#cancel colbert

This is a response to something about Colbert I posted ten thousand years ago re: #CancelColbert.

Let me tell you about the fine line between satire and just repeating tired stereotypes.

When Richard Sherman (Seattle Seahawks) got super excited about going to the Super Bowl last year, many people (all racists) took the joy and elation that a young black man felt for winning and slapped with the “thug” label, saying he was acting “thuggish,” which is racist dog-whistle and pretty much the new “n-word” at this point.

Jon Stewart’s piece emphasized the disparate treatment of white men (specifically Robert Ford and Justin Bieber) who engaged in ACTUAL criminal behavior, calling them “bad boys,” which trivializes their behavior and infantilizes them as somehow not responsible so they are presumed harmless even when their behavior endangers others.

He compared the media’s treatment of these two white guys to one black guy being, as what frat dudes would call it, “stoked” after winning the AFC title game. He poked holes in their biases, produced laughs, and punched up. He pointed out the inherent ridiculousness of the double standard, and more importantly, linked it to anti-blackness.

Colbert’s take was him overly reacting in fear, LITERALLY COWERING BEHIND HIS DESK as Sherman came onscreen, chiding the black guy for being so enthusiastic, because “you can’t do this around white people because we’ll get scared.”

And that was it.

It was REINFORCEMENT of the “scary black man” stereotype. No subversion, no “punching up.” He plays this character on the assumption that he knows that you know it’s ridiculous. Except a lot of you DON’T know that. 

When black people stop being gunned down in the streets because y’all didn’t get that Colbert was “joking,” then he can do racial humor. Until then, he needs to stick to making fun of Republicans. 

Gladstone and Stephen Colbert know who Jonathan Swift is, but not everyone else has caught up.

3 Modern Satirists Screwed by People Who Didn't Get the Joke

#3. Stephen Colbert Gets Attacked by a Hashtag Activist Who's Wrong About Everything

In [an interview, Suey Park] describes how she "saw the hashtag as a way to critique white liberals who use forms of racial humor to mock more blatant forms of racism." I read the interview several times, reading all the poorly chosen, unconvincing words. And maybe I'm wrong, but, quite simply, despite the loads of verbiage, I'm pretty sure Park simply feels that there are certain no-no words, bad words that can never be used to prove any point or be justified by any context.

I reject that out of hand, as should anyone with an active mind. Park's lack of faith is not with Colbert, of whom she claims to be a fan, but the rest of society. She does not believe people can hear uncomfortable or provocative jokes in any context that would justify their use without adding fuel to the fire of racism.

Today we were on the parkway asking questions about the neighborhood and to be honest not many people stopped, but those who did stuck around. We talked with people about the new buildings that have gone up and about how New York is too removed from nature, how the money here turns people vicious and turns the sky into smog. 

There was a guy who told us about his work to make wearable technology more fashionable and a teenager whose lived right on the parkway her entire life and thinks it's gotten better. She hopes it only becomes more better. 

It was a slow day on the parkway but me and Salome covered good ground. We talked about the #cancelcolbert conversation and asked ourselves what it means to be an ally. Salome says "talk less and talk last" and I like that, it's humble.

We're going to be out here on the weekly now with new mappings and new questions. 

We got lots of questions all along the lines of what does it mean to know your neighbors, to live in your neighborhood? But mostly we want to hear your questions. We want to know the best way to ask you for your questions. 

We got ideas, but we got ears too.