Clash of the Black Presidents
Are Key & Peele better than Richard Pryor? A very #serious chat log
So, if you’ve been on the Internet recently, you may have seen this Key and Peele skit, in which ‘Obama’ is unfairly hugging black people and snubbing white people:
Once I saw this, it immediately reminded me of another skit about a black president, done by Richard Pryor back in the 70s:
(Bonus points if you can catch a young Robin Williams in there).
I wrote about this skit before. I still think Pryor’s skit was brilliant, specifically because it ran humor on two levels. On one level, it’s a low-level gag about an inept head of state. But on another, it made fun of the racists that genuinely believed that a black president pushing for equality would ruin America.
In other words, it was aimed at two audiences: one that was still racist and scared, and another that had matured to the point of finding the first group (painful but) funny. Kind of like how Rocky and Bullwinkle seemed cute and slapsticky as a kid, but our parents all knew it was about the Cold War.
But something about this Key and Peele skit seemed different.
I thought it was funny enough, but I didn’t really know how I felt about it. So, my friend Working Michael and I had a chat about it.
Here it is.
(@dexdigi)
you’ve probably got a good idea of where i’m coming from, but what did you think of the two skits?
(@workingmichael)
i think by comparison to Pryor, Key & Peele is actually a lot lighter on the #levels.
the observation that Barry is equally fluid with black and white audiences is kind of an old one.
i also feel like publicly legitimizing the black obsession with skin tone in the “afternoon, my octaroon” bit is kind of odd, especially since Barry has dealt with so much “is he/isn’t he” with his blackness.
…or maybe that’s just me being a sensitive yellow nigga.
hahaha
:: puts on Drake — Worst Behavior ::
(lolol swag)
wait, really though?
i saw it less as a commentary on Obama’s ‘fluidity’
and more of a continuation of the Pryor skit.
i can’t imagine that they haven’t seen that.
it’s funny actually, it’s almost like the two would work back to back, with Pryor first and K&P being after: Pryor does the actual press conference, and K&P do the exit of the room.
obviously it doesn’t quite match up since Pryor ends up getting carried out
but really, i thought of it more as like ‘this is what white people are freaked out about’
yeah, that’s the thing. pryor actively engages the dichotomy.
yeah, pryor goes in a lot harder.
that’s definite
well, pryor actually goes in
talks about fixing things for black people
both obama and K&P really haven’t gone in and done that
true
i guess that’s why the K&P thing rings so hollow
because it echoes the hollowness of obama’s “blacking”
it’s like yeah, you can go to the morehouse commencement and tell young brothers to pull their pants up
but MIKE BROWN
yeah
i mean, but politics are sort of hollowed out right now period, right?
like, what, we voted in the republicans, but we still seem to want ‘liberal’ stuff like fair drug laws and family planning?
also a lot of the better jokes just wouldn’t work nowadays
like, the whole line about putting Huey Newton in the FBI. Who would function as a comparison to that, Snowden?
like, all Edward Snowden did was hand over some data. I don’t think we really have a figure like Newton that would freak people out right now.
they could have Snoop as the head of the DEA
HAHA.
the black sports team owner thing doesn’t feel au currant to you?
i mean, i guess we don’t really have a space program any more
but these days you could still do the white women joke
yeah, the black sports team owner part is still relevant
it’s crazy to hear him talking about that what, 30 years ago? 35?
nearly 40
since we’re still having trouble with that, and I think a politician would still catch hell for talking about that
hell, if you talk about equal access to education, you get stuff like that one girl that tried to sue a Texas college or whatever
that’s the thing tho
a lot of what pryor is saying IS still relevant
exactly
that’s what makes it kind of terrifying
like, comedians are supposed to be funny. not prophetic.
but it’s been cloaked by the very convincing black that obama does
all the Jay-Z cosigns and dropped consonants don’t change the fact that black life has gotten harder under obama
true
and all the “acting black” is actually what white people expect of him too
and it’s especially comforting for the white establishment to see him “act black” but then not act FOR blacks
oh, this is interesting
i was just about to bring up the fist bump thing
pryor wasn’t just — and wasn’t really — “acting black”
the things he says during that press conference are about taking…affirmative action to help people of color
yeah, he was just talking about actual societal problems
which is what makes the skit funnier/scarier
obama just rolls around the room giving everyone what they think they want from him and then goes about his neoliberal business
okay but see, that’s where I disagree, at least on the portrayal in K&P
I think they were actually going for a new take on the Pryor skit
like check the very end
where he chest bumps the black dude
and says ‘good to meet you’
(so it’s totally obvious that they’ve never met, thus he’s getting ‘special treatment’)
and then the white guy after that, he totally snubs
i think they were going for a ‘obama only cares about blacks’
i can see that
not just a codeswitching.
i think maybe you and me might see also codeswitching, but i think a lot of shook white folks would see confirmation of obama’s ‘reverse racism,’ which makes it funnier for black people
but the important part for me is in the middle, where as he’s leaving a black guy, he looks over his shoulder and says “cuz that’s all we got!”
hm
and i think that’s the real truth of the K&P skit, and maybe the obama administration as a whole
you get the codeswitch, you get the fist bump
but past that?
nothing. emptiness.
oh man
wait, but you don’t think K&P were going that far
that’s pretty damn meta
no, i’m taking it there
i don’t think they did
eesh
but look around
affirmative action programs have been decimated since he took office
black incarceration is up
there’s the steady stream of publicly executed young black men
the persistent 10% gap in employment
I mean, i’m not sure we can put it all on Obama, but yeah, you’re right
i’m not putting it on him, but i’m putting it on him that he’s not made even an attempt to address it
to put a name on it
to call it for what it is
98% of african americans voted for him
and the most we get is “pull your pants up”?
=/
less than 98% of oil company owners voted for him
and they’re gonna get Keystone XL
i feel like we’re getting the niggardly end of this deal
if you’ll pardon the pun
hm. so, lemme try this: would you say that the K&P skit might not be as funny, but it’s maybe the more realistic of the two?
in that on some level, that one ‘that’s all we’ve got’ line is actually a pretty good metaphor for where we’re at now?
definitely. and credit to K&P where it’s due: they hit it on the head
accidentally?
does it matter?
well, jesus, this was depressing
hahahahahahhahahaa
talk to @dexdigi or @WorkingMichael if you like.
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