Rickey Smiley believes society is emasculating black boys by rewarding them for putting on dresses, while penalizing them for wearing their hair in dreadlocks.
The comedian and syndicated radio host took to Instagram Monday and posted a meme that said: “Black boy: I want to wear locks to school. Society: Suspended!!! No graduation THUG!!! Black boy: How about a dress?”
The meme included a string of emojis and the hashtag “#SocialEngineering.”
Smiley was likely referring to the recent controversy surrounding Deandre Arnold, the 16-year-old Texas student who was told he couldn’t attend his prom or graduation unless he cut his dreads.
When Hair Love filmmaker Matthew Cherry heard about Arnold, he took the teen to last weekend’s Academy Awards, where Cherry won an Oscar for best animated short.
Smiley may have also been hinting at Pose star Billy Porter, who often wears dresses to red carpet events, and was recently tapped to co-host ABC’s pre-Oscars red carpet coverage.
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While many of his followers praised Smiley for his comments, others said they were disgusted and would unfollow him.
“Sad, but definitely true!” one person commented about Smiley’s meme.
“Come on now!!!! Preach!” someone else wrote.
A third person added, “They have their own twisted agendas for our future generations (no Black pride, ignorance & generational curses). Stay woke.”
But others said they were disappointed by Smiley’s comments.
One critic wrote, “Rickey Smiley?! The man who just too over #TomJoyner’s spot on #radio? This is how you want to use your platform?! Perpetuating division amongst the people?!”
Someone else said, “Wow…. super unfollow.”
Another person called Smiley out for wearing dresses in his comedy routines.
“Trying to honestly understand how comedians who wear dresses in their skits and portray female characters can have this mind set?” the person wrote.
