Essay Forty-One

MultiCultClassics Minutes menu now includes barbecue, frozen food and more…

• The Dave Chappelle scenario gets crazier every day. Technically, it gets less crazy every day. First, rumors claimed the comedian was battling drug problems. Then reports had him in a South African mental health facility. Now he’s with friends on a spiritual retreat. The next newsflash will probably uncover Chappelle’s just chilling at a neighbor’s barbecue.

• Speaking of barbecue, there are very lame commercials running for Famous Dave’s BBQ. The spots feature an old Black man dramatically humming, as if performing a Negro spiritual. The ultimate reveal — he’s just reacting to the food at Famous Dave’s BBQ. The copy is delivered via silent supers: Real Honest Barbecue. The old man’s performance segues to an emphatic, “Mm-mmm!” A nearly identical spot incorporates someone playing a harmonica to accompany the codger. Lift every fork and sing!

• Mexican President Vicente Fox is getting heat for his remarks about Blacks. At a meeting of the Texas-Mexico Frozen Food Council, Fox said, “There’s no doubt that the Mexican men and women — full of dignity, willpower and a capacity for work — are doing the work that not even Blacks want to do in the United States.” Jesse Jackson called the comments, “unwitting, unnecessary and inappropriate.” But only because he couldn’t think of anything to rhyme with, “Ay, caramba!”

• Forrest Middle School in Alabama is getting a much-needed name change. The school had been named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and founder of the Ku Klux Klan. Wonder what the student uniforms look like at this joint.