Riotous Humour
Lots of words have been written about all the rioting and looting - which were sparked off in London last week.
I suspect not much of what has been said up until now - has made people think.
Most folks - not least the politicians - are too busy trying to prove their already pre-determined points of view.
While the politicians say they want to listen - what they really want is for us to listen to them - and then agree with what they have to say.
So I was cheered by a piece written by Dominic Lawson in the Independent the other day.
Dominic is the brother of the celebrity TV chef - Nigella Lawson - which has nothing to do with anything really - but is an interesting aside if, like me, you are interested in food and cooking.
Anyway the point is that Dominic used a unusual source to shine some light on the recent riots - Bill Cosby - the famous American comedian whose light has dimmed a bit now, but he was a superstar of his day in The Cosby Show.
Here's an extract of what Dominic Lawson had to say:
"As ever, we are well behind the American curve.
In 2004, in an address to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People marking the 50th anniversary of Brown v The Board of Education (which abolished segregation in US schools) the black comedian Bill Cosby launched an eviscerating attack on "gangsta" culture and lingo:
"It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't where you is go ra?' Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with 'Why you ain't...' You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
Brown v Board of Education – these people who marched and were hit in the face with rocks and punched in the face to get an education and we got these knuckleheads walking around who don't want to learn English."
Cosby, in his rage, was making the point not just that this degraded patois was betraying the original civil rights marchers, but that those who didn't want to learn wouldn't get jobs, and if they didn't get jobs then they were doomed to a choice between poverty or (if they went with the bad guys) crime."
Now Cosby is American - an African American - a highly successful and wealthy comedian - with a few skeletons of his own in the closet.
But he was at least using his gift for humour to make a serious point which - so far at least - has not been replicated by any of the black community leaders in the UK.
Which doesn't require people to become stand-up comedians or tell jokes - of course - all it means is that our politicians and community leaders have to start confronting the issues - in an honest and forthright way.
I suspect not much of what has been said up until now - has made people think.
Most folks - not least the politicians - are too busy trying to prove their already pre-determined points of view.
While the politicians say they want to listen - what they really want is for us to listen to them - and then agree with what they have to say.
So I was cheered by a piece written by Dominic Lawson in the Independent the other day.
Dominic is the brother of the celebrity TV chef - Nigella Lawson - which has nothing to do with anything really - but is an interesting aside if, like me, you are interested in food and cooking.
Anyway the point is that Dominic used a unusual source to shine some light on the recent riots - Bill Cosby - the famous American comedian whose light has dimmed a bit now, but he was a superstar of his day in The Cosby Show.
Here's an extract of what Dominic Lawson had to say:
"As ever, we are well behind the American curve.
In 2004, in an address to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People marking the 50th anniversary of Brown v The Board of Education (which abolished segregation in US schools) the black comedian Bill Cosby launched an eviscerating attack on "gangsta" culture and lingo:
"It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: 'Why you ain't where you is go ra?' Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with 'Why you ain't...' You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
Brown v Board of Education – these people who marched and were hit in the face with rocks and punched in the face to get an education and we got these knuckleheads walking around who don't want to learn English."
Cosby, in his rage, was making the point not just that this degraded patois was betraying the original civil rights marchers, but that those who didn't want to learn wouldn't get jobs, and if they didn't get jobs then they were doomed to a choice between poverty or (if they went with the bad guys) crime."
Now Cosby is American - an African American - a highly successful and wealthy comedian - with a few skeletons of his own in the closet.
But he was at least using his gift for humour to make a serious point which - so far at least - has not been replicated by any of the black community leaders in the UK.
Which doesn't require people to become stand-up comedians or tell jokes - of course - all it means is that our politicians and community leaders have to start confronting the issues - in an honest and forthright way.
