Trevor Noah (PHOTO CREDIT: Byron Keulemans)
by Wendy Todd
News that Trevor Noah would replace Jon Stewart as the new host of “The Daily Show” brought a collective round of applause for the South African comedian and his “fresh” perspective and “fresh takes on race.” Critics have long lamented the lack of color among late-night TV hosts, and now a black man has gotten one of the plum hosting gigs.
Noah might look like an enlightened choice, but his routines show he isn’t — his jokes often hinge on insulting African Americans.
Back in 2012, Noah made his first American appearance, on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” The bulk of his routine was composed of jokes about black Americans. The United States, he said, was not “the America he was promised,” and “America has the credit of a black man.”
Then Noah joked that black people are misidentified as African Americans. “They’re not African, but we’ll play along,” he said, adding, “Many of them really try to connect with Africa, you know? Some of them have these African names. They’ll be like, ‘Yeah, yeah, that’s my girl Wanda, yeah, yeah. Yeah that’s right, that’s Dashiqua, or dat’s Taniqua.” Noah emphasized all this “hilarity” by using stereotypical B-Boy hand gestures to drive it home — because this is how all black people communicate, obviously. Leno’s predominantly white audience ate it up.
I wasn’t aware Wanda was supposed to be recognized as an African name. Though poet Sha’Condria Sibley recently pointed out in a video that some of our cultural names do have African roots or intentions, attempting to falsify African culture is probably not top of mind for most black parents when choosing names for their children. But regardless, what’s so wrong with wanting to connect with your African roots? And yes, I am African American. I’m an American of African descent. That’s how I define myself, as is my right. Noah finds this to be a source of comedy. Because he continues to separate himself from African Americans by his repeated use of “they” when making fun of us, Noah should go walk around St. Louis or Cleveland. He’d find out quickly that he’s not viewed any differently than us.
Click here to continue reading…
SOURCE: The Washington Post
Wendy Todd is a culture and race blogger and freelance writer living in St. Louis.
Comments