Race & Comedy
Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
To Reinforce White Supremacy…I Mean, To Get to the Other Side
It’s one of the first jokes we learn as children. “Why did the chicken cross the road?” We wait with bated breath for our mom or dad or grandparent to think and think. The anticipation is nearly too much. When they’ve mentally exhausted themselves and can think of no possible answer, we blurt out “To get to the other side!” And we laugh and laugh and laugh, and they pretend to laugh and laugh (or laugh at how hard we are laughing). What good innocent fun.
But where did the joke come from? How was it popularized? Is it really a joke about suicide? No…at least, not originally. The joke first appeared in print in 1847 in the Knickerbocker, but the joke’s origins are much, much less innocent. The joke was developed and popularized by the Christy’s Minstrels as part of the minstrel show. America’s first self-made popular entertainment, the minstrel show’s origins date to 1828 (some say 1830) when T.D. Rice’s “Jump Jim Crow” dance took the nation by storm. You might recognize it from Childish Gambino’s “This is America” video. Since Rice’s dance burst onto the scene in the 1830s, the minstrel show has heavily influenced American comedy and culture, living on long after its performers left the stage. Since several…
