A few weekends ago, I attended a party where the host played some episodes of The Chappelle Show, season 2. This featured the infamous Rick James sketch. The crowd was mostly African-American with a few white people. For some, it was their first time watching the show. Everyone laughed to the point of crying. Cool.
However, a few days later some African-Americans who were watching the show near some of the white attendees felt a little funny. They didn’t know how the white people were taking Chappelle’s humor. To be honest, I always wondered how they react to some of Chappelle’s more racy skits. I joke with some of my colleagues about the Chappelle show. But, whether rightly or wrongly, I am mindful to not say how funny the “darknesses” section of the Rick James Skit is around them. Am I to think that it would be ok since they watch the show anyway and find it waaaay funny.
Maybe this is what Chappelle is worried about? How long before some white people imitate the black white supremacist using his same vocabulary. We are ok with everyone saying, “I’m Rick James, Bitch!” But how would we feel when someone white starts imitating Rick James saying “Darknesses” and “they shoulda never gave you N****’s money!?
What are we to make of The State Of . . . Black self image?
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