#  So, What Kind of ‘Privilege’ Did Jussie Smollett Get?

     Details    Kenneth S. Alpern   ![logo](https://mail.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         March 28 2019      [  ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2019/026d.png)    ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/los-angeles/17366-so-what-kind-of-privilege-did-jussie-smollett-get)

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> **ALPERN AT LARGE**--Looks like we got no Justice, so there will be no Peace.

 Lots of talk about "privilege" lately--"White Privilege", "Male Privilege" and a whole lotta other "Privilege-Speak" that goes around and around and around until the false narratives and the reek of brimstone makes us want to go crazy and vomit with the irrationality of our modern era.

But there's no "Black Privilege" (or is there?) or "Gay Privilege" (or is there?) that I've ever heard of. Racism and Affirmative Action compete for standing in our "greatest outrage" column, and the anti-gay sentiments and the "gay mafia" sentiments seem to compete as well for which is more bullying, divisive, and threatening for our collective and personal outrage.

There probably IS only one form of "Privilege" which involves being wealthy and/or famous and/or connected.

So, it's "Hello Again, Jussie" and "Goodbye Again, Justice".

Who's to blame? You? Me? There are probably folks who will weigh in and suggest that the late and venerable Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and Abraham Lincoln can all be blamed, if they work hard enough to come up with a twisted and distorted logic to support that.

Oh yeah, there's President Trump. He can always be a sound, satisfying scapegoat for what happened to Jussie Smollett, now that he's convinced two paid Nigerian body-builders to be anti-black, anti-gay, MAGA-hat-wearing haters.

(BTW, did you see those guys ... what are they feeding those two? They're like...Huge! Or as the Orange Man in the White House would say..."Yuge!")

Anyway, back to Mr. Victim ... poor Jussie Smollett (tsk, tsk!).

Here's what we know:

1\) The Chicago Police are pissed off! They [released their reports](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-police-reports-released-prosecutor-dropped-charges-doubts-innocence-212831106.html) to show they did due diligence[,](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-police-reports-released-prosecutor-dropped-charges-doubts-innocence-212831106.html),) and they're calling for an investigation into Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx, who recused herself from the case but might have intervened here for (alleged!) [political reasons](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/chicago-police-release-investigative-file-on-jussie-smollett-one-day-after-charges-dropped)[.](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/chicago-police-release-investigative-file-on-jussie-smollett-one-day-after-charges-dropped).)

2\) [Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/03/26/rahm_emanuel_jussie_smollett_decision_an_abomination_of_justice_has_not_shown_remorse.html) is also pissed off because it "makes no sense" and perhaps his own political future is in jeopardy after a less-than-happy-tenure-as-Mayor-that-even-makes-L.A.-Mayor-Eric-Garcetti-look-good-comparison type of reign as mayor of the Windy City.

3\) The [legal experts](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-case-legal-expert-explains-charges-dropped-whats-next-003115641.html) are not thrilled, but are predicting this whole Smollett issue ain't over[.](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/jussie-smollett-case-legal-expert-explains-charges-dropped-whats-next-003115641.html).) Hey, at the least the lawyers are getting more press time and business!

4\) Even [President Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/28/donald-trump-says-fbi-look-into-jussie-smollett-case/3296713002/) is calling in the FBI because this looks so bad...and when the Orange Man in the White House says something is "an embarrassment to the nation" that's like, well, really saying something.

So, what's in it for the rest of us? Well, no privilege, no justice, no peace.

But hey, we're getting ENTERTAINED, aren't we?! Revolted, sickened, outraged...but entertained!

*(CityWatch Columnist, Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He is also a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Outreach Committee, and currently is Co-Chair of both its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure and Planning Committees. He was co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chaired the nonprofit Transit Coalition and can be reached at* [*alpern@marvista.org*](mailto:alpern@marvista.org)*. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at* [*www.fogl.us*](http://www.fogl.us/)*. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)*

-cw

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