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The Lockean Project

Smollett’s narcissism cheapens real hate crimes

“Smollett’s narcissism cheapens real hate crimes”, Monterey Herald—Dec. 22, 2021

Now that Jussie Smollett has been convicted of staging his own racist hate crime, it should be obvious that this type of crime is found everywhere. A vast number of hate crimes have been unmasked as self-staged hoaxes. The question is why.

Self-committed hate crimes are popular because there is just not enough racism and bigotry to go around to maintain the big lie that America is awash with systemic racism. There was a time when this was true. But this horrible situation was decades ago in the Democratic Party-controlled South, where segregation and racism were codified into Jim Crow laws, and violent vigilante justice was popular.

But the worst part about Jussie Smollett’s narcissistic conduct is that it cheapens actual hate crimes. The horrors of tribalism and racism still haunt society. We must always be on guard to treat each other as we would like to be treated ourselves. Smollett was willing to cheat and lie in order to acquire notoriety and bigger paychecks at the expense of others.

— Dalila Epperson, Monterey