Michael,
Let me preface my statements by saying in no way can I speak for Will Smith, but I wanted to try and explain intelligently and not emotionally where I think he is coming from. First of all the 9/11 attacks affected EVERYONE: Black, White, short, tall, Christian, Muslim all were killed on that tragic day. I don't think the terrorists give a damn about the divisions we as Americans get caught up in. They want Americans dead, period....so we all have a common bond whether you are conservative, liberal, gay, straight, Christian or Muslim, for self-preservation because we are all targets, of course people deal with that in different ways with different views, but nonetheless we are all targets. In regards to Will Smith's statements, as an African-American I see what he was TRYING to say but he did not articulate it in the correct manner. I believe what he was trying to say is that as an African-American that is not the first time the feeling that 9-11 brought upon many Americans has been experienced among Black Americans. Without getting into tired cliches, but expressing realism, growing up Black in America you do experience throughout your lifetime painful, painful realizations that what has happened historically has not yet quite exited the American psyche. Can you compare the terrorist attacks to Police brutality? Not in totality at one time. However, until you truly understand being singled out because you are black(American) and killed(harsh words but African Americans being wrongly killed by police is a real issue not only in city centers such as Los Angeles, but rural counties in East Texas the same phenomenon exitsts) because what you look like or your culture makes others uncomfortable one can probably never understand how that feels. I'm sure Will Smith does not experience any of the issues he himself spoke about, but many Black Americans, law-abiding Black Americans suffer tremendous problems because of what nothing they do, but because of who they are and what their culture represents in the eyes of many. Death on the basis of prejudice is wrong whether that be 1 or 3000, the principle is the same. Killing someone because they choose to live differently than you, or they look different than you, or worship a different God than you is something that I think we all can agree is wrong. Now I disagree with the notion of Bush lying. He had to do what he though best to protect the country, and couldn't afford to wait, its not a perfect situation, and self-preservation comes before all other reasoning. I just wanted to try and clarify where I think Will Smith was coming from. Its often hard to understand or digest other people's thought process if you don't understand how that thought process is arrived. I think Will Smith loves his country, I don't know of another country where he could be as successful in spite of the trouble's African-Americans have experienced. My two cents......Thanks