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What in the world…

Somebody please come get this man. After Shonda Rhimes decided to have mercy on his soul and let him come back for an episode Grey’s Anatomy, you would think that would Isaiah Washington would try to avoid controversy.

Think again.

The actor has been trending on Twitter for the last several days because of his “concern troll” tweet to Chris Rock over Rock’s repeated run-ins with the police.

But it seems like his crazy tweets weren’t garnering him enough attention. So he decided to go on TV to put his foot in his mouth on camera.

Washington appeared on CNN with Don Lemon (of all people) to discuss his tweet & why he felt like it’s up to Rock to rectify what appears to be some serious racial profiling.

“I really feel that he needs to look at the area that he’s in,” Washington said. “Maybe even visit with the local police officers in that community. He should reach out to the local police officers & question why he’s being pulled over. ”

He also told Lemon a story of driving with his kids in Burbank, CA and being pulled over by the police with their weapons drawn. After that experience, he traded in his Mercedes for a Prius.

That’s right. Because according to Washington, apparently Black folks shouldn’t have nice things. And clearly police profiling us is our fault. (Side-eye).

Don Lemon challenged Washington on his statement, saying “I understand what you’re saying but it puts a burden on him that’s not a fair burden.”

But Washington refused to back down from his argument. “We have been burdened for over 400 years. We can’t just use that as an excuse to say we can’t challenge the system as it is. We have been marching for years. He has to take a stand and get those officers numbers and find out why he’s being pulled over.”

This is just…

Anytime Don Lemon is the voice of reason about race, something is wrong. Isaiah Washington sounds like a damn fool in this segment. Of course, Black Twitter got a hold of this segment and the amazing #TweetLikeIsaiahWashington was born.

Thank God for Black Twitter to provide comic relief to a very serious subject.

But what is happening with these rich Black men in Hollywood believing that they have found the answer to racism? From Common “extending a hand in love” to Pharrell’s “New Black” philosophy to now Isaiah Washington, it seems like they’ve forgotten what racism really is. It may not be someone calling you the n-word, it could be something like repeatedly being pulled over by the police in your own neighborhood.

Washington is also re-emerging from exile with this controversy as he promotes his film with Mo’NiqueBlackbird. Like, bruh? There have been many other publicized incidents (Ferguson, Eric Garner, etc) for him to chime in on the topic. This seems like a well-orchestrated effort on his part to call attention to his film. Prior to this week, his Blackbird co-star Mo’Nique had been in the headlines for most of March with her highly publicized beef with Lee Daniels.

So is this Washington’s way of showing concern for a fellow actor or simply seizing an opportunity to make an important issue about him? I think we already know the answer to that question.

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A Lesson In Concern-Trolling for Self Promotion, Starring Isaiah Washington  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com