The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.-Helen Keller
Two white southern men dressed in plaid and trucker hats are outside a gas station harassing a local black man. One begins to tell him in his slow, southern drawl, “We don’t like your kind ’round here. You better get out of here before somethin’ bad happens.” The black man, unaware of the direction of the statements adds, “That’s right. That’s right. Tell that nigger! Beat Him! Dirty nigger!” Another friend comes up and nervously says, “Hey, we have got to go.” The black man informs his friend of the situation saying, “Oh hey there’s a nigger ’round here.That dirty monkey was beating my hood.” As he gets in his truck and proceeds to ride off, he yells out the window with his fist firmly clinched, “White power, nigger!” The audience laughs and the blue, pick-up truck drives off in the distance.
Dave Chapelle, widely known for his humorous skits on Comedy Central, parodies the stereotypes that are often found in American society. A particular skit, “Black White Supremacist”, focuses on the racial stereotypes often encountered by African Americans. In order to understand why this particular skit has been so successful, it is important to understand what causes the laughter, what the underlying message represents, and how this message is a reflection of Dave Chapelle’s role as a comedian.
Clayton Bigsby is one of the leading members of the Ku Klux Klan. He is among the strongest advocates for white supremacy, and has written many books including: Dump Truck, Nigger Stained, I Smell Nigger, and Nigger Book. When a local news reporter visits him at his home he notices a shocking detail. He is a black white supremacist. How could this be?
Clayton Bigsby speaks at the Ku Klux Klan rally, and reveals himself to his fellow brothers.This is the pivotal point in the skit, because Clayton realizes the identity he has always known is false. The people that he wanted to oppress are more closely associated with him, than he is to his true self.
Humor is found in the irony of a black man being a white supremacist. Dave Chapelle conveys Clayton using a southern, delayed accent, which is not characteristic of an African American male. His style of dress reflects the apparel common in rural, working-class areas.
Above, Clayton is seen wearing a camouflage hunting hat, a plaid shirt with a cargo vest, and holds his walking stick like a farmer would hold his rake or pitch fork.
Aside from the humor of physical appearance, there is also humor in the headmistress of the school calling him “nigra” when she is supposed to be an upstanding, classy lady. Using that derogatory term causes laughter, because it is comical to see how a prestigious women can appear so ignorant. The scene when Clayton hears the rap music is also dynamic, because he believed that the music was typical of what African Americans liked. Ironically, the boys in the car were white males who were eager to be called a nigger by a black man. The humor is in the reversal of the race roles. Those who Clayton was insulting were those he associated with most, but he thought they were black based on his misconceptions of the music that played from the car. The white males thought that Clayton was giving them a compliment, but he was really insulting them. They liked the culture- rhythmic music and baggy apparel. The roles were reversed when the black man disgraces the black ideology, and the white boys want to adopt the black culture. Because Clayton is a black man, it seems acceptable to refer to African Americans as derogatory names. It would not have been as funny if a white man was saying the things that Clayton said about African Americans being “dirty” and referring to them as “monkeys”. The Ku Klux Klan rally adds humor to the skit, because when Clayton reveals himself to the crowd many act as if they are sick.
The different pictures show the disgust that the audience listening to Clayton’s speech feel after he takes off his hood and reveals himself. The individuals act as if they are about to vomit seeing a black man as their leader.
It is humorous because they were all for his message until they found him to be black. They act like this fact makes them physically sick. Dave Chapelle does an adequate performance balancing joke from insult, which is crucial to comedy and humor.
After the immediate laughter, a good comedic parody always incorporates a underlying message. Not only was Clayton Bigsby a black white supremacist, but he was born blind– unable to see.
Clayton is seen with his fellow classmates in his yearbook. This school was where Clayton was misinformed about his true identity, because they wanted to mold him in with the other white students. However, he went above assimilating into their ideologies and became an extreme supremacist against minorities.
The skit is humorous regardless of his ability to see, but this distinct feature represents that parody of sight through the vision of others. The paradox is that society all wears masks trying to mold themselves into what they have heard, not seen; therefore, until one searches and seeks their own vision and not conform to the vision of others, they are all suffering from some form of blindness- literally or physically. Paul Dunbar’s poem, “We Wear The Mask” similarly represents the concealment of pain and suffering through the wear of a mask to assimilate into the society’s vision. As with Clayton in the skit, the powerful words of others became his vision of the world. He is unable to see on his own, so he is forced to see through the eyes of others. Because he grew up in an all white school and believed himself to be white, he conformed to the ideals that surrounded him. Even at the end of the skit when Clayton sees the truth behind the lies, he does not get over what has been instilled for the majority of his life. Who is at fault here? The headmistress mistakenly thought that because he and the other students were blind that she could assimilate him into white culture and principles. His friend never told him he was black and justified it by saying, “Listen man, It’s important to the movement. If I tell him he’s black, he will probably kill himself. That’d be one less Nigger around. His commitment is that deep.” The friend was just as wrong for not telling Clayton, because he thought his role in the movement was more important than allowing the Ku Klux Klan and Clayton see the truth for themselves. However, Clayton is not perceived as the defenseless, tragic man either. He decided to take on this role of racial superiority, and when given the opportunity to come to terms with his true identity- he simply does not. He divorces his wife for a reason none other than her being a “nigger lover.” Sadly, all of the characters remained blind and could not see past their surroundings and the need to conform to certain aspects of society.
Dave Chapelle was more than a comedian who made jokes about minorities and races. He wanted to use his comedy as a form of light on those absurd racial stereotypes found in society. However, he was ultimately dissatisfied with his show on Comedy Central, because the audience was more focused on the laughter of the skits and lost connection with the paradoxical message that it represented. He said to the audience, “You know why my show is good? Because the network officials say you’re not smart enough to get what I’m doing, and every day I fight for you. I tell them how smart you are. Turns out, I was wrong. You people are stupid.” 1. Chapelle’s purpose behind his skits was to be entertaining, while still being relevant to issues in American culture. However, once the fans began to lose sight of the truth behind the humor, he realized it was time to see what more was out there for him. Clayton Bigsby was never given the chance to see things through his own perspective, so his vision was determined by those around him. However, when the audience has the eyes to see and do not look beyond the surface, they are just as much blind as Clayton Bigsby. Having eyes does not always grant someone the ability to see. True vision comes when one is able to look through the retina, beyond the surface, to the inner core of the meaning behind humor.
Clips Cited
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BHFUH_frhBw#t=75s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BHFUH_frhBw#t=105s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHFUH_frhBw&feature=player_detailpage#t=295s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHFUH_frhBw&feature=player_detailpage#t=242s
Work Cited
1. Carnes, Jim (June 18, 2004). “Dave Chappelle lets rude crowd have it, sticks up for Cosby’s comment.”. Sacramento Bee.
With Eyes I See 