Racism in comedy has grown its own acceptance in the minority community. With comedians like Richard Prior, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chapelle and more comedy has related to minorities on a more personal level. During the 1970s Richard Prior took comedy out of its regular seat and places it on the African Americans only section. He introduced the term “Nigger” and delivered it in such a way that most minorities to whom it applied to no longer felt insulted, they felt patriotic towards the word and finally felt like they owned its true meaning. These comedians use many rhetorical techniques to engage their audience, some of which are alliteration, satire; personification, bandwagon, and rehearing to bring to light the injustice that still remain in this country.
Richard’s joke often made fun of the way in which African Americans were treated by Caucasians. He would create these examples that were taken to the extreme but were in direct connection with what was happening during the 70s. Dave Chapelle constantly jokes about the government secreting plotting to frame most African Americans, except for the “Nerdy-ones”. In his comedy he claims this country could care less about African American hostages, and that white friends are always needed because someone has to be able to speak to the cops.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32OX1E59nA8&feature=related
It is true that many non-white comedians perform routines that deal with racial subject matters. But I do not think it is correct to label their comedy as racist or to say that racism has somehow “gained acceptance” in minority communities.
Prior’s brand of comedy was innovative, but he did not make the use of “N” word more acceptable. It is still offensive to many people. Prior himself seemed to use the word for rhetorical emphasis. In fact, watching some of his routines can be quite painful — he himself seems uncomfortable and even quite angry at times. How do such comedic performances affect performers? Dave Chappelle claims that he stopped the production of the “Chappelle Show” because he felt as if people weren’t “getting it”, it being a nuanced commentary on racism and race relations.
It is also important to think about the history of black and non-white performance as a whole and the ways in which race has always been a part of the work of actors of color. For the first black actors and comedians, racism and performance was inextricably linked — they *had* to perform in blackface.