Lay Off Larry!

As you can probably guess, I was a long-time fan of the Comedy Channel shows The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert.  I was saddened when those two worthies moved on to other things, but pleasantly surprised by what came next:  Trevor Noah took over TDS, and Larry Wilmore got his own show, The Nightly Show.  Both are very good, but I especially enjoy Wilmore's sense of humor.

Apparently, I'm not alone.  Wilmore was chosen to host last Saturday's White House Press Correspondent's Dinner, the annual roast/joke fest where, first, the President takes the podium to poke fun at Congress, his critics and the media, and then the professional comedian/host does the same.  This was President Obama's final WHPC Dinner.

To close the evening, Wilmore got serious for a moment and spoke from the heart about the historic nature of Barack Obama and what it means to him to have experienced our first black president. Then Wilmore finished with one last thing:



And with that, the internet exploded and conservative 'Murica went into apeshit-backlash mode:

"Wilmore called the president a what?"
"How disrespectful!"
Fox News (of course) called it "race-baiting."
Rush Limbaugh said the comment showed that the Obama administration had "no moral authority."
Etc., etc., etc.  Yada-yada-yada.

(You would not believe the hateful racist diatribes in the comments beneath the YouTube videos.  Or maybe you would.)

If you are among those offended by Wilmore's word, you're probably old, white, racist, or some combination thereof.  Myself, I thought it was fine -- provocative to be sure, but also a funny and fitting use of reverse-code for those who've been constipated for the past eight years because of the Black Man in the White House.  One last time before The Un-Blackening, back atcha!  Ha! (Remember, the WHPC Dinner is supposed to be a humorous event.  The humorless need not apply. )

Obama himself was cool with it -- he had no problem with Wilmore, and said so.  Obama's pretty much out of damns to give at this point anyway.  (Hell, my cousin Barry ended his stand-up with a mic drop!  How IDGAF is that?)  Our president understands that within much of the black community, "nigga" can often be acceptably used in familiar, friendly ways.  For them, use of the word defuses the pejorative racist connotation used against them -- they reclaim it and make it their own.  But Limbaugh, Fox News and others are utterly clueless about such things.  They think it's reverse racism -- "If friggin' Larry Wilmore can say that, why can't I?"

Well, it's quite simple.  He has the right, and you don't.  In some female circles, girlfriends have been known to fondly refer to each other as "bitches."  Does that mean that men should do the same?  I wouldn't advise it.  If you're a white person among black people in a social setting and you feel the need to be like Larry and by drop the N-word all over the place, you go right ahead and let me know how that works out for you.

Lay off Larry.  He's just fine.  If you don't get him, it's your problem.