Refried Screens

There’s a long standing tradition of making fun of your own people without being called a bigot. That’s one of the privileges of being a member of an ethnic/religious/gender group. This was made painfully clear by the “Anti-Dentite” episode on Seinfeld. Jerry was upset that his doctor converted to Judaism so he could tell Jewish jokes:

Since the episode, something has occurred which threatens to destroy the Black comedic tradition:

At least two companies have pulled ads from the debut of BET’s “Hot Ghetto Mess,” a series that critics say puts black stereotypes on display but the channel calls “a blend of tough love and social commentary.” (TV Squad)

That’s right. A black show on a black channel about black people based on a black website can be viewed as demeaning to black people.

It also can be viewed as a conspiracy to kill black comedy.

After all the good that African American comedy has done for America, why pick on black folks? Richard Pryor, back when he used the ‘N’ word opined that futuristic movies don’t have black people in them, because white folks don’t plan on black folks being around in the future (here’s the clip NSFW).

Is the recent pulling of ads an attempt to wipe black comedy off the map? Oh sure, it’s just ads, on a show, but what about ads on the next black owned show which makes fun of black people? Pretty soon, we won’t even have reruns of What’s Happening, Good Times, Sanford and Son. Local urban channels will be forced to play The Golden Girls 24/7.

Is this the future you want for your children?

And who do we have to blame/thank for this?

Don Imus.

After Imus was fired for referring to African American college basketball players as nappy headed hos, the first thing the Rutgers Womens Basketball team did was get their hair straightened. Condi Rice was so outraged by Imus, she became black again for a whole day! That, my friends, is true power.

Al Sharpton thought he was safe with his pretty perm, but Imus’ fans sent so many death threats to Al, he had to beef up his security. Then people started to look at “black on black” hate. Observers considered Al Sharpton to be a hypocrite because he attacked “white on black” hate speech but not “black on black” hate speech AKA rap music. Al Sharpton started collecting bars of soap in a campaign to clean up rap music. Months later, the NAACP officially buried the ‘N’ word.

It’s a classic case of the Butterfly Effect. For those who don’t know, the Butterfly Effect purports that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or prevent a tornado from appearing). The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale phenomena. Had the butterfly not flapped its wings, the trajectory of the system might have been vastly different.

Don Imus is the butterfly of the black community.

Some African Americans have complained about this behavior but the ads weren’t pulled because of their wing movements.

C. Delores Tucker tried to shutdown Death Row records, sued Tupac’s estate, and tried to extort money from Time Warner to start her own record label. But she failed.

Bill Cosby went off against black on black stereotyping, but nobody pulled ads.

Now?

State Farm and Home Depot pulled their ads for BET’s Hot Ghetto Mess.

But if the Imus debacle didn’t happen, would sponsors have pulled their ads?

Before this thing goes any further, we need to realize that the impact could be so devastating, it might take decades for the black community to recover. After all, you’re supposed to joke about things you know. If you can’t joke about yourself, who can you joke about?

If we ban the ability of black folks to make fun of black folks, you know who wins?
Not the terrorists, but Don Imus.

And we can’t allow that to happen.

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