World-renowned comedian Dave Chapelle took the stage of Saturday Night Live last night, November 10, a short while after the new Presdent’elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris gave their victory speeches in Delaware.
In typical Chapelle style, he addressed the many issues that have been plaguing Americans, in particular, black Americans, over the last four years. His commentary dealt with the several obstacles that African Americans face regularly, and he even tried to extend an olive branch to white people by offering them “n@#gger lessons.” It was a sharp contrast to his performance on the same platform in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected President.
“I would implore everybody who’s celebrating today to remember, it’s good to be a humble winner. Remember when I was here four years ago, remember how bad that felt? Remember that half the country right now still feels that way,” Chappelle said.
Touching on a number of topics in his sixteen-minute monologue, he compared Trump having the coronavirus to a person telling the homeless to stay strong in spite of hunger. A comparison made because of the level of healthcare Trump received as compared to others suffering from the virus. He said the situation was like telling the homeless: “don’t let hunger dictate your life,” referencing when Trump told Americans after recovering to not be afraid of the virus.
This was an empathetic monologue by Dave Chappelle on the election results. pic.twitter.com/vkzIZzukB1
— Khaya Dlanga (@khayadlanga) November 8, 2020
“That’s your leader. Think about that, for four years, that’s your leader. What kind of man does that? What kind of man makes sure he’s OK, while his friends are fighting for their lives and die? A White man. And I don’t mean to put this on the Whites, but I’ve been black for a long time, I notice the pattern,” he added.
Chapelle also called on the “good whites” to join him in a new program he called the ‘Kindness conspiracy’. He said it would require them to do random acts of kindness for black people just the way random black people were subject to discrimination.
“It’s random acts of kindness for Black people. Do something nice for a black person just because they’re black, and you’ve got to make sure they don’t deserve it.” He added: “It’s a very important part of it, they can’t deserve it, the same way all these years they did terrible things to black people just because they’re black and they didn’t deserve it.”
He used his own situation at home to describe what he said were the common reactions of white people to blacks. He was speaking about doing some shows in his hometown in a cornfield.
“They said, ‘I keep hearing this guy screaming all night, my kids are trying to sleep, and all they hear is (the n-word).’ I said, ‘Was I saying it, or were you? He had that twang in his voice, you know, that twang where you hear that accent, like, ‘Ohhhhh I know he doesn’t wear his mask,” he quipped.
Dave Chappelle just goes there for his #SNL monologue pic.twitter.com/98dfJDbJWE
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 8, 2020
He added: “I don’t know why poor White people don’t like wearing a mask. What is the problem? You wear a mask at the Klan rally — wear it to Walmart too.”
Chappelle said that black people had been wearing a mask and had been targeted for many years, so it was nothing new to them. This, he said, even extended to his career.
“I can’t even tell something true unless it has a punchline behind it. You don’t know how to survive yourselves. Black people are the only ones who know how to survive this. Whites, hurry quick, come get your (n-word) lessons. You need us.”
On a more serious note, Chapelle lamented the fact that the life expectancy of whites has been dropping within recent years. Something he said was caused by their use of drugs like heroin and suicide.
“All these White people out there that feel that anguish, that pain, they’re mad because they think nobody cares — maybe they don’t. Let me tell you something, I know how that feels.”
He added: “Believe me, believe me, I know how that feels. Everyone knows how that feels and I don’t hate anybody. I just hate that feeling. That’s what I fight, and what I suggest you fight. You gotta find a way to live your life. You gotta find a way to forgive each other. You gotta find a way to find joy in your existence, in spite of that feeling and if you can’t do that, come get these (n-word) lessons.”
