Biden admin asked about granting Ethiopians and Cameroonians Temporary Protected Status as Will Smith assaults comedian Chris Rock on Oscars stage!

Here are our top stories today. But first, last night as I was watching the Oscars, actor?Will Smith?walked to the stage and physically assaulted comedian?Chris Rock?after he made a joke about his wife. I am not in support of bad jokes, but that’s what comedians do and assaulting them on stage is disgusting and unacceptable and gives a hint into how violent Smith might be in private, which is also disgusting and dangerous.

I believe that had comedian?Rock?been a white person, chances are that?Smith?might never have assaulted him in front of an international audience.

I have seen that here in the United States many times, Black people unleashing more violence on other Black people.

For instance, the person who verbally assaulted me first at the White House is a female African American journalist who came late to the briefing and decided to jump the line and stand in front of all other reporters who had come earlier to take their spot on the aisle. When my colleague (who is white and female) protested, she told accused her of racism and told us “do you know who I am?”. She told us Presidents call her by name and that she’s a CNN contributor.

It was a big mistake as I protested strongly, and told her no one cares about what she is if she behaves so badly and does not show respect to reporters standing in the White House briefing room.

She did not know then that I was a confident person, and I have paid his dues in journalism.

I have been attacked by pirates on the Gulf of Guinea, kidnapped from a bus in Nigeria and dumped in the woods and left for dead, only to be arrested by Cameroonian authorities during a report about refugees in Chad and Cameroon and accused of being a spy for Boko Haram terrorists. I survived all that. I have survived all kinds of attacks. I have paid my dues and I have spent my entire life studying and doing journalism in briefing rooms and the real world.

The fallout of my arrest was immediate, protests erupted over my arrest and before long many told the soldiers with guns that journalism was not spying. I have been here and there and seen it all and someone who has been sitting at the White House alone is certainly better than me.

But, that’s not an isolated incident, often, you are more likely to be assaulted in the United States by another Black person than a White person. At least that has been my experience and the people around me. And Smith who showed unbelievable level of violence might not have assaulted the comedian if he were White.

Bad jokes are bad and I once got upset when someone made jokes about me but I did not try to assault them or plan to hurt them.

I believe that violence against anyone and against comedians is unacceptable and any justification for what Smith did last night is a reflection of the beliefs of the person defending what could have led to someone falling or dying. And those who were clapping for him after he came back to collect his award should be ashamed of themselves.

There is a debate about whether the Oscar should be taken from him. I don’t know yet what should happen since he’s worked all his life for this but it’s hard to see also how he can remain a good example to all the kids and people looking up to him. The message it sends is dreadful and should not be condone by anyone.

Here is our top story today.?The Biden administration was asked on Friday about granting Ethiopian and Cameroonian citizens in the United States a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) due to violence in Tigray which has claimed thousands of lives, forcibly displaced millions of people and destabilized Africa’s second most populous nation, as well as instability in southern Cameroon, which has also left many people dead and displaced.

Simon Ateba, Publisher and White House Correspondent for Today News Africa in Washington