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Comic's Act Offers an Honest and Funny Discussion of Race |
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Written by Byron Williams
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Thursday, 26 February 2009 |
 Anyone attending comedian W. Kamau Bell's intelligent, funny, creative solo performance: "Ending Racism in About an Hour" at the San Francisco Playhouse, will be greeted with thought-provoking comedy on what remains as the most uncomfortable issue for Americans to address — and that's before the show actually begins.
Through the seductive use of irony and absurdity, Kamau challenges the audience, regardless of hue, to examine their preconceived notions of race and just how seductive it is in our everyday life.
It is an interesting study of human behavior, given at a time when the American automobile industry is on the brink of collapse as we know it, there is talk of nationalizing banks, news of massive layoffs has become commonplace, and the United States continues to occupy two countries militarily, that a cartoon some believe depicts the president as a monkey becomes newsworthy.
By my unofficial count, far more demonstrated moral outrage of a cartoon than the allegations of singer Chris Brown's alleged domestic violence case against fellow singer and girlfriend Rihanna.
And, unlike the cartoon, the photos of Rihanna's battered face were not subject to speculation.
For those who brand themselves as the curators of all things racist, their critiques fall flat when they become unable to examine other issues of injustice with the same vigor.
When I saw the controversial New York Post cartoon that led many within the African-American community to conclude that not only was President Barack Obama being portrayed as a monkey, but also it was sounding the clarion call for his assassination, I just wasn't there.
Race as a topic is invariably led by an emotion that makes it unable to hear or see anything to the contrary. A number of those who e-mailed me to get my take on the Post cartoon were astounded that I did not reach the same conclusion they did.
Given that Travis, a Chimpanzee who was protagonist of this poorly crafted cartoon, was actually shot by police, he must have weighed more than 200 pounds. For me to make the racism connection with the president, the depiction of the monkey in the cartoon needed to be slimmer; wearing a nice suit and the ears had to be enlarged.
But that's the tricky thing about America's failure to address its original sin of racism — because I didn't reach the same conclusion as others does not make their observations invalid.
Likewise, those who don't see an issue as racist will seek to justify their opinions demonstrating that another person of color aligns with their perspective. This line of erroneous thinking is followed closely by the "intent" factor.
The "intent" factor is the belief that racism can only occur if someone is deliberately causing it. This is the defense of the privileged class. Men use it against charges of misogyny, as do heterosexuals against accusations of homophobia.
If an individual is standing on someone's neck, doesn't the pain sustained in the moment make the intent of the individual irrelevant?
Those who look for racism in every nook and cranny along with those who wish to believe the election of Obama makes America post-racial are opposite sides of the same naive coin — neither is true.
Herein lies the real value of Kamau's project. Laughter offers a safe environment in which to become self-reflective. Is there an issue in America in more need of collective self-reflection than race?
Kamau lures the audience in by examining the absurd and then, without warning, he shrewdly holds up the mirror of self-reflection to show how we participate in the absurdity.
If America is indeed to become post-racial, it won't occur through race lectures or denial. It may only occur through a comedian bold enough to take the subject on, along with an audience daring enough to participate in the discomfort through the prism of laughter.
But, fortunately, history offers a plethora of examples that change does not occur without some measure of discomfort, especially on the part of the status quo.
Kamau recently took his solo act to perform at Comedy Central's Henderson Theater in Los Angeles. His show will run one more week in San Francisco.
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