News of the DL Hughley Keeps Spreading - Will New York Be Next?

It took two months, but thanks to Eddie and some concerned Black folks in Forth Worth and local media, DL Hughley's disparaging comments about African American women on the Tonight Show continues to spread. First it hit the local news in Ft. Worth, the the wire service UPI, and now Eurweb, Clutch, Mirror on America, Francis Holland. I am doing some drive-by posting this morning, but I'll have a more in dept line up after lunch. Don't forget to read Sunday's post featuring video of the protest.

To all of the new readers, we've been on the case for almost two months. You can read about it here, here, here, and here

DL is headed to New York next month. Will Rev. Al step up and confront the comedian when DL performs for an entire week in New York City at Caroline's. (commence holding your breath now). Who cares! This episode proves that ordinary folks can stand up for themselves. Have y'all stopped to thank Eddie today? He caught a case over this!

UPDATE: The story is over at Crunk & Disorderly and Whatsuptamnews.

Comments

[Deanna]

I love this blog and it's purpose!

[Raquita]

I - have a small question.. What is it that the protest wants? What is the desired effect here?

[Eddie G. Griffin]

I love my beautiful sisters. It may seem old fashion and trite, but I am one man willing to stand up and defend their honor.

My attempt to boo Hughley off the stage was a man-on-man thing, an act of conscious. People can slice and dice the issues of the debate over and over again. But when all is said and done, it's all about the dignity of our women- not to mention the spineless men who would let these offenders have their way.

[metricpenny]

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of myself and my daughter.

[Raquita]

But that doesn't tell me what the goal of the protest is..

Whats the goal..

[g-e-m2001]

The goal of the protest in Ft. Worth is to have DL issue an apology. The goal of this website is to highlight attacks on Black women in popular culture. If having a Black man call a group of college educated Black women nappy headed and ugly, I don't know what is.

The desired effect is to send a message that attacks on Black women in particular or in general will not go unnoticed. I set this blog up to provide some balance to the overwhelmingly disparaging treatment of Black women in popular culture.

I can only speak for me.

[M. Vass]

I am posting this comment here so that your readers might see some aspects of this issue you are not addressing which it the right to free speech, even if that speech is offensive. In addition they will be able to see your comments and my response.

First I would like to thank you, g-e-m2001, for responding. I take it that you are a first time visitor to my site so I’m glad, in a way, that you felt strongly enough to comment.

But it would seem that you both missed the intent of my post and didn’t bother to read any other posts I have on this blog. I will accept that I may have not made my position clear in my posts about Mr. Hughley, which I will rectify shortly, but I advise that you read my blog a bit before you make the accusation that I forgive the depiction of women in music videos or would ever justify the actions of a child molester.

To clarify, I was speaking about the right to free speech. That never implies that I agree with the speech that is made. I stated that I disagreed with Mr. Hughley’s comments. Obviously not harshly enough for some. To be exact, I did not find his comments funny. I thought it was in bad taste, and thoughtless. He has the right to those comments, but I don’t think his attempt at humor worked.

Given that I have heard women comedians say far worse things about other women. Bad taste is not a male only event. Listen to BET comedy skits and you will see exactly that. Color is also not a factor in the quality of the humor. This does not excuse Mr. Hughley but it does highlight a point that if done right many off color jokes can be humorous.

I’m reminded of the various “yo mama” jokes that many have heard during their childhood. Were they serious there would be fights, and occasionally there were, but more often they were humorous.

Going on, your personal attacks at Mr. Hughley may be motivated by your passion on the subject, but they weaken your argument. The failure of his television shows are proof that his humor is not universal, but his career and the fact he got the shows proves some do agree with it. I would argue that his audience is not confined to only men no matter the format, so shouting that he is sexist doesn’t make you right. He may be, but the shouting just drowns out that argument.

My luxury is that I can comment on this blog about the issues I wish to. In this case it was the degree of freedom of speech we have, and the poor use of resources applied in this case. Your luxury is that you could have formulated a full and point driven comment to identify the other factors you felt needed to be addressed. Implying accusations of sexism and my preferences do not forward those arguments.

And yes I do feel that if the women of Rutgers are insulted they can demand an apology, which even Mr. Hughley stated he would do. While not stating he went to far he did imply it. That’s not a defense, just what I thought was obvious and part of why I included it as part of the post. I think I clearly stated why an apology would be a private matter. I think I also stated clearly why individuals that are not involved in this case have no right to a national public apology.

Now let me deal with your accusations. If you bothered to look at the posts on the site you would quickly find that I often comment when I think women/men/groups have been wronged. I have consistently argued against gansta rap and hip hop due to the depiction of women as objects, language, drug use, and criminal behavior that it directly promotes. I have commented on the actions of celebrities and entertainers, in support of those that improve the quality of life, and against those that do not. Neither color nor sex influences my commentary. I am a staunch voice for the importance of education and proper raising of the youth.

To be specific I have commented about the R. Kelly case you implicitly mentioned, various rappers actions including Puff Daddy, Snoop Dogg, and DMX. I have no less than 10 posts discussing my thoughts about the total events in the Don Imus event. I have spoken about politicians and their failures, religion and the right to believe what we wish, and the media with its apparent bias on numerous issues that affect ALL Americans, with a special preference to African Americans and Hispanics. I have also championed several aspects of health and public safety.

In closing, if I was not clear on my feelings about Mr. Hughley’s comments I will say again, I don’t like what he said, he was wrong. I will also say again that the effort used against Mr. Hughley would have been better spent,

http://www.blackentertainmentblog.com/2007/06/why-protest-d-l-hughley-part-3-61920073.html" REL="nofollow">“to get change made, why not address the music industry that promotes almost single mindedly gansta rap music that advocates drugs, child abandonment, degredation of women and criminal pursuits. Why attack 1 man, doing his job with the intent to entertain and arguably does so, when there is an institution making tens of millions while influencing our youth in the most base and morally questionable barrage of content daily.”

[Anonymous]

I really wish MY PEOPLE would stop being soooo defensive and try to inact change. If folks are always speaking of black folks (appearances, behavior) then maybe "it is what it is". It's bad enough they have to look the way they do ON the court but my goodness get a brush, some heels and dresses on once you step off the court. I'm really tired of looking at black women who don't care about how they look. Many of the female basketball players don't want to look like women because of other reasons I'd rather not say. WAKE UP!!!! IT'S SAD!!