Chappelle is Black Enough

I'm a fan of Dave Chappelle but I take issue with something he said during his monologue on SNL a couple weeks ago.  He made a comparison between 'Black lives matter' and 'Blue lives matter'.  He minimized 'Blue' by stating Blue is a suit you wear that you can easily remove.  'If you don't like the job, get another one,' he said. I postulate that Blue and Black are EACH attitudes leading to behaviors associated with consequences.

Uncle Tom isn't Black enough. He doesn't wear his pants low enough.  He says 'ask' instead of 'aks'. He can't dance and finished school.  He doesn't fight or do drugs. He's not into Hip Hop.  These are not behaviors with which he was born.  It's the person he has become resulting from a series of choices he's made influenced by important figures in his life.

Barney P. Fife is too Blue.  He thinks his badge protects him from the results of his actions.  He can spot guilty people at a glance. He plays judge, jury and executioner while hiding behind a shiny piece of metal.

It seems to me neither Barney nor Tom represent the norm as Dave would see it.  I see more value in someone who puts his life on the line by wearing a Blue uniform than someone who pumps his fist in the air because he's Black enough to matter.


Michael Jackson - Beat It