MSNBC host Tiffany Cross held a panel on her show last weekend explaining why white people should ‘sit this one out’ in relation to the Will Smith slap – and people are not happy.
Cross began by saying ‘everybody has an opinion and I’m sure you all are tired of talking about it, but we have to weigh in on it’.
After introducing her panel, TheGrio columnist Michael Harriot and actress Yvette Nicole Brown, the trio began to discuss the idea that white people do not understand the context surrounding the Oscars incident.
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Harriot explained that the incident was ‘about how Black people relate to each other’.
Brown continued, adding that the incident was a private matter among Black people that came out publicly.
She said: “On Twitter, a lot of us were like, ‘Y'all sit this out for your protection,’ because when we need to have a conversation, we're gonna have it.
“If you put your nose in something that Black people need to discuss amongst ourselves, it happens.”
“I am not saying violence is the answer,” she added, and all of the panel agreed, condemning Smith for his actions.
“We're trying to move forward as a family,” she finished.
The show's host then took over, saying: “I will try to put this in context for our white fellow countrymen as best I can.
“In really, truly Black America, there's a commonality amongst us all. If we went to a white person's home, and it was their family dinner, and we were sitting at the table, and the mother hauled off and slapped the father and everybody at the table has an opinion.
“If I weigh in as the guest in this home and say, ‘Yeah, you guys are terrible,’ everybody's like, ‘I'm sorry. When did you get an opinion? This is our family table’.
“That's what this moment felt like for many of us. There's a nuance to what happened.”
She added: “While we talk about family talk, I think it is utterly ridiculous to centre this conversation in the opinions of white folks. This is just about what happened there.
“The jumping off point should not be what might the white people think about it. It is just this moment between those two men. I thought it was uncalled for.”
Cross ended the discussion after wishing Smith and Rock go get the help they need.
People on Twitter quickly weighed in on the conversation.
One user wrote: "Tiffany Cross this morning MSNBC said white people shouldn’t comment on the Will Smith smack on Chris Rock. We have no right to and don’t understand what it is to be a Black man. I took offence to that."
Another wrote: "Thanks @TiffanyDCross another stereotype of Blacks by Blacks. We just love to slap each other in the face and curse each other out in front of an international audience."
A third wrote: "It’s assault whether he’s Black, Asian, Mexican, white, etc."
Others agreed with Cross, however, commenting 'she's right' and 'a heroine spoke'.
Another responded to a Twitter user who said everyone has a right to 'react to s**tty behaviour' by saying: "Understanding and reacting are two very different things."
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Topics: US News, Celebrity, Will Smith, Chris Rock, Oscars
Abbi Murray