Which tells us more about what prejudice is still acceptable: a comic's temper tantrum or the scripted jokes that use gays as the punch line?
Jason Stuart has what our president famously refers to as 'cajones.' It's got to take some hefty cajones, after all, to be an openly gay stand-up comic playing mostly straight comedy clubs. No doubt Stuart has heard it all from hecklers of all stripes, and yet he somehow managed to succeed in show biz without suffering 'a Michael Richards moment.'
Richards, who most of us knew only as Kramer on Seinfeld until his 'n-word' meltdown at L.A.'s Laugh Factory, has sparked some soul-searching about just how much bigotry there is in comedy. The owner of the club even called a press conference, attended by Jason Stuart, to announce the 'n-word' was banned from the club—a decision that drew decidedly mixed reactions.
Najee Ali, a Black civil rights activist, was one of those cool on the idea of a ban, and worked his way to the microphones to announce that Richards' rant was really proof that many seemingly normal white folk actually harbor deep-seated racism. After the press conference, Stuart cornered Ali in the lobby and, in the presence of a New York Times reporter, turned the proverbial tables.
'Twenty-five percent of every Black comic's act is gay-bashing,' Stuart was reported to have said to Ali, 'and none of you have done anything about that.'
Ali was something of a moving target in response. 'It wasn't so much what [ Richards ] said,' Ali told Stuart. 'We've heard the word used by many comedians. It was the rage, the hatred, the anger.'
Is that really the point? We've all lost our temper, whether in traffic or dealing with a snotty sales clerk or customer service rep. If we're honest, we've all felt the temptation to say something off-color or worse, whether or not we really mean it. When the blood starts boiling, the aim isn't to reveal our deepest, darkest prejudices; it's to lash out in whatever way we think will most likely hurt or anger the target of our wrath.
Does that rage signal some inborn prejudice? When the snotty sales clerk is clearly gay, I've found myself choking back the 'f-word'—of the three-letter, not four-letter, variety. That doesn't make me secretly anti-gay or self-loathing, so much as aware of what words might carry the most sting.
Richards' rant was far more than a quick lash, of course, and the longer and more colorful his diatribe, complete with images of lynchings, the more Ali's point seems well-taken—at least with regard to Richards, if not Caucasians generally. But all this focus on Richards' trigger temper misses the larger point Stuart made about the ugly truth too often present in humor.
Unfortunately, within a few days of the Times article, Stuart's chutzpah had gone on chutz-break. The gay comic sent out an open letter claiming he had made peace with Ali and had been misquoted by the Times. Stuart claimed to have really said, 'About 25 percent of Black comics have anti-gay material in their act and just as many or more white comedians do the same.'
Either way, it's a distinction that shouldn't get lost in all the back-pedaling. Richards' rant was an out-of-control, unscripted response to some hecklers. The same can't be said for the comedians on stage at the Laugh Factory or the amateur variety gathered around the office water cooler who tell jokes that use gay people as the punch lines.
A Black comic who tells fag jokes probably never displays the sort of 'rage, hatred and anger' that Ali saw in Michael Richards, but he is much more dangerous, contributing to a hyper-masculine, homophobic culture that plays itself out everywhere from misogynist hip-hop lyrics to the 'down low' phenomenon.
These anti-gay riffs, whether told by a Black comedian or a white frat boy, are scripted to get laughs and they do. That says much more about what prejudice is still acceptable in society.
Of course, comedy involves poking fun at all sorts of groups, and gay activists have been guiltier than most at lacking a sense of humor. ( How many gay activists does it take to screw in a light bulb? Shame! Shame! Shame! )
Still, there's an important difference between a comic who is laughing with you and one who is laughing at you. Maybe the Michael Richards rant will help us keep a closer eye on that line.
Chris Crain is former editor of the Washington Blade, Southern Voice and gay publications in three other cities. He can be reached via his blog at www.citizencrain.com .
