A Letter to Dave Chapelle

Dear Mr. Chappelle,

Where have you gone Dave Chappelle? Some say a Psych Ward in South Africa, and some think you have gone flat out crazy. Speaking on behalf of your loyal fans, we miss you Dave. We have lost so many comedians to such things as pilgrimages, drugs, and just real life. The days of Richard Pryor slowly turn to a distant memory and you gave us that spark. The days of Chris Tucker spouting stories of cockroaches on Def Comedy Jam have faded to black. So why must you go the straight shooter route? Why do you no longer wish to play the role of the politically incorrect funny man who stirs up trouble on HBO specials and Comedy Central weekly programming?
You were living the good life Dave. Your show was a smash hit. And you had a 50 million dollar deal for two more seasons and you pulled a Vince Young. You walked off the set and no one had any idea what seemed to be the problem. You retired to South Africa for two weeks leaving your show and your money behind because you had to relieve some stress? Come on now Mr. Chappelle. You are one of the greats and your show spoke to a generation of people who just wanted to relax for an hour a week and watch you parade around as Rick James, Samuel L. Jackson, or my personal favorite, Tyrone Biggums.

You are still at the height of your career Mr. Chappelle. YouTube.com tries to show your videos (the ones that comedy central will allow at least) to the masses so people can know about the myth that is now Dave Chappelle. Come back Dave. Your stand up game will always be there. Spread the joy of laughter and black white supremacist skits to everyone like the days of old. This world still needs you Dave.

Your Loyal Fan,
Tom

Inter Racial Relationships

America elected its first black president, so it is no doubt that strides have been made in the acceptance of our melting pot of a nation. However, why when some little, blonde, white girls bring home an African American man to their parents, the mother and father remain skeptical and very unaccepting? A black man is suitable to run our country but can’t date your daughter (our vice versa). It is hard to believe that in the year 2009 we as a nation still have a problem with accepting this.

The other day I found myself expanding my mind in watching The Steve Wilkos show. Granted that Steve Wilkos isn’t at the forefront of knowledge when it comes to most topics, however the title of this show Interracial relationships, so I figured I might learn something being that I’m in an interracial relationship. The show featured a couple different cases all having to do with a white woman dating a black man or a black woman dating a white man. I noticed a few things.
The first thing I noticed was that every person on the show had southern drawls, both white and black. This wasn’t a surprise even though I know a lot of racially tolerant people from the South, there are still some a little sore about the civil war (even though that was like one hundred years ago!). Being that the South is called the “bible belt”, I figured people would be a little more tolerant but I was wrong.
The next thing was that when the case was a black woman dating a white man, the African American father would make the standard jokes about his daughter’s white boyfriend, as opposed to white fathers talking about their daughters black partner. The white fathers were much harsher with their words and showed a general hate for the young black men. The black fathers were just kind of just making fun of the white guys and didn’t really show any hate at all.
Finally, I noticed that both races were very proud to be the color they were. Not one of the parents on the show thought the partners their children chose for themselves were good enough for them. If America could actually drop their bias from old man to young toddler then we could be the most socially advance country on the planet.