(Photo credit: Rastar Kobal /Shutterstock/Paramount)
By Elizabeth S. Roldan
OPINION—In 1967, Ebony carried an article by Allan Morrison titled “Negro Humor: An Answer to Anguish.” He wrote that laughter has been a valuable tool for survival in times of racial oppression. For 40 years, black comedians have used comedy to relate the experience many blacks have had with the police. Richard Pryor, Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Marlon Wayans have interwoven politics and comedy.
In his 1994 HBO Special, You So Crazy, Martin Lawrence talks about the LAPD beating of Rodney King. He joked about how Rodney kept getting back up after each blow, not understanding why he didn’t just stay down. “That’s what black people do,” he said. “We don’t stay down for no one.” He compared Rodney to Kunta Kinte’s run for freedom in the movie Roots. That’s when the crowd laughs. He was showing the tenacity of black men to survive death at the hands of whites.
In Live in Concert (1974) Richard Pryor said: “Did you know that cops got a choke hold, they choke n*ggas to death, that means you be dead when they through.” Pryor laughed at the whites in the front row, saying, “See, black people know but white people are shaking their heads like no, no I didn’t know that.”
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In his 1999 stand-up, Bigger and Blacker, Chris Rock said he was pulled over by cops with guns drawn. He was so scared that he said, “Damn, maybe I did steal this car?” The crowd laughed. Being black in America is hard, he said. “So bad, no white man would switch places with me—-and I’m rich!” Some in the audience laughed so hard, they jumped out their seats. But, it’s not just laughter, it’s almost like a “thank you” for saying what we also believe.
In 2018, in Rock’s Netflix stand-up Tamborine, police remain a sensitive topic for him and the rest of the black community. He explained his weird relationship with the cops:
“I’m black so I’m like f*ck the police, but on the other hand, I own property. If I get robbed, I’m not calling the Crips…” I know being a cop is hard but it has to be done well all the time. I get annoyed when people say, “it’s only a few bad apples” and not all police are bad.” That argument isn’t good enough. Some jobs can’t have bad apples, some jobs have to be good all the time. That would be like American Airlines saying, all our pilots like to land, but we have a few bad apples…”
In Killin’ Them Softly, (2000) Chappelle talked about hanging out with white friends. He was fascinated by how police interacted with his friends. When Chappelle was smoking weed with his white friend, a cop told his friend just to “get out of here.” Another time, he was in a car with his drunk white friend when police pulled them over for speeding. The police let them go. Chappelle says, “I’m not saying I don’t like the police, I’m saying I’m just scared.” He tells the story of when his house was robbed in New York City, but he didn’t call the cops. He figured they would think he was the robber and just arrest him!
In Marlon Wayans’ 2018 Netflix special, Woke-ish, Marlon joked about being stopped by police with a white friend. His friend spoke to the cop with authority, told the cop to lower his voice and said he would file a complaint because of his actions. Marlon explained that this is something a black man would never do, that white people see cops as public servants who work for them. In a hilarious skit, he suggested that white male cops be matched with a black woman cop because black female officers are firm but fair. They will keep both the cops and black people in check.
Chappelle released Equanimity/Revelation on Netflix in 2017. After many jokes, concluded with the story of Emmitt Till. Some white men murdered the black teen for whistling at a white woman. Chappelle said that America is lucky that Till’s mother asked that his casket remain open so everyone could see his face. “The world needs to see what they did to my baby,” she said. Chappelle jokingly said it was so heinous that “even white people told themselves, we got to do better than this.” The white woman who accused Till later retracted her statement, admitting she lied. Boldly, Chappelle said, “I’m glad that incident happened because it made the world a better place.”
These comedies happened before George Floyd. Chappelle included Till’s story in his stand-up because it is important and is a reminder for the new generation. Three years later, this generation would witness an historic event that invoked change. A video shocked the nation. Thirty-five years after Pryor’s choke hold joke, Eric Garner died at the hands of NYPD officers. Marlon Wayan is still telling stories about the unique interaction between black people and police. Through comedy, these comedians share a collective experience. They use humor to ease the pain. By telling their stories, they humanize black people. Dave Chappelle’s latest show, 8:46, is the culmination of years of comedians telling stories about police brutality. His show received over 26 million views. Hopefully, through his message, people see the humanity.
Elizabeth Roldan is a freelance writer who focuses on latino, black and women’s issues. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Binghamton University and studied Communications at Georgetown University. She is originally from the Bronx and lives in Harlem, NY.
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