(ThyBlackMan.com) Public opinion has always had its thoughts on matters regarding social issues especially where celebrity figures are concerned. However, social media has made that court, in some instances, more valued than the court of law on any given matter. It’s ironic that black people know what it feels like to be discriminated against, wrongfully accused, and denied rights in the real courts. Our constant argument is we simply want justice to stand in a fair and impartial manner.
We are tired of being judged based on the biases and racism of other. With that being said, how is it that we are quite okay with the court of public opinion and are willing to participate in the destruction of our own without evidence at all? Are we doing to ourselves what is constantly being done to us? And if the answer is yes…why are we comfortable with said behavior?
Right now, the hot topic is Jamie Foxx; the accusation of course is sexual assault with his member. He will not be innocent until proven guilty because in the court of public opinion all that is needed is the accusation. The court of public opinion is its very own witch hunt. All of a sudden everything some of us have experienced personally become the fault of the accused. He didn’t sexually assault one woman many will react like he did this to all women. All logic and need for understanding what has truly transpired is already out of the window. In many situations like this the reputation of the accused is tarnished before guilt or innocence is determined in court. This behavior does put pressure on the courts to find in favor of public opinion instead of really looking at the case on its merit. We have enough issues with the courts as is, and this only magnifies the problem.
Black people in this country have been killed by public opinion. We lost so much more than merely our reputations. People that commit heinous crimes need to be charged, prosecuted and serve the time for the crimes they have committed. This needs to happen properly in the courts…not on social media. Its one thing to put social pressure on celebrities for crimes committed, however turning accusations into guilty verdicts puts all of our people in jeopardy.
Think about how many of our people are serving time for crimes they have never committed. How many people are in jail for robbery, murder, drug cases, and rape and did not commit any of those crimes. Their life has been destroyed and many of us fight for them to be exonerated. Unfortunately, some of our people have been executed by the state…for crimes they never committed, but public opinion in those cases found them guilty in the form of juries.
We really should consider these realities when we decide to take accusations against our people as fact without proper evidence. If they are guilty, as I stated…may they stand accountable, but that needs to be determined before we commence to use public opinion to execute the character of anyone.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.