Dr. Boyce: Wayne Brady Wants to Slap the Sh*t Out of Bill Maher, I Want to Slap Him Too
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, KultureKritic.com
Bill Maher drew the ire of comedian Wayne Brady recently by comparing President Obama to him in a less-than favorable way. Describing the aggressive, angry black man that he’d hoped President Obama might be, Maher restarted the white man’s version of the “black enough” debate by stating that Obama is an inadequate black man because he is as kind and polite as Wayne Brady.
Not one to back down from Maher’s comments, Brady struck back by saying that he’d gladly slap the sh*t out of Maher to prove that he’s blacker than he thinks. This is not the first time Maher has made derogatory remarks in reference to his perception of what it means to be black. Last year after the BP Oil spill, Maher said that if Obama were a “real” black president, he would bring the BP execs in a room and lift up his shirt up so they could “see the gun in his pants.” According to Maher, a real black President would then start shooting people in the foot.
A third time I noticed when Maher’s HBO-protected white privilege showed itself is when he suggested that Professor Cornel West was out “making booty calls” on Friday nights. Professor West, being a man of class and dignity, simply responded that he’s “just a brother trying to live a good, Christian life.” I doubt that Maher would have made the same comment to white Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman. But of course, according to Maher, all “real black men” make booty calls on Friday nights with any woman with a working v****a.
This kind of condescending, paternalistic racism is the sort of thing that African Americans run into when we make strategic political alliances with liberal Democrats. In addition to dismissing the causes that matter to us and hijacking our psyches to accept uncomfortable liberal viewpoints, they then expect us to modify our behavior in order to fit odd fantasies about blackness. In many ways, they are the political version of the white girl in college who sleeps with black guys to see if the “rumors are really true.” We can easily become novelties to them, like toys that you play with until you are bored and move onto something more interesting.
Here’s a newsflash for Bill Maher: Wayne Brady is BLACK, VERY BLACK. In fact, he’s as black as anything you’ll ever see in your life. While you, my friend, may believe that Brady isn’t black because he doesn’t desire to be a “N*gga in Paris,” most black people around the world are far more authentic than the dark-skinned hookers you meet with on your liquor and weed trips to Amsterdam. We work just as hard as your white friends, are just as educated, just as kind and just as productive as Barack Obama, Wayne Brady or any other man you somehow see to be a violation of the “Bill Maher Code of N*ggerlicious Conduct.”
The bottom line is that we are not put on this planet for your entertainment or as a way for you to continue rebelling against your parents. You may gain cool points with white people for hanging with black folks, but most of us can see right through you.
I know Bill Maher very well. I’ve never met him, but I had friends like him as a kid. These were the guys who would tell you that you “weren’t acting black” because you didn’t smoke weed, or wanted to do your homework. They were the spoiled, thrill-seeking kids from the suburbs who would convince you to do something that would get you both arrested, but then call their rich fathers to bail them out while your black a*s stayed in jail. Men like Maher don’t give black men a chance to express the breadth of their humanity and become something better than the stereotype….they just want you to be negro playthings, like Richard Pryor’s character in “The Toy.”
I hope Wayne Brady doesn’t show his blackness by slapping the sh*t out of Bill Maher. Instead, this is a chance to show him that black men with education and dignity don’t behave that way. Part of the reason that I, along with Profs Marc Lamont Hill, Jawanza Kunjufu, Steve Perry and Ivory Tolson participated in the Janks Morton film “Hoodwinked” is that we are sick and tired of people defining black men to be violent, lazy, ignorant, weed smoking, gun toting, sexually irresponsible buffoons who exist solely for the white man’s entertainment. We are claiming the space behind our own identity and refusing to let men like Maher hijack it in the name of helping us to “keep it real.”
In order for Bill Maher to learn about black men, he’s going to have to learn how to respect us first. I honestly don’t see that ever happening, for the black men I roll with every day are not nearly as exciting as Maher’s liberal suburban fantasy. Many of us are normal, hard-working, clean cut, law-abiding, educated and industrious citizens, including both Wayne Brady and President Barack Obama.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To receive Dr. Boyce commentary in your email, please click here.
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Excellently stated!!
Gee Bill…Somebody doesn’t dig your treatment of African-Americans…who do or don’t like your condescending opinions! I love it when liberals will tell you that I’m doing this for your own good…that you DON’T understand the big picture. And as you notice, junior Bill loves to throw racist term very freely…My dad always says that be cause of a person calling other out because that person is trying hide something…hmmm junior Bill may we say a closet racist?????
Wayne I’ll volunteer to slap the sh#t out of Bill Mahr for you!
So what the doctor is saying is that Wayne Brady is a bad assed m**o who don’t take no sh*t from the man, not the likeable funny clean-cut guy America has seen on TV.
Wayne Brady, a bad assed m**o? Yeah, right. He is nothing more than a likeable clean-cut guy, like the President.
Billy boy is a victim of in breeding.
whats wrong boyce…maher will not invite you on his show? i noticed the only netork still inviting you on as a guest is cnn. i find it peculiar that i have never once heard you attack anyone on cnn. i guess if they ban your black a*s from cnn the only time we will see your fat head a*s will be on your ghetto a*s videos you present on ybw because you cannot get on tv anymore. after the election hopefully no one will blog in to get rid of your a*s completely.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Maher’s comment. The president and other black members in his administration are being portrayed by the republicans as “angry black people” so they might as well be it. They may actually get something done that way. I’m tired of seeing the president backing down time and time again to children who go by the name republican.
Republicans don’t portray blacks as ‘angry’. The only people who refuse to let race go as in issue, is liberals. It’s kept alive because it’s a safe-haven – a fall-back plan for liberals when they fail at every other debate on the issues. Very sad.
Wow. Excellent article. You nailed everything exactly right.
Where does the line form? I think a major beatdown is in order for his lack of any desire to let the 911 truth state it’s side and his pandering to Ron Paul only for rating. I used to watch and go along with bill’s way of looking at things but just like Dennis Miller he’s lost touch with his wit and cred.
OMG. As someone who regularly watches Bill Maher’s show on HBO, this article is totally off base. First off you called his show HBO protected white privilege and I have no clue where that view comes from. I have seen him interview several African Americans and he regularly has African Americans as panelist on his show. This man is one of the few white people in show business that comes across as ginuwine in his respect for not only blacks but all races. It’s hard to believe that you would want to attack him for comments that are clearly taken out of context. I watched the complete shows of all the comments that you refer to in this article and they were all made with a sense that this is what the stereotype of a black person should be acting like and not what he truly believes. He’s a comedian not a politician. He jokes at times. That’s what makes his show entertaining. The question you should be asking yourself is if Chris Rock made those same comments would you feel the same way? I don’t think anyone would because it would be viewed simply as an attempt at comedy which it was. Bill is about as connected and qualified to speak on the plight of our community as any white person that I have seen on TV. He does not attempt to weigh in on situations that he has no idea of what it’s like and never has. Every time that I’ve seen him interact publicly with any black person on his show he has always shown them the upmost respect . So for you to say that he’s some type of person that pushes people to act out their stereotypes and then runs to his rich parents to bail him out is completely off base. I challenge you to watch an entire season of his show and then come back and write this same article. You will find that he places topics that are relevant to the black community in his discussions even when it’s not done by other outlets. Sorry Doc but you are wrong on this one.
@mg
you said: I have seen him interview several African Americans and he regularly has African Americans as panelist on his show.
thats the problem…he regularly invite aa as panelist…everyone except….you got it…boyce watkins.
boyce’s side piece cornel west is a regular on the show. boyce is p****d that bill doesn’t see him as relevant to invite him on the show as a panelist.
think about it..bill’s show would be the perfect platform for boyce to showcase his talent…i’m sure he would love to be a regular on the show.
i’m sure he hate bill as much as rev. al and mellissa, although they have nothing to do with him never being on msnbc as a guest.
the man is full of hate and is destroying himself.
Anyone who uses OMG non-ironically probably shouldn’t be expected to understand what “white privilege” means. Seriously, though:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=white%2Bprivilege
A clue, before you tl;dr this: white privilege is not about how many blacks you have on your show or whether some of your best friends are black.
TMYK.
boyce you want to slap bill for a different reason. lol
as usual…hate and jealousy is the reason behind your motive to assail bill.
i’m sure being relegated to these bush league blog sites for national notoriety is driving you coo coo.
especially when you see others on national tv doing the job you desire. just like a hater! lol
dr. watkins you’re full of c**p on this one.
nothing wrong with bill maher or his show…it’s a great show. bill regularly invite black people on the show and he treat them with dignity and respect. something you cannot say….
Children often stand on opposite sides of a fence name calling and slinging mud at each other. That is what’s wrong in America. The Nation is being controlled by people at the far opposing ends of the political spectrum. These radicals spend all their time and all OUR money undoing what the other has done. All the while making empty promises to get our vote. America needs to clean house. Sweep all the trash out of Washington and start from scratch. Oh…and change the station on TV. Try the history channel.
Dr. Boyce You hit it right On the head. Men Like Mr. Maher and even some Black people have perception of what is authentically Black twisted. Not all Black men are thugs, despite the thug-jail culture and rap music feeding into false white perceptions. We are not all self destructive fools. I am glad you wrote this piece. It is about time that we started standing up and expressing the words to describe who we truly are today in America. We are many things. But we are not totally disappointing thugs bent on destroying self and community.
WHY BOTHER SHOWING HIM ANYTHING? WHITES WHO DO WHAT HE DOES DON’T DESERVE OUR VALUABLE TIME.THESE GUYS ONLY WANT TO REPLACE US IN BLACK WOMEN’S ARMS, AND DON’T CARE WHAT BLACK WOMEN WANT, EITHER. SHOUT!
OH right so lets equate our “Blackness” with the ability to slap the s**t out of somebody we don’t agree with. Yea, real Black.
PRESIDENT IS NOT LETTING STRESS TAKE OVER HIS BODY CALM IS THE WAY TO STAY GOD BLESS YOU OBAMA
This mindset is lived out in the familycourt system in Queens,Blk &Latino women routinely accuse Men of Color of the worst thing imagineable and they are believed by the liberal referees lawyers and judges until the truth is revealed 5 to 7 yrs later and then the relationship with the children especially males has been damaged. The effects of systemic racisim is what plagues this society most,especially in hard economic times!
Dr. Watkins, I’ve been a faithful viewer of your blogs for years and I consider you to be a true inspiration to me as a black intellectual. You would be hard pressed to find anyone that follow your blogs the way I do. How you admire Micheal Eric Dyson is how I admire you and consider myself to be 150% pro-black. I’ve also been following Mr. Maher for at least 15 years and he’s been proven to be one of the wittiest, unbiased, funniest and politically savvy comedians alive. With that being said Dr. Boyce, you have Mr. Maher all wrong. I don’t know if you have staff that report small clips of what Bill says, or, you just peep in every now and again to hear what he says and take it out of context. Bill makes fun of everyone and every race. When it comes to serious issues he ALWAYS talk about how white men are ruining this country. I think Bill and yourself would make an excellent team for a show.
I am so glad to hear Bill Maher, be put in his white place. He who protrays, to be something else alway show their true color. I definityly can relate to the statement of having a friend in school,
that said to my son always,” you don’t talk black enough”., and soon as there was trouble my son got blamed for everything, that cost me a small fortune. Wayne Brady, stand your ground and be the wonderful, respectable person , I know you to be.
I use to like to watch Bill Maher, but I do not like his racist remarks, about our President.
This is how the left operates, a lot of people blame racism in politics on the GOP, and while some Republicans have made racist statements, the majority of it comes from the left. It wasn’t Republicans who said he isn’t black enough, that was Joe Biden and Harry Reid. It wasn’t Republicans who made up stuff about Herman Cain and stereotyped him over his s*x scandal, it was the left. It wasn’t the Republicans who pummeled Allen West for being stupid, uneducated and stereotypically hot tempered, that was the left. It wasn’t the Republicans who praised Robert Byrd, who was an exalted Cyclops in the Klan when he died, it was the left including Obama, Hilary, Biden, who said they were best friends, Reid and Pelosi. Most Republicans I know condemned the man for being a racist, and corrupt politician. It wasn’t Republicans who voted against the civil rights act, it was the left. I grew up as a black man in the 1950′s and the 1960′s, and I was a lefty until the late 1970′s, then I saw through them. I’m not surprised by what Maher said. He only supports the guy to convince himself he isn’t a racist, and he calls anyone who opposes Obama racist to make himself feel less racist. Just like everyone else on the left. Let’s face it, the only reason that a man with 3 years in the Senate beat an extremely popular and well experienced senator and first lady is because he is black. They didn’t like him, but it gave them street cred to have put a black man in office. They use us and abuse us, they don’t see us as people, we are tools to advance their agenda and they have a lot of good people of all races fooled. Let me be clear, I don’t care for almost any of Barack Obama’s positions, but that doesn’t mean I hope he does poorly, and I don’t think the right feels that way either. They, like me, hope he fails at implementing some of his policies that will do great harm to this country that I love and have devoted nearly 20 years of my life serving both in the military and as an educator. at the same time, they wish he would be successful by implementing strong economic policies and a good foreign policy. Obviously there are racists on both sides, but the vast majority exist on the left. Maher is a pathetic excuse of a human being, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he feels the way he does.