#racial comedy

Ok, so comedians can offend on college campuses as long as they offend the right people. And they must be "progressive" while doing it, based on the majority college student definition of what that is (preapproved!). I don't know, that sounds like a set of censorious rules to spare the feelings of uptight people to me. What subversive comedian would follow this?

Margaret Cho and Bruce Daniels discuss how hatred between Koreans and Black people needs to end.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp-5fa2jqGo

>>Response from a class “Globalization and Diaspora”. This article refers to a passage in Lily Cho’s article “The Turn to Diaspora” published in Topia Magazine in 2007. 

I have decided to write about the Cho article as we didn’t get to speak about that as much in class. I was very interested in the way the author approaches the term “diaspora”, emerging in relationship to power. For folks separated in time and space from the processes causing displacement, diaspora is a “mode of theorization which enables connections between traumas of colonialism even as it marks displacement” (Cho, 13). While the term diaspora provides vocabulary in understanding the sense of loss, often from a point of reference that is hard to name, it was enlightening to read Cho’s definition of diaspora as being a subjective experience, and unpacking the concept of diasporic consciousness. I feel like the discussion on diaspora is often focussed on the “vertical” aspect of the term, being understood through histories of displacement, but there is not as much discussion on how diasporas are constructed through “relations of difference with one another” (Hall, 229). Thus, the term “zionism” has different meanings when applied to Israeli and Africana people. While this term has been used by both diasporic communities, Jewish zionism  cannot be divorced from Israeli apartheid, and displacement and oppression of Palestinians. On the other hand, Black communities seek affirmation from the term: “a stolen Africa [is] sung as lost Zion in Jamaican rhythms on the sidewalks of Eastern Parkway” (Cho, 17). 

The lateral aspects of the subjectivity of diaspora are best understood through “genealogies of diaspora” that shed light on how diasporas are shaped by, and continue to shape, power structures in society. I looked up Margaret Cho and Bruce Daniel’s skit on Afro-Asian tensions, embodied by a Black man who walks into a Korean grocery store, and their mutual dislike of each other is taking away time and energy away from “hating white people” (Cho, 25). The skit helped me understand how the omnipresent Presence-Europeenne, and white supremacy, is invested in creating stereotypes of both of these subjects that place them in conflict with one another. What remains unsaid in Cho is the gender politics of this interaction: it is not coincidence that it is a Black man and a Korean woman (assumably, a non-native speaker of English). The hypersexualization of Black masculinity as “threatening” and the construction of Asian women as “passive/tame”  are also “suitable to the demands of capital” (Cho, 26). 

Congrats to an old friend:

""Hari Kondabolu was one of, if not the, undisputed star of political comedy this year. A former immigrant-rights organizer, writer for the funny-but-canceled “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell,” and one of the most thoughtful -- and truth-telling -- voices on Twitter, Kondabolu has long been a provocative and perceptive voice on race."

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. 

'Oh Niggar please, Niggar please!' Come back Dave, we miss you, your throne is waiting. The fact is Dave Chappelle is my favorite comedian, if he's retired - I can respect that, but I still incredibly miss his comedic styles. 

Holy mishugina! Kat Graham, you are my hero.

"I put hot sauce, on my lox and bagels. Black and Jewish, black and Jewish."

I've never been so proud to be a mixed kid in my entire life. This video is fucking brilliant.