But I've always revered stand-up comics as some of the greatest advocates of social progress, whether they know it or not. There's a certain kind of wisdom that derives from the mix of wit and satire that only a good comic will possess.
The comedians on Tough Crowd, however, are not this bunch.
Tonight, like all pundits, they decided to take their conversation to the Democratic convention. Even Colin Quinn, who's a pretty staunch, cynical right-winger (I say staunch and cynical positively, I promise) made a few good jokes in his monologue out of it. Their guests, however, can be a little ignorant. Sometimes it's funny, others, it's not.
Take Ellen Cleghorne, for example. This chick.
This post isn't about politics. Just hang with me.
Everyone within the Democratic party, and just about any undecided swing voter out there, approved of the first night speech given by Barack Obama. A half-white/half-black child born in Kenya, Obama is now running unopposed for Senate in the Illinois district where Jack Ryan (the pervert in the news, not the Clancy character) was incumbent. Anyone who sees him speak remarks him as very eloquent, one of the most poised speakers in years. One Shacker remarked that his speech "almost had [his] dad in tears." I watched his convention speech, and it definitely lived up to his reputation. One of his biggest talking points, not surprisingly, is erasing racial lines.
This post isn't about that. Keep hanging in there.
The part of that point that I found interesting was that he wanted to erase, more than any other label, the one that says a black child who reads is "acting white."
Enter Ellen Cleghorne.
2 minutes into the show, the Tough Crowd pundits, who now stand because chairs were too uncool (or everyone just got up out of them too often), get onto the topic of Obama. Cleghorne, very clearly a black woman (see pic above), rips into Obama for essentially being white. I can't quote her verbatim, but what she said was very clear: he was raised by a white mother, and therefore, he's white.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Ms. Cleghorne, but since Obama was fathered by a black man, that would have made him a slave in the 1860s. In the 1960s, it would have made him a nigger, subject to the colored drinking fountains, stores, and restaurants. And you mean to tell me that in 2004 that it makes him white? Granted, times have changed - but if you happen to find yourself on this post, Ms. Cleghorne, I'm still thinking that you're wrong.
