Comedy Central has been playing and replaying Chris Rock's 2004 show, Never Scared. And it's got some funny parts. I like Chris Rock, or more specifically, I like the way he tells a story and gets a laugh. But being Chris Rock means telling a line that gets a laugh from some but leaves others saying, "Hey wait a minute. That's downright wrong."
He's got a riff about how to get away with murder. Simply kill a rapper. You can watch it at youtube beginning at around 4:17. According to him, the police won't do anything if a rapper gets murdered. It's funny, but skewed. Here's the quote:
The government hates rap. That's why they don't arrest anybody that kills rappers! Only the good ones are dead, man! Only the good ones: Biggie dead, Tupac dead, Vanilla Ice still alive! They don't fill out a police report! They don't even have a chalk line when it's a dead rapper; they just [urinate] around the body...
It's all for laughs, but Mr. Rock is blaming the wrong people. Maybe that's what his audience wants to hear, but it seems more likely the reason no one gets arrested is because no one wants to step up and tell the police what happened. If they did they would be a bad old snitch. See 60 Minutes Stop Snitchin':
In most communities, a person who sees a murder and helps the police put the killer behind bars is called a witness. But in many inner-city neighborhoods in this country that person is called a "snitch."
"Stop snitchin'" is a catchy hip-hop slogan that embodies and encourages this attitude. You can find it on everything from rap music videos to clothing. "Stop snitchin" once meant "don’t tell on others if you’re caught committing a crime."
/snip/
Reluctance to talk to police has always been a problem in poor, predominantly African-American communities, but cops and criminologists say in recent years something has changed: fueled by hip-hop music, promoted by major corporations, what was once a backroom code of silence among criminals, is now being marketed like never before.
The message appears in hip-hop videos, on T-shirts, Web sites, album covers and street murals. Well-known rappers talk about it endlessly on DVDs. It is a simple message heard in African-American communities across the country: don't talk to the police.
So he says the whole world's f___d up. Whatever you say, Mr. Rock, but you seem to be riding on top of it. Too bad being a good comedian doesn't mean being a good citizen.
I'm not denying that the likes of Chris Rock & Carlos Mencia are funny, but I attribute more talent and more comedic skill to those who can make me laugh - and even sometimes think - without always falling back on racial-issue punchlines to do so.
And I'm more than a little convinced that the very people who complain about the racial stereotypes are quite often the ones who're perpetuating it. Back when the whole Imus thing blew up, it really aggravated me that he was chastised for using some of the very same verbiage that many, many, urban entertainers use routinely. I'm all for stringing up Imus by his toenails for his insensitivity - just so long as we apply that same treatment to everyone else, regardless of their ethnicity or color.
Posted by: Rob O. | January 11, 2008 at 08:39 AM
Well said, Rob O.
If we were all color blind that word "racist" would include a lot of people who probably think it shouldn't apply to them.
Posted by: Geo | January 11, 2008 at 03:56 PM
This is a long time that I tried to attend one of Chris Rock’s concerts but I’ve never been lucky. Also it’s due to ticket prices that are really sky rocked whenever there’s a celebrity’s concert like Chris Rock.
The guy sooooooooooo funny!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Alison | March 03, 2008 at 12:30 PM