Published On June 3, 2014 | By Staff | black people and money, Dr Boyce, entertainment, financial commentary, Financial News, News
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by Dr. Boyce Watkins
Kevin Hart may be the hottest comedian in the country right now, but his status is in jeopardy as long as he keeps putting his foot in his mouth. Hart recently did an interview with Playboy Magazine and was asked about the nature of his jokes. Kevin was first asked about a joke on Twitter four years ago, when he made fun of dark-skinned women, stating that they have worse credit than light-skinned women. Of course that’s a no-no, but then again, comedians are taught to test their boundaries.
Here’s the joke, and you can tell me what you think. If you want to know what I thought about the joke, you can read what I wrote. To make a long story short, I thought it was ironic to hear a dark-skinned man disrespect his dark-skinned mother by saying something so tragically misguided. That might be considered the epitome of self-hatred, since Kevin is one of the darkest comedians in the country.
I was angry when I read the remarks (since my beautiful god daughters are both dark-skinned – we had to fight through some self-esteem issues because of it), but then I actually started to feel sorry for him. I believe that Kevin sometimes says silly things because no one taught him any better. He may also feel that his fame and fortune has allowed him to overcome the things he hates about himself the most, namely his complexion and his height (5’4″).
Also, we cannot deny the fact that many of our biggest Hollywood celebrities are enslaved in a system that calls for them to kiss the rings of those who care nothing for black people. It was Dave Chapelle’s unwillingness to do so which led to him being practically blackballed from the industry. It’s good to know that some people remember that money is not the most important thing in the world.
To quote Kevin accurately, here’s what he said about dark-skinned women:
“#handsdown Light-skinned women usually have better credit than a dark-skinned women…Broke ass dark hoes….lol”
The issue came to light against during an interview with Playboy. During the interview, Hart wrote off his jokes about black women as good-hearted comedy with the kind of edginess that might get you into trouble. But he made it clear that it wasn’t worthy of an apology, since he was just being a comedian:
Listen, that was just me being silly on Twitter, playing on a trending topic. Some people were offended by it, but that’s always a risk with comedy. Nobody’s going to find everything funny. I didn’t feel I had to apologize for something that was misconstrued and taken out of context. I have no ill will toward women, not dark-skinned women, not light-skinned women. I was just being silly. I’m a comedian. Being silly is my job; it’s how I pay my bills.
However, Kevin’s commitment to freedom of speech for comedians suddenly changed when it came to the gay community. The same risks that he was so willing to take with black women were not on the table for consideration when it came to gay/lesbian/transgender Americans:
I’m not a political guy. I don’t really deal with Democrats or Republicans. I don’t find that funny. And I don’t talk about the gay community, be it male or female. No thank you! It’s such a sensitive subject. I’ve seen comics get into serious trouble by joking about gay people. It’s too dangerous. Whatever you say, any joke you make about the gay community, it’s going to be misconstrued. It’s not worth it.
So, the bottom line here appears to be that Kevin feels that African Americans are not a strong enough market or determined-enough audience to force him to pay the consequences for disrespecting the black community. However, gay rights groups seem to strike fear in his seemingly unwavering commitment to free artistic expression. This approach is certainly pragmatic and profitable, but is it ethical for a black man to fold to those who have the most money at the expense of his own people?
As I mention in my book, “Black American Money,” America is a capitalist democracy. This means that two things tend to matter the most in this country: Economic power and political power. Black people don’t have much of either, and the power we do have is scattered in every possible direction. So, whether it’s an actor, comedian or hip-hop artist, black women can be disrespected to the ends of the earth, but gays or Jews are typically off limits. This fact will only adjust itself when we change it.
As far as Kevin Hart goes, I am relatively happy about his success. His film “Ride Along” with Ice Cube set new standards for black men making their own films and getting to the top on their own terms. But it is a matter of integrity for him to decide if he wants to think carefully about what he’s saying and not just play to the same kind of coonery that we’ve been faced with for 400 years. If you listen to his words carefully, it appears that he’s allowing his integrity, self-respect and racial dignity to be defined by the dollar bill. This is hardly a way to live, and I believe he can be more intelligent than that.
He certainly owes black women an apology.
@ you deflecting the ether I am inflicting on you by copying bitch_critic's post
