Comedians BYU Black History Video Goes Viral

sanluisobispo.com ^ | AP

[AnTiw1]

A YouTube video of a white comedian who painted his face black and quizzed Brigham Young University students about Black History Month has brought some unwanted attention to the Mormon-run school. Observers have called some student responses ignorant while others criticized the comedian's use of the 19th century theater technique considered racially offensive by black people.

[AnTiw1]

' BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins told the Salt Lake Tribune that officials at the school, which is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were disappointed by some of the remarks and said they don't represent the more than 30,000 students enrolled there. She also said some students complained the editing was selective and perhaps manipulative.

Others criticized the comedian's use of blackface, which was popular in 19th century "minstrel shows" that caricatured blacks. "The kids are extremely naive, and Ackerman exploits that," Darron Smith, a former BYU professor, who is black, told the Tribune. "Where it went south was the use of blackface. He doesn't understand how offensive it is." '

http://m.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&hl=en&client=mv-google&v=XGeMy-6hnr0

[Pontiac]

I think the video has been pulled

I can’t pull it up

[1raider1]

Could it possibly have been staged?

[atomic_dog]

Great, 3 things I could care less about; BYU, Black History Month and comedians.

[AnTiw1]

this is al jolson with and without 'blackface' makeup as theyused in minstrel shows 100yrs ago

[dead]

I got about two thirds through it before bailing.

He forgot the first rule of comedy.

[AnTiw1]

its working for me

but the net is moving like sludge right now

least where i am...

anyway, i didn't find it that offensive...but greater minds will judge

[svcw]

It may have gone viral, however it was also poorly down, and zero humor. I was able to watch only about one minute.

[svcw]

Don’t worry, it was awful.

[jessduntno]

“Could it possibly have been staged?”

Fake Hate Crime at Harvard?
John on January 6, 2011 at 9:33 am

Every time a splashy new hate crime happens on a college campus, you can’t help but remember all the previous hate crimes that turned out to be fakes. Last month, someone apparently urinated on a collection of books related to gay marriage at the Harvard library. It was immediately investigated as a possible hate crime. Now the investigation has revealed that a library staffer “accidentally” spilled a bottle of urine on the books:

it was revealed Monday morning that “our own library personnel” had accidentally spilled a bottle, containing what was reported to be urine, that had been found on the shelf

Yeah, you know, that sort of thing happens all the time. Wait, what…? A university spokesman is as puzzled as I am:

Faculty of Arts and Sciences spokesman Jeff Neal wrote in an e-mail that it remains unclear why a bottle of urine was stowed in the library, adding that the spill was reported by the library employee—the same person who caused the spill, according to his understanding—and cleaned up the same day that it occurred.

Why that reminds me of just the other day when I visited my local library with a fresh stool sample and, well, I can’t say more as the situation is still under investigation. But trust me, s#@t happens.

http://www.verumserum.com/?p=20376

[E Rocc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeixtYS-P3s

Morgan Freeman isn’t fond of black history month.

[rabidralph]

Key words are your friend.

[bigheadfred]

Kids will be kids.

And now for some music

Pumped Up Kicks

"All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,
You better run, better run, outrun my gun.
All the other kids with the pumped up kicks
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet."

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If offensive things did not exist, it would be necessary to invent them.

[Verginius Rufus]

It's surprising that it isn't a "hate crime" for a white person to put on make-up to appear black. Of course there would have to be an exemption for "Saturday Night Live."

The black students didn't do any better than the white students at knowing the right answers to the questions.

If they sent a Mormon student of Polynesian ancestry to a historically-black college and started asking the students questions about Mormonism, I wonder how well informed the students would be. Would they be able to identify any Mormon past or present?

[Ramius]

I don’t see why it would “go viral”. It just wasn’t very good. I think I got about halfway and decided not to waste any more time on it.

[Dallas59]

yeah...A white guy painting his face black is offensive.....

[PA Engineer]

Hey. You have to admit one thing. Name one other country where a poor black kid could grow up to be a rich white women.

[AnTiw1]

i grew up mormon and i knew the byu students would be sheltered

i was a teenager before i met a black person

i also knew it would provoke some reactions here

so there you go

[BobL]

Man, the women at BYU make me almost want to go back to college. They are SO MUCH BETTER than the typical drugged-out feminists at most colleges.

As to the “blackface”, it wasn’t (look up blackface). He did darken his skin somewhat.

Here is link with an embedded video that works. Scroll down to the end of the story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099693/YouTube-video-comedian-Dave-Akerman-blackface-asking-Mormon-students-Brigham-Young-University-Black-History-Month-sparks-accusations-racism.html