jennifer-roberts Racism is no laughing matter. In fact, it is downright dangerous and despicable. As a Black woman, it is infuriating that Donald Trump and his lacqueys are putting white supremacy on full display in interviews, speeches and at rallies all while using the thin, white, sheet of comedy to justify their racist behavior. America, we’ve seen this before.
White Americans have a along, sordid history of using racism disguised as comedy to maintain its manufactured caste system in which Black people have been relegated to the bottom rung. In fact, the United States is no stranger to white people exploiting Black people’s very existence for their own entertainment. Let’s examine the origin of the term Jim Crow.
According to www.history.com, “In the early 1830s, the white actor Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice was propelled to stardom for performing minstrel routines as the fictional “Jim Crow,” a caricature of a clumsy, dimwitted Black enslaved man. Rice claimed to have first created the character after witnessing an elderly Black man singing a tune called “Jump Jim Crow” in Louisville, Kentucky. He later appropriated the Jim Crow persona into a minstrel act where he donned blackface and performed jokes and songs in a stereotypical dialect.”
“For example, “Jump Jim Crow” included the popular refrain, “Weel about and turn about and do ‘jis so, eb’ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow.” Rice’s minstrel act proved a massive hit among white audiences, and he later took it on tour around the United States and Great Britain. As the show’s popularity spread, “Jim Crow” became a widely used derogatory term for Black people.”
On Sunday, October 27th, 2024, Donald Trump held a rally at Madison Square Garden that is being compared to a Nazi rally that was held at the same location in February 1939. Trump’s rally is being referred to as a hate rally due to the striking similarities between his rally and the 1939 rally despite their being no reported signs of Nazi paraphernalia.
White supremacy infects every area of human life including so called “comedy” even if we are unable to see tangible evidence. This manifestation of white supremacy allows racism to be more palatable but is no less lethal. It also allows its perpetrators to distance themselves from their evil deeds and justify their abhorrent behavior in the name of “fun.”
During the rally, Trump’s aide, Stephen Miller said, “America is for Americans and Americans only.” Comedian, Tony Hinchcliffe claimed that he was joking when he said that “Puerto Rico was a floating island of garbage” and that Latinos “made a lot of babies.” Hinchcliffe didn’t stop there. He also made a racist comment about a Black man in the audience first making fun of what the man was wearing on his head and then saying, “I’m just kidding. That’s one of my buddies. He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together. It was awesome.”
Now, to the untrained ear, this reference to carving watermelons may sound like innocent, but it’s not. For decades, white people have created and repeated racist tropes about Black people and watermelon and have even created visual depictions of Black people with watermelons that were meant to dehumanize us. These comments are not funny; they are toxic. They are beyond unacceptable and all too familiar. Insulating white supremacy in a shared pastime like a comedy show is one of the many ways that it has become normalized in American culture. The approach is that we get so accustomed to seeing, hearing and experiencing racism that it becomes an acceptable way of life. It has worked remarkably well before but let’s choose to reject it this time around.
According to a recent Axios article entitled “Trump’s MSG events draw comparisons to 1939 Nazi rally” by Russell Contreras, “…humor is more often used as a cover for racism on the right today than it was 85 years ago, according to Raul Perez, professor of Sociology at the University of LaVerne and author of “The Souls of White Jokes.”
The rise of Donald Trump and this upcoming presidential election has given us a front seat to how white supremacy is perpetuated. We are watching in real time. We, the American people can see how no stone is being left unturned to perpetuate the lie that white people are inherently superior. We hear white supremacy every time Donald Trump lies about Mexican and Venezuelan immigrants being rapists and murderers. We hear it when Donald Trump and J.D. Vance lie about Haitian immigrants eating their neighbors’ pets. We hear white supremacy when Donald Trump falsely claims that Vice President Kamala Harris is not qualified to be president when in fact, he is the one who is unqualified to serve. This is white supremacy in action. I do not believe that we will ever completely rid this country of white supremacy because we live in a flawed and fallen world. I do, however believe that we have the power to quiet its voice and lessen its power by choosing to do the work of loving our neighbors and learning to live alongside them instead of trying to dominate and decimate them.
