Black Comedy

At The Report, we take great pride in the texture black comedians such as Richard Pryor, Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock, and Armstrong Williams [he’s a real clown isn’t he?] have added to the American milieu. But the flagrant use of the term satire by some of today’s other ‘up and coming’ humorists is getting a bit annoying.

Suddenly, the title ‘satirist’ has become the comedic equivalent of a Cold War bomb shelter- widely available, theoretically comforting, but laughably meaningless. Today, it seems that every young, brash, and irreverent stand-up is using the term defray even the most deserving of criticism.

 Aaron McGruder’s (see pic) January Boondocksdepiction of Martin Luther King embodies this dilemma. If you haven’t seen the episode, MLK awakens from a coma as an unforgiving, curmudgeon who uses the" n-word" to berate black Americans.

For starters, McGruder’s framework is sophomoric; and, thus, highly disrespectful of an educated audience. MLK was too much of an intellectual to admonish blacks only  for indulging in the spoils of American materialism and entitlement (last time we checked white kids watch BET too).  Moreover, McGruder, a self-entitled satirist (of course), should know that good satire doesn’t beat fans to a pulp with unending literal manifestations of an artist’s intent. His depiction of MLK using the n-word does just that, in addition to unforgiveably disrespecting the man who’s life sacrifices ensured that McGruder could enjoy his current level of success.

Sorry, Mr. McGruder, but in the words of Richard Pryor*, “there are no ni@@ers here”. With this stunt, you’ve proven that you care more about ratings than any ‘uplift politic’ you claim to bear in your comic. Not to worry, we’re sure BET will be happy to air re-runs of your show once it gets cancelled.

If you want to see really great satire, watch a re-run of President Bush's State of the Union Address. 

 Watch McGruder defend his depiction of MLK on ABC’s NightL ine here.

*After an enlightening trip to Kenyain 1979, Pryor renounced the n-word. Asserting, “there are no n@@ers here [in Africa or the US]”, Pryor vowed to never use the term again. Read here or here for more info.

Comments

[Eugene Fisher]

Mr Williams is a better man than you are.