Two men, using no more than fists and feet, pummel another man’s legs. The man who’s receiving the beatdown is on a couch partially covered in dirt from the heels of his platform shoes, which he thrust into the expensive, milk-colored cushions. When the two men are finished, their victim falls off of the couch and crawls away, screaming, “They should have never gave you niggas money!”
The skit is from Dave Chappelle’s popular and controversial TV show, Chappelle’s Show, which, while garnering praise and condemnation alike, is one of the most concrete examples of how Black artists rely on comedy in order to convey heavier themes that would otherwise be less palatable to mainstream –ie white – audiences, blurring the lines in a way that can be both harmful…
