2020s: "Sticks and Stones May Break iPhones" - Dave Chappelle
In response to the controversy caused by his previous Netflix specials for his jokes about the queer community, particularly trans, Dave Chappelle released The Closer in 2021. He argues in the special that people who are angry at him only hear his soundbites as opposed to watching or hearing the performance in its entirety. He claims, “I have never had a problem with transgender people. If you listen to what I’m saying, clearly, my problem has always been with white people,” stating, “Gay people are minorities until they need to be white again.” This doesn't stop Chappelle from pushing the jokes further about trans people, and by the end promises to stop making jokes about the LGBTQ+ community until they can recognize the hypocrisy and harm they've projected onto the black community.
Queer activists have made multiple counter arguments to Chappelle's claims, one major point being that Netflix released The Closer during a time of record number of deaths within the black trans community, and in turn, Netflix is perpetuating transphobia that can be used as propaganda for violence.
This comedy special is an archive of an open discourse that is ongoing in humanities, and is a running theme throughout this project, as ideologies of old and future clash. Hopefully what comes out of this intense discourse is more of an understanding of one another than we previously had before.
