Why I Wasn't Offended By The 'Harriet Tubman Sextape'

OK, alright I get it.  The Trayvon Martin case has brought about a new sense of awareness for Black people across the country and race matters aren’t being taken as lightly as they had been in the past. Some people would say that we finally woke up. But, does that mean we can’t laugh anymore? Does that mean that comedians must now censor their material so as not to offend the newly awakened Black person? I mean, this isn't the first time a comedian or a comedy sketch has spoofed slavery. Why now is this such a big deal?

Did I find it funny? Meh, not really. But that’s because the jokes were telegraphed, meaning I could see the punchline coming, I knew exactly where they were going with it. So to me, it wasn’t really funny. But I didn’t necessarily find it offensive either. Over the years several well known comedians have spoofed slavery and made light of black stereotypes without any backlash. Some comedians have literally made a living off of talking about how stereotypical black folks do things.

Steve Harvey and Nephew Tommy have a regularly running bit, or at least the last time I was a listener of his show they did, where they both play slave characters and make a mockery of slavery and not a single ounce of backlash has made it to the mainstream and become a large public outcry. Hell, we've done it on The Green Chimp Show where we have spoken in a slave-like manner with what we perceived to be slave vernacular. Maybe it shouldn't have been done, but the reason that they did it and thought it was going to be funny was because of all the other times it’s been done and people laughed at it.

People are saying that it endorses “rape culture” but in the same breath will tell their daughters that a wet coochie and a dry purse don’t match. You didn’t see a rape take place in the video although the actress portraying Harriet did allude to it. What you saw was something that Black women and women of other races alike have championed for years and that’s use what you got to get what you want. She was using her feminine wiles, if you will, to manipulate “massah” into allowing her to start the Underground Railroad. Now was it historically accurate? Of course not! But is that a requirement for comedy? Does a comedy sketch have to be historically accurate? Does a movie that is set during the time of slavery have to be historically accurate? If so, then why didn’t D’Jango get this much backlash for portraying a goddamn slave cowboy who single handedly took down an entire plantation to rescue the love of his life? Hell, Roots wasn’t even as historically accurate as it could have or perhaps should have been. Many of its scenes were watered down and romanticized so that the viewing public could actually stomach it. So is slavery a taboo subject to spoof? Because it hasn’t been until now. I understand that we want to preserve the integrity of what happened during slavery and we don’t want anyone discounting it and the horrendous acts that occurred during that time, but do we really need to be focusing our energy and efforts on that as much as we need to be focusing on what is happening to us right now today? As far as we all know, Harriet Tubman never willingly had sex with a white slave owner, and given the fact that she and all white slave owners are dead, she never will. But what is happening and will continue to happen unless we take action is the slaughter and criminalization of our young Black men. Be honest, when is the last time you’ve sat down with a young person or any person for that matter and had a real discussion about slavery and the impact that it still has on us today? I’m not talking about telling a kid that white people treated Black people badly and made them do all their work for free. I’m talking about something meaningful that could make them see just how deeply slavery has affected Black people. And where the hell was all this outrage when Texas was changing the definition of slavery in its textbooks?

Let’s not be fooled, this video did not sway anyone one way or the other who had already felt a certain way about Black folks or slavery. We have bigger fish to fry.

Let’s break this down, because there is some comedic and intellectual value to the video. First of all, it is set in 1851 and the guy has a video camera. So that disarmed it for me right there and allowed me to see it as an attempt at comedy. Not only were there no video cameras at the time, but him making a sextape pokes fun at this era where sextapes of famous people or infamous people are always leaking. Then in his very first exchange with Harriet, the man with the camera says something very profound that I think was lost on a lot of people because they went into watching the video already anticipating something offensive. But what he said was, “I’s tired of all this unpaid, highly skilled labor that I’s put forth, just so our future children can have no benefits and still have to deal with racial inequalities 162 years later.” In that one sentence he dispels the myth that all slaves did was plow the field and pick cotton and touches on the reality of Black folks today. Not all slave labor was just unskilled labor that just anyone could do. Slaves were used for more than just toting that barge or bailing that hay. They were carpenters, blacksmiths, silversmiths, and quite ironically locksmiths. They were also engineers and inventors but most would never be given credit for their inventions because a white man would steal them and claim them as their own. In the last part of the sentence he says, “just so our future children can have no benefits and still have to deal with racial inequalities 162 years later.” Now if you can’t see the profundity in that then I don’t know what else to tell you. Because 162 years after the time this video was set which was 1851, is 2013 and aren’t we still dealing with racial inequalities? So let’s not totally discredit the video, that one exchange in my opinion says that the intent wasn’t to be disrespectful. It was an attempt at humor which ended up amounting to coonery and buffoonery not unlike any of the other stuff that we see on TV that has a Black cast (i.e. Reality Shows). Where is the outrage for reality shows that cast aspersions on Black people? If it’s OK for you to be enthralled with Love and Hip Hop, R&B Divas, Married To Medicine, and all the other crap that is shown on a weekly basis that makes Black folks look like idiots, why can't I laugh at this video?

I've seen some people say, "If a White person had made this video we would be marching up and down the streets". That may be true, but I also say if Dave Chappelle had made this video we would all be on the floor crying laughing and reposting and retweeting the link until it went viral.

I truthfully don’t think Black people are as offended by it as they say they are. I think it’s just indicative of how many Black people still worry about how White folks see us. They’re worried that a White person might see the video and think something negative about Black people. NEWSFLASH: White people who think negatively about Black people were already doing so, this video didn’t create any new negative thinkers. Just like a video depicting Black folks in a positive light wouldn’t convert anyone who thinks negatively about Black people. It’s also a response to Russell Simmons going so hard at Don Lemon for his idiotic ass comments and then allowing this to be posted to his site. I’m sorry but I can't help but to think that the outrage is disingenuous.

Black people have a tendency to deify our prominent historical figures, which is peculiar seeing how much Black folks love them some church. I'm pretty sure the bible says something about there only being one God, and you would think Black people would know that as much as people quote scripture on Facebook and Twitter. Yet, Dr. King, President Obama, Harriet Tubman and a few others have still managed to make it to "God" status. Harriet Tubman was a person, a supremely extraordinary person, but a person nonetheless.

Just like Harriet said, she freed thousands of slaves and she could have freed more had they known they were slaves. Don’t be a slave to group think. Don't allow your outrage to come from the fact that everybody else is outraged. I personally wasn’t offended by the video because I saw it as an attempt at comedy and I refuse to allow the masses to make me change my sensibilities because somebody doesn't know how to take a joke.

That's my take on it. I could be wrong...but I doubt it.