Last night, Kerry Washington was the host of Saturday Night Live. Since Washington is a black female and was hosting a show that currently has no black female cast members, the topic of race made a few appearances. The first was in the opening sketch, where Washington was asked to play Michelle Obama, Oprah, and Beyonce.
Race also played a major part in a sketch about Obama’s approval rating among black voters, with a special focus on The Wire (examples: “Personally I thought white people would be more excited about their lines being tapped, considering how much they like The Wire” and “Have you even been at a party and a white person approaches you with a smile and you just know they’re going to want to talk about The Wire?”
These examples highlight the way that humor can be used to discuss race. Unfortunately, discussing race is not the same as doing something about it (just like watching The Wire isn’t the same as volunteering at a school…) As Al Sharpton said, “What have we learned from this…as usual, nothing.”
