Chappelle’s show “Clayton Bigsby” is a shocking ficticious skit about a the leader of a white supremacist movement. The fictitious character uses the worst kinds of racist slang about African Americans that the world has ever heard. Although Bigsby had previously kept his face hidden behind a KKK mask and robe, he agreed to a face to face interview to discuss his serious of books that promote white supremacy and overuse the “N” word dramatically. When we see him in the video, we are all surprised that the blind man is actually an African American himself. Here is why the comedy skit from yesteryear is so relevant now.
It is a parody making fun of racism
There is no doubt that the tensions in our country are running high. There are divisions on the basis of political beliefs as well as racism against people from all walks of life. White and Black are just examples of the hatred and intolerance that we’re seeing among the masses. The show makes fun of ignorant behaviors. Clayton Bigsby is blind and he doesn’t realize that he himself is black. He is married to a white woman and when he finds out that he is black, he’s disgusted with her for marrying a black man. We can see the point that Chappelle is trying to make as the skit plays out.
Blindness is a theme that is predominant
When you consider all aspects of “Clayton Bigsby,” you realize that his blindness is a representation of what racism truly is. It is a blindness to the fact that people are all equal. If you can’t see that someone is a different color then you wouldn’t even know that there was a difference between you and them. Instead, you would cue in on other things that you liked or disliked about them. It’s a powerful statement about people who judge on the basis of skin color.
Clayton was raised in a home for the blind
The headmistress thought it would be best for Clayton, being “the only nigra” in the school to think he was white. Since all the other kids were blind, they told them that he was white also. This is blatantly telling us that well-meaning people do not have a clue about the damage that they cause by discriminating against people who are a different race. Was it bad for Clayton to be black? Apparently so, because in order to fit in, the officials thought he would at least have to be “thought” to be white.
Dave Chappelle as Clayton interview
When asked what the primary message of his four books was, Chappelle responded with a long string of racial slurs against a variety of non-white people, saying they stink. He went on to throw some common stereotypes into the mix. This is one of the timeliest skits that could possibly be brought back. The satire is a comedic delving into the heart of racist behaviors and when we consider how stupid the character really is, he is the poster child for racist behaviors. We can all laugh together, some for different reasons than others. If there were more humor that was loaded with serious messages, perhaps we would start to understand the problems more clearly. Chappelle is and always has been the master of satire. He’s got a message that’s worth hearing in his comedy that is loved by people from all walks of life.
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