I may sound naïve for saying this, but the Left always astound me. After Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars, it was obvious there were going to be cries of toxic masculinity and misogyny while those with Trump derangement syndrome would find a way to make it about the former American President. 

However, I was shocked by social commentator, Tayo Bero’s, widely supported take that the global reaction to two black men getting into a physical altercation is ‘downright racist at worst’. Writing for The Guardian and speaking on Canada’s public broadcaster, CBC, Bero explained how ‘it’s plain to see that the white outrage about Will Smith’s slap is rooted in anti-Blackness’.

I must be blind, because the only thing I can see here is a deeply flawed perspective that is divisive and drives people further apart. 

Among countless issues with this viewpoint, it is logically unsound.

Bero says that, ‘Anyone who has been following these shows can see that Smith is being held up to much stricter standards than white men who have behaved just as badly or even worse in those settings. In 1973, John Wayne had to be restrained by six security guards when he tried to rush the stage and attack the Native American actor and activist Sacheen Littlefeather.’

I am not sure how harsher measures were imposed on Smith because he was allowed to walk up completely unrestrained, slap the host across the face, sit back down, and then receive an award along with a standing ovation. As opposed to John Wayne being held back by six security guards…?

Moving past these surface-level issues in Bero’s thinking, it reveals the duplicity often existing in left-wing thought and their inability to see the world outside the prisms of oppression. 

On one point, Bero argues the standards of 2022 should be different from the past, but when it’s convenient, she paradoxically argues it’s unfair one is not treated in the same manner as 49 years ago. What response can we possibly offer to meet such a contradictory demand? 

Bero goes on to become an apologist for the violence, explaining that, ‘Alopecia is absolutely a disability, and one that Black women are more prone to.’ Again, in her crusade to create a victim, she is manifestly wrong – alopecia is a disease and losing hair is not debilitating. 

If Bero is right, are the one in two men aged over 40 experiencing male pattern baldness disabled too? 

For her argument to be valid, Bero ought to agree with this absurd notion. However, I doubt she would as they do not fit into what she deems to be a ‘marginalised group’. Instances like these highlight how far past truth the Left has moved. Instead of fighting for it, they would rather manipulate or ignore it, so it reflects their narrative. 

You can see these double standards playing out everywhere. Even in Grace Tame’s behaviour regarding the Prime Minister, which is diluting her important message and turning her into a polarising figure. 

Just recently, Grace called out Morrison for his comments on Will Smith via a news.com.au headline entitled Scott Morrison ‘understands’ Will Smith’s Oscars slap.

A day later, Grace posted another News Corp headline referring to her tweets towards Peter Van Onselen with the caption, ‘More misrepresentative, exploitative media. They’ve buried the key fact that Peter instigated the whole exchange, to make it appear as though my actions were unprovoked, which is misleading.’

Despite the relevant points Grace makes, I fail to see how the out of context headline is any different to the one she used to attack Morrison’s character. Again, it is symptomatic of a movement that disregards critical reasoning and will obliviously shift its standards to ensure people are conforming to the orthodoxy. 

As it stands, left-wing thought is simplistic in its construction and believed dogmatically by its supporters. It takes no mental elasticity to arrive at the conclusion that all the injustices in the world can be explained through one of the many ‘isms’. Neither is creating a false equivalence where you are either fighting for the oppressed or an oppressor, a constructive proposition. 

It’s this kind of tunnel vision that leads to insane comments from the likes of NBC News claiming that ‘the coverage of the Ukraine-Russia conflict highlights a racist double standard’.

This is a dangerous game the Left is playing, and they will lose if they continue to push it. People are beginning to see past it and are becoming disenfranchised. The long list includes lifelong leftie Stephen Fry who, in an interview before a Munk Debate on Political Correctness, suggested that ‘if he was to grow up in today’s society, he would most likely lean towards the Right’. 

If the Left does not change, the decline will hasten. 

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