so many blacks here in America. By not arresting him, the police failed to do their job.

This is a very grave incident as it contributes to the  spread of the severe crime wave that is sweeping not only America, but the world. If someone gets away with assaulting someone, they will probably do it again. Others who see no punishment for such an act, might also commit such violent acts and “voila” we have a crime problem.

Murders abound. One of the greatest causes is revenge. In the three books* I have written in which I advocate substantial cultural change to improve society by the Goodwill Revolution, I deplore “revenge”. People are proud of their revenge ability. But, I consider “revenge” one of the greatest causes of murders today.  It is a disaster. Will Smith sought revenge for the perceived insult of his wife and proceeded to make a complete ass of himself. This is a great problem, because revenge leads to escalation. Often in these circumstances, the slapped person would seek revenge. He might get some friends to beat up his attacker. Then, the attacker might retaliate by getting a gun and murder results. Unfortunately there is a pandemic of this sort of thing.  Would Will Smith have struck Chris Rock if it were the “Rock”, Wayne Johnson?

If Will Smith had ignored the Chris Rock comment, no one would have noticed it. Instead by his revenge, the whole world is made aware of Will’s wife shaven head. Is this a desirable outcome? Hell no! Often crime can be stupid, very stupid.

As a black person, I was embarrassed and humiliated by this. But, there is another even more serious consequence of this crime.  It will give fodder to the racists to continue to stereotype blacks as violent and vulgar. This could actually have severe political repercussions as Republicans could use and benefit from this racist stereotyping.

Does anyone really believe Chris Rock intended to insult Will Smith’s wife?  And, Will Smith’s apology at the Oscars was no apology, but just an excuse. But, I believe his subsequent apology was genuine and I respect him for it.  In my books, I advocate teaching conflict resolution  in schools. I also preach reconciliation over retaliation. I emphasize the importance of forgiveness. Chris Rock should forgive him. Instead of remaining enemies, such forgiveness could make them become friends. Despite these stormy waters, forgiveness is the only way to achieve the best possible outcome. Let this be a lesson to us all.