In spite of everything I may or may not write out, I’m a fan of Chris Rock. I have enjoyed most every one of Rock’s standups, and I think he’s a step above most other comics out there; dare I say almost on a Seinfeld-like plane in which he makes observations and turns it into material that most people can relate to, but just don’t think about, until presented in a routine.
I don’t view him as “a black comic,” but as “a comic,” and one that is funny, witty, intelligent and genuinely good at his craft. Furthermore, as he’s aged, he’s flexed his creative wings and done some solid writing, as well as being pretty much the token A-list black guy for Adam Sandler (Tim Meadows being the B) films throughout the last few years.
But his choice of material at the Oscars, where he basically made several tasteless jokes towards Asian stereotypes, was pretty pathetic. They reeked of strawman deflection, where Rock attempted to distract attendees and viewers away from the elephant in the room, which is the purported black boycott of the Oscars, and make wise cracks about Asians as a means to draw attention away from the elephant.
Honestly, it was sad as well as disheartening, and Chris Rock should be better than that. I’m not sure if it was his way of trying to think he could strawman his way out of the looming black boycott, or if this was his way of coping with all the monumental pressure that the royal all black people put on Rock, as he was the host of the Oscars.
I’m not going to go full dark side and say that I now hate Chris Rock or anything, but this pathetic display does make me lose a bit of respect for him, and it’s always going to sit in the back of my mind that he’s no different than so many other people who think it’s mortal sin to make fun of black people, but completely okay to make fun of Asians.
I won’t get into so much into the Oscars because I really don’t care about a whitewashed celebrity circle-jerk, but more of what was said in the previous sentence.
But if there’s ever been any reason why I’m so critical towards black people who pull the race card, is because all throughout my entire life I’ve witnessed this perplexing double-standard in society that is exactly what I stated: black people who cry foul when they feel they are being racially mistreated, but have no problem with making fun of Asians (or Hispanics, for that matter).
I knew guys in school who accused or theorized that their supposed mistreatment from particular teachers was on account of them being black. But would also have no qualms with making “ching-chong” remarks or calling me, or any other Asians names like “hop-sing” or “Bruce Lee.”
When I worked at my parents’ barbecue restaurant in the middle of the hood, every now and then I’d get a disgruntled customer, because they were unhappy with the portion size, or worse, the ones who tried to swindle my parents. The unhappiest of the unhappy had no qualms with muttering their grievances as they walked out of the restaurant, and I lost count how many times I heard the word “chink” amidst their grumbles.
Living in Atlanta the last 13 years hasn’t helped my rationale, seeing as how I’ve heard numerous things from adults, but mostly kids, that goes to show just how tomorrow’s black adults are being raised to acknowledge the existence of Asian people in modern society. And these kids are getting their biases from their parents, or television, or peers, it’s hard to say which is really the worst, when kids today are still mocking slanty-eye gestures, making broad-sweeping generalizations that all Asians must be Chinese, or the tried and true ching-chong remarks.
The Oscars were a joke, an unfunny one, but that’s nothing really out of the ordinary. I give more shits about the caulk coming off my walls than I ever would about the Oscars, that is until my boy Joe is up for one. But the fact that on such a grand stage, a famous and influential black celebrity goes on national television to exhibit the same behavior as “typical” black people, was just really pathetic, and gives a little bit of justification that regardless of skin color, status, celebrity or not, everyone’s still the same: shitty.
