Dave Chappelle Hasn’t Done the Reading, and He Doesn’t Know What a C-section Is
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After Dave Chappelle’s SNL Monologue on Nov 7, 2020, professional smart person Tressie McMillan Cottom tweeted that she could hear the citations in Chappelle’s monologue. I agreed. But after viewing Chappelle’s Netflix special, I’m here to say Chappelle has not done the reading, and he doesn’t know what a c-section is.
Let’s start with the first part.
It’s important to “do the reading.” Race, gender, and sexuality require study; they require some expertise. I believe with other professionally smart people like Crystal Fleming and the late Charles Mills that living in a racist society has made us racially stupid. I’d extend the same statement to gender and sexuality.
I don’t claim to be a professionally smart person, particularly on gender and sexuality, but I try to do the reading. And I have little interest in writing words with no backing. For that reason, I read and research before I write, and I’m a member of the Race, Gender, and Class section of the American Sociological Association.
Chappelle’s words weren’t informed by the history and experiences of Black LGBTQ people. Chappelle’s words about LGBTQ people, and trans people specifically, at times targeted white LGBTQ people. I get that, and I welcome that. See my piece On White Female Leadership and Progress No One Needs.
Chappelle has a valid critique about white power changing it up and maintaining white dominance.
I’ve written that I’m not interested in the first white LGBTQ anything anymore because I don’t want to experience the entire bench of white leadership. I will not celebrate trans whites in power when whites hold 90% of the positions of power. Progressive whiteness is still whiteness. The expansion of whiteness gets my attention, but not my applause. The issue, as Chappelle says, at one point, is with whites, not with trans people. I’m with him on all of that.
But Chappelle’s generic and colorblind “jokes” about LGBTQ people, and trans people specifically, proves he has not done the reading.
It seems like Chappelle doesn’t recognize Black people as significant members of the LGBTQ community. Has he read the studies and polls about the percentage…
