When Russell Simmons recently said, “Donald Trump is not a racist,” I thought it was a nice gesture. Although Simmons was stating the obvious — we’ve all watched Trump on television for years, and unless he’s really good at hiding ulterior motivations, it’s always been clear that race is not an important issue to him – it was good to see Simmons stand up for a friend’s reputation. However, the same thing cannot be said about Simmons’ recent support for Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., a.k.a. “Common,” one of the guests who joined President Obama in celebrating “poetry and prose” at a White House last night.
Simply put, whereas Simmons’ defense of Trump was well-received because Trump’s past doesn’t contain even a hint of racist tendencies, his attempts to gloss over Common’s participation in a White House event are untenable.
Why?
Well, for starters, Common is another disciple of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. You remember Rev. Wright don’t you? He’s the one who cursed America in God’s name and then implied that terrorist attacks against us were proof that “America’s chickens were coming home to roost.” (Of course, in a perverted way it makes sense that Common would be going to the White House as the President himself is another Rev. Wright disciple: the only difference being that Common admits and maintains his ties to Wright while Obama tries to downplay his.)
In addition to having close ties to an America-hater like Rev. Wright, another problem with Common’s scheduled White House appearance is that he seems to take joy in celebrating cop killers. For instance, of Joanne Chesimard, a woman who was convicted for “the 1973 slaying of Trooper Werner Foerster on the New Jersey Turnpike,” Common raps: “Your power and pride is beautiful. May God bless your soul.”
Two questions: Number one, why would the president of the United States, a man who can rub elbows with the crème de la crème of society on an international scope, invite someone to the White House who thinks it’s cool to honor cop killers? Number two, why in the world would Simmons, or any nationally known figure, defend a man (like Common) who obviously thinks cop killing is cool?
And this all gets worse when you consider the fact that Joanne Chesimard is not even in prison for killing Trooper Foerster (she escaped from prison in 1979 and is living in asylum in Cuba under the name “Assata Shakur”).
The bottom line is this: for some strange reason, the very man who garnered respect via his defense of Donald Trump is now willing to risk that respect and more by trying to convince us that Common is a fitting guest for the coming White House event.
I’m sorry Mr. Simmons, but it should be crystal clear that there’s no suitable justification for a President of the United States to honor a man who praises cop killers. (Unless of course Rev. Wright told Obama he had to invite Common, which is an angle I hadn’t considered until just now.)
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