Political commentary in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…
• New York Governor David Paterson took offense to a Saturday Night Live skit that made light of his blindness. “I can take a joke,” said Paterson to reporters. But he called the piece a “third-grade depiction of people and the way they look” that could lead people to think that “disability goes hand-in-hand with an inability to run a government or business.” Oh, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich seem to demonstrate quite clearly that an inability to run a government rarely stems from disability.
• A Georgia state senator ignited controversy by introducing a plan to merge historically Black colleges with predominately White institutions. Senator Seth Harp initially suggested the move for financial reasons, but added, “We really need to close the chapter of segregated schools and create a unified system.” Wonder how this guy would respond to the segregated agencies in the advertising industry.
2 comments:
the Patterson gag was more biased ignorance. Similar to Obama jokes, humor comes from what someone does or says, not what they are.
a non-black guy portraying blind black guy as a bafoon simply because he's black and blind? not funny.
Patterson has admitted to cheating on his wife and using cocaine and disclosed all this within a week of taking office. There could be humor in those facts alone; there might be humor in an adulterer replacing a prostitute's trick. who knows? think it through and see what comes up. but no.
SNL went continued its long running policy towards people of color—going for the obvious and unfunny. again.
Paterson is the best NY Governor in my lifetime, and that goes back to Dewey before he had a highway named after him.
Of course, he doesn't have a terrific amount of competition over the years. But he does have a sense of humor and a sense of the different forces that fight for power and money in New York.
BUT
he'd better name someone other than Cuomo or Kennedy to that Senate seat or he will appear weaker than he ever could on SNL.
Maybe just the Mayor of Syracuse or Buffalo or Hornell. Help him upstate get re-elected. Assuming he wants to be re-elected.
Post a Comment