Lee Daniels, Don’t Let Your ‘Star’ Blind You To The Realities Of Racism In The World [Opinion]

Empire co-creator Lee Daniels, I’d like to start things off by sending a personal “thank you” your way.

You see, once upon a time, I resigned myself to the belief that New Year’s resolutions were nothing more than a complete sham. For as long as I could remember, not one of the promises for the better that I had ever made before midnight on January 1, insert-year-here, have stuck around longer than January 2, or even January 3, and that’s only if I happened to be sleeping off the “fun” of New Year’s Eve on New Year’s Day.

But unlike those times where I swore that I would give up smoking (which I ultimately did three years ago) or lose weight (which I’m still working on), this most recent New Year’s Eve was a bit different because I have managed to hold true to my edict of speaking out when it’s actually necessary and not just because I can — something that is all the more important after all that went down last year.

Actually, I’m being far too nice with that last line, which is something else I realized that I no longer had the pleasure of being in the face of these current, troubling times.

Mr. Daniels, 2016 was absolutely freaking horrible.

Now, I’m sure I don’t need to get into all of the grim details of the last 366 days (2016 was a leap year), as a lot of them are still quite fresh on our minds and give us pause on how 2017 might play out, but there is one particular topic I have almost always refrained from conversing on that ultimately hinders my growth not just as an overall writer, but as a person: race.

“There is no such thing as racism in entertainment news,” I once thought as a burgeoning journalist, “because celebrity pretty much ignores color.”

Oh, how very wrong I was and yet, how very wrong I actually wasn’t.

Again, I realize that this is another subject that needs no real breakdown for most (I’ve also touched on it previously here on the Inquisitr, so there’s that, too), but when it comes to you, Lee Daniels, it seems that a special acceptance must be made. For the second time in recent history, you have allowed your riches and notoriety to overwrite the most crucial part of not just your being, but the beings of the main audience that allowed you to achieve your riches and notoriety, the African-American community.

For example, when you say things like the following to promote your Caucasian-led series, Star, to a panel of multi-racial women at The Real, as Love B. Scott shared.

“I think that this white girl is so fabulous, black people will embrace her.”

And the following.

“If I embraced [racism], then it becomes real. And if it became real, then I would be an angry black man.”

Or when you connect to a pro-black publication, such as Ebony Magazine, and utter lines like the following.

“We are in a very dangerous state right now in our country, and I wanted white people to feel good about being white because right now.”

When you do this, you incidentally make it seem as if you are purposely ignoring a very real plight of people of color to remain popular with the white people who help to cut your checks. And to an extent, I, unfortunately, get why that’s important to you and your continued success in Hollywood, but there are times when one must “play the game,” and other times when the so-called rules of that game must be cast aside to promote a greater, more necessary narrative.

Case in point, when Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams made his now infamous speech at the 2016 BET Awards, I was beyond moved; not just by his words, but with the risk he shunned to get those words out. Yes, Williams was what I like to call “black without apology” during an unapologetically black awards ceremony, but bear in mind that he is employed by a TV show that airs on ABC, which is owned by a considerably conservative conglomerate, the less tongue-twisty Disney Corporation.

But still, he unabashedly used that platform, knowing full well what could possibly land on him harder than the trees that our ancestors were hung from, to spread a necessary truth. And this is why, Lee Daniels, I have decided to take a personal stand against you.

I am officially beyond tired of you, of Stacey Dash, of Raven-Symone, or any other person of African-American or better yet, non-Caucasian descent, using us as a way to ride prominence and fame, while whitewashing yourself in the process and denouncing us in the aftermath. We are not doing that this year. You do not get to lure us into your projects that are purposely pro-black (which, by the way, Star absolutely is, even if you’ve hired a Caucasian lead) and then say, “this is to make white people feel good about themselves.”

First of all, which black person in their right mind would even think to say something like that in 2017, much less at all, without sounding like a self-hating black person (Stacey might, but I really have no time for her today or ever)? Secondly, and lastly, because I could easily go on all day with discarding this ridiculous hand that you’ve laid on the proverbial table, you are black, which means that at some point in your life, or perhaps several, you have definitely faced racism, which is a very, very real thing that has not ended.

There are no if’s, and’s, or but’s about this. Maybe it wasn’t an outward act, like being followed in a store or having someone spew the “N-word” at you, or perhaps it may have happened to someone in your circle, but you are most definitely familiar with racism. Case in point, your good friend, Winfrey, who recently had the gall to tell people of color to give President-elect Donald Trump “a chance,” as reported by Inside Edition, has dealt with racism before — as recently as 2013, by her own account, as noted by CNN — but yet, she wants us to ignore that for some reason or another, as do you.

Whether or not you realize it, Lee Daniels, as a person in the spotlight of Hollywood, your voice is unfairly yet wholly treated as speaking for a collective for people. No one with a microphone or a camera crew is probably ever going to care what, let’s say, a Jonathan Brown thinks of racism, but if the co-creator of one of the biggest shows of television is going to say something, then that word is definitely getting out there to millions of people. Use it wisely.

It would behoove you to really take a step outside all of the glamour and fame that makes up your everyday life nowadays, and remember the little, black Lee Daniels that grew up during the 1960’s in Pennsylvania. You literally lived through the decade where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most powerful Civil Rights leaders to ever exist, and whose birthday will be celebrated in less than two weeks from now, lived and died to ensure that little black girls and little black boys, like you, could one day bring shows like Empire and Star to life.

We’re still fighting out here, Lee Daniels. Racism still exists. Please do not let those dollar signs blind you to our actual reality.

[Featured Image by Rochelle Brodin/Stringer/Getty Images]