Chris Rock
By Brandon Astor Jones
[T]he liveliest effusions of wit and humour are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language — Jane Austen 1775-1817 (From Northanger Abbey, 1818, chapter 5.)
I find myself in agreement with the late English author's words. I like a good joke as well as the next man. Of course, what is good or bad — in the form of a joke — is purely subjective. Nevertheless, one should choose one's words carefully for, more often than not, they are audible preludes to actions.
African-American comedians/comediennes ought to resist the laugh-getting temptation to use the "n" word.
Most of us agree that making fun of the dead is, at best, insulting to the dead's surviving family member(s). If some of our comics are too thoughtless to realise that some words can never be tastefully used in their repertoires (and it is clear that is often the case, and/or that many simply do not care), then perhaps we can appeal to their sense of humanity.
Chris Rock, the United State's latest African-American comic darling, tells what he considers to be a good joke about some young Blacks who think that the late rap artists Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls (aka Notorius B.I.G.) were assassinated. He goes on to conjure up the memories of the late Dr Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and President John F. Kennedy to clarify his point about who was and who was not assassinated.
In this less than tasteful joke, he insults the memories of all those mentioned when, of Shakur and Smalls, he concludes by saying "... them two ns got shot!".
Unfortunately, Rock is one of many young people of colour who use the "n" word as if he cannot appreciate or understand how many Black, Brown and White people have died because of the inherent evils, ignorance and violence associated with its use.
Alas, surely the likes of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and John F. Kennedy (and a host of others) are getting dizzy from turning over and over in their graves every time their spirits feel those negative earthly vibrations produced by the trendy use of the "n" word, especially by African Americans.
Richard Pryor, arguably one of the greatest African-American comedians, made millions from his misguided use the "n" word at the peak of his career, while he occupied the centre of the world's comedy stage.
You see, for some, but fortunately not all Whites, there are few things quite as funny as one "n" word on a stage using the "n" word to describe the behaviour of other "n" words. In their racist hearts, such Whites think of us all as "n" words. Why play to their prejudices?
To his credit, I must note that Pryor eventually mustered the courage to get back up on that same world stage and asked every man, woman and child to forgive him for every time he used that word. Obviously, he had learned that the use of that word had been hurting a lot of people.
The true racists of this world love the Chris Rocks of this world.
We have to learn to treat ourselves with more dignity. When we, African Americans, treat ourselves too lightly we encourage those who would still have us be slaves (if they could) to do likewise, and then have the audacity to find a sick kind of humour in such treatment.
You could hardly find a better example of what I mean than the recent Labor Day parade in Broad Channel, in the borough of Queens, New York. The fire department there thought that it would be funny to lampoon the dragging, dismemberment and death of an African-American man in Texas.
Its members constructed a float featuring White men in blackface. They wore Afro-style dreadlocks and wigs, and some marched alongside, while others rode on a pickup truck. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's September 11 issue, the banner on the float read "Black to the Future 2098".
The newspaper went on to report that, "One of the men clings to the rear bumper and is dragged slowly along the parade route, as if to mock the slaying ... of 49-year-old James Byrd. Three [W]hite men have been charged in his death in Jasper, Texas."
All the while the float is moving, other members of the group bounced basketballs and break-danced. Every now and then one shouted, "You turn your back for a second, and watch out! They're moving in!".
I find no humour at all in such a scene; and I feel it was created by a diabolically racist state of mind, a sick mind.
Only two of those firefighters, Jonathan Walters and Robert Steiner, have been fired. Mayor Rudolf Giuliani says he fired them "for demonstrating a total lack of understanding".
I was surprised by the swiftness of Giuliani's response to the outrageous behaviour of city employees — I consider Giuliani to be one of the US's most politically sophisticated racists.
If any of you reading this know how to reach Chris Rock, I would be grateful if you would send him a copy of this column. Perhaps it would give him cause to reflect on his use of the "n" word. I dare to say it would be a truly sad day for us all — no matter what colour — if it turns out that Rudolph Giuliani has more of an understanding of the African-American experience than our very own Chris Rock.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-77, Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]