By Dave Chapelle and I don’t know what the furore is all about.
Comedians and court jesters say annoying things all the time and so what. There’s nothing in the show to suggest that he is inciting violence against any one group. And I think he is within his rights to support whatever cause or individual he chooses. We might not agree with his choice of words or even his jokes but we can’t stop him from saying it.
Or maybe I am missing something.
Questioning the conventional wisdom
Everything random... At 3am 😊
These are unedited versions of my thoughts straight from the mind, a relieve from the ‘pressure cooker’, snippets and flotsam of a mundane existence, collected over time, at the early morning hours at sunrise. I have no intensions to start a self-help group or a forum for complains!
Blossoming: A Story of Beauty, Pain, Struggle & Growth
The African Environmental Blog site
The world inside my head is beautiful 🌷🌷
Videos of feral cats on the streets, and my own four feral felines at home, feline humor, advice, and gifts for your cat.
My journey to finding love through the sea Fuckboys
A blog by the Global Governance Centre, Graduate Institute, Geneva
Nicole
Cogito Ergo Sum
Sustainable Living & Wildlife Conservation in Kenya Blog
Where The Eagles Fly . . . . Art Science Poetry Music & Ideas
One minute info blogs escaping the faith trap
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t…
Mark and Abbie Jury
Life is intuition woven on fickleness.
Life is a journey. Let us meet at the intersection and share a story.
Random musings about everything.
With(out) Predicates
I call architecture frozen music. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
An online journal celebrating the joys of living bare with pride! This site usually publishes every Monday and Friday. I may be irreverent but I am no way irrelevant! My preferred personal pronouns are he, him, his.
Confessions Of A (former) Young Earth Creationist
An archive for my stuff
Canadian cogitations about politics, social issues, and science. Vituperation optional.
Random thoughts 
What do you mean you don’t know what the furore is about. It’s because he said something a number of people found deeply offensive — that’s why. It’s a complete outrage! Just where in the blazes does he thinks he is? A country that permits freedom of speech, or something like that? We should hang him by the nutsack from the nearest tree for even daring to think he has permission to speak his mind.
LikeLike
I think my offence meter is broken. I had to listen to it just to be sure that I wasn’t missing something.
LikeLike
What is it, and what did he say?
LikeLike
A lot of things. You should watch it
LikeLike
Part of a comedian’s job is to both entertain and to offend. By encouraging laughter and offense, it allows us the chance to examine our reasoning for reacting. Good for him! Also, good for you for publishing this! 😉 Naked hugs, my Kenyan brother!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Now, this is something
LikeLike
I hadn’t heard of Dave Chappelle until this post, and not having Netflix, I’m limited to watching a few available clips of his standup routines on Youtube. I end up with mixed feelings. I find his style of humour quite offensive, and I would never bother to watch it, however that doesn’t mean he should be silenced.
A MORE ON WORDPRESS.COM link on this page in the WordPress reader leads to The Closer – A Review of Dave Chappelle’s Last for a while. The article is written by a black woman and supports Chappelle’s style of social commentary, and here lies the problem. Let me quote from the article:
On a previous special, he talked about a meeting he had with a network rep or manager of that show, who was a woman. Don’t quote me on her title. Just before the meeting ended, he was told he cannot use a certain term, which a lot of people say when they are referring to gay people. During this same meeting, he agreed not to use the word and walked toward the door to leave. But, he turned around and walked back toward the manager and asked one poignant question, which I think is where the hypocrisy at least for me comes into play.
He asked the manager, “Why can I say nigger on TV, but not fagg*t?”
He was told by the a woman, “Because you’re not gay.”
His response, “Well, I’m not a nigger either.”
We don’t know if the manager had a response to that comment, but I hope it was “But you are black”. What neither the author of the article nor Chappelle himself understand is that being a member of a disadvantaged minority gives you licence to use comments and humour about that minority or being part of that minority that are not acceptable when made by others.
But being a member of one disadvantaged minority does not extend to making some forms of comment or humour about another disadvantaged minority. In America it’s Ok for a black person to use the N word in circumstances that can never be acceptable if used by a white person. It’s Ok for a black American to make light of a situation they or a fellow back person experiences, but not if a privileged white male retold the same story in the same manner.
A similar situation applies to the F word. There are circumstances where it will be acceptable when used by a gay person, but not if used by a straight person. Some jokes about being gay are acceptable when told by a gay person but not by a straight person. It’s generally not Ok for a white gay person to use the N word nor is it Ok for a straight black person to use the F word.
When it come to the circumstances facing some minorities such as the transgendered where the risks associated with identifying as a member of that community are high to extreme, then it’s necessary to to be even more cautious about the types of comments made by others.
I’m not sure if Chappelle is actually transphobic – he claims he’s not – but some of his humour can easily be interpreted as being so. It certainly does nothing to dispel commonly held misconceptions regarding being transgendered, particularly in regards to being a transwoman. In this regard he seems to be reinforcing commonly held stereotyping of transgendered people, which can potentially lead transphobic responses by some individuals or sections of society.
As Mak and many readers of his blog have come to realise, I am often unable to know whether a comment is made in jest, or being sarcastic or made in earnest seriousness. Ron’s comment above is such an example. I have no clue how I should interpret it. It would be one thing for me to crack a joke about how I often I fail to comprehend the true meaning of a comment. It would be an entirely different matter if a non-autistic person used humour to ridicule my limited social skills or being autistic.
There is a fine line between laughing with someone about difficulties that person experiences and laughing at them for having those difficulties. From my perspective Chappelle crosses that line on occasions. If you’re looking at it from a position of privilege, you may not even see that there is a line, let alone see when it is being crossed.
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is one of those cases which I think sadly falls into the category of desperate attention seeking. Trump did it very successfully.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha, Pink
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think we need to hold a protest in front of his house or office. Maybe a “trans woman” involved in the protest can hold a sign shouting “Suck my d%$#k”. I can’t think of a sign that better confirms that said person is indeed “really a woman”?
It would also be a good opportunity to loot a convenience store nearby for liquor and ciggies! Fight the power!
LikeLike
Brian you are out of control!
LikeLiked by 2 people
You snark, but a protestor as described DID hold such a sign at a recent rally in England. 🙂
When I start posting 12 paragraph “Enlightenment Liberalism” screeds you will come to realize that I identify, deep down inside, as a tiledb!
LikeLike