"Chocolate News": Obama's Not Black (VIDEO)

David Alan Grier, host of Comedy Central's new "Chocolate News," questions whether Barack Obama would really be the "first black president." After all, "he barely passes the brown paper bag test." Watch:

"Chocolate News" premieres Wednesday at 10:30 PM EST on Comedy Central.

Comments

[deeppeace]

Brilliant. Hey, whatever it takes to get the message across.

[barackobama4prez]

This was funny and has some truth to it. David can be abrasive though, he's an acquired taste like George Carlin...but shoots straight. I like him!

Obama is a blank slate. He's neither black nor white....but we all see a better future when we look at him. He's the right prescription for a divided nation!

[pthesmith]

Nowhere near as intelligent as Chappelle Show. Too bad for us. Too bad for David Alan Grier. Where in the world is Dave Chappelle???!!!!

[danielsadicario]

My thoughts exactly.

[LaShon]

I didn't think I was going to laugh, but that was GOOD!

[DebbieinPhx]

Same here. That one surprised me....When I read that headline, I thought, "Oh great, another attack from a different angle." But it was really funny.

[RobinSeattle]

That was pretty hilarious.

[thefirehorse]

This was funny, but its probably the only way that some will understand whats at stake.

[ohioan73]

LMFAO! Maybe this was just intended for a certain audience judging from some of the comments. Im black and I thought it was funny as hell. Its just a character being played similar to Colbert's absurd neo-con. Grier is just playing the polar opposite of Colbert: the "extreme radical left black guy".

[Aesthete]

I personally find Obama's background to be a breath of fresh air in terms of what is defined as "black." I am black but have lived outside the box my entire life. I'm bored with narrow definitions of what constitutes "black." The African diaspora is actually quite broad and diverse, having a great history that predates the Atlantic slave trade by centuries. Sure my black ancestors were slaves, but I still say it's time to climb out of the box. There's a big world out there waiting to be explored.

[MrT3]

black people in the box know that.....

[DebbieinPhx]

Have you ever read anything from the human geonome project? EVERY human on this Earth originated from East Africa...everyone. So all those racist idiots out there can just get over themselves. In a moment of rare honesty, 40% of Americans admitted to still having "concerns" about African Americans. But of those same people, 87% said they had NO concerns about having Barack Obama as a president. The pollsters are calling that statistic "The Obama Effect." I call that hope.

[robXdion]

Well gosh, I hope you feel special. But what does slavery or the African Diaspora have to do with this blog? Prior to his books being published, I don't think people ever stopped to ask Obama if his black side had US slaves in it. Black is Black. There is no extra credit for doing what basic human does.

[Jesster]

Excuse me?! "Black is Black?" That sure sounds like the old rule that "one drop of 'Black' blood" makes you "one of THEM" (aka - not one of US - to paraphrase Sarah Palin.)

[KaPi]

Hmmmm. Jury's still out on this show. I've seen the previews and it has potential, but I'll watch the first episode Wednesday and see what I think then.

[dcoxucla]

funny stuff

[dagdavid]

Brilliant!

[Ohg]

Isn't Obama the guy who started the musical band Journey? .....................
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/12/obamas-journey-dont-stop-believing/

[newhouse1]

D.A. Greir is / can be a very funny fellow, dating back to his In Living Color days. His riff on the Republican option in this election points to the depths of racism and stereotyping in America, that gets put out as conservative values discourse. If the situation was reversed and Obama's profile was that of McCain's, who here could not honestly say the Obama campaign would never have materialized. It's sad really on many levels.

"The Republicans have an ex-prisoner, whose running mate is a heat-packing mother of 5 with a knocked-up, teenaged baby's mama. And that's the white option? White folks, have you lost your damn minds?"

Classic.

[Pinky2]

What I liked about that part was the barely contained laughter after he said it. He knew that was funny and had amused himself, too!!

I've always liked David....

[onyxsci]

The one thing that this obliquely points to is that Obama is not a descendant of slaves. Since his father was African and he had little contact with him, his mostly white family gave him his background on what it is to live as black in America. I have no way to confirm this but I doubt he was told personal family stories of how bad slavery, segregation or Jim Crow was. He probably was not told "you will have to be twice as good as someone else who is white" to prove yourself. He definitely was not told "White people are not to be trusted" as many of us who have parents that went through Jim Crow were told. He lived in Hawaii which does not (to my knowledge) have a history of black slavery. It probably does have some history of racism but I could be wrong.

Because of this he does not have that hidden anger and distrust that a lot of Black people who live in America have.

As someone who does still have some of that anger, I think it is a good thing that he does not. On the one hand it makes him a little less aware of the plight and history of the black experience but Michelle and his experience in Chicago can and (I think) have filled that gap. Without that anger he does not fall into the "angry black man" category that is so threatening to White America.

[robXdion]

^5 Exactly! And he obviously didn't have bitter and dysfunctional black parents downplaying his intelligence and stunting his personal growth. If Obama grew up on the mainland during his formative years, I'm pretty certain he'd be a different person regardless of his intelligence. Thousands of genius minded young black males end up dissuaded from success if not altogether killed or imprisoned for merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is also why I took exception to his politically timed lecturing of black males specifically to gain white voters. Yes, it is needed and correct to do so, but the source, timing and exclusivity of it all was off-putting. That's what got Jesse Jackson so pis sed. But I do wonder if Obama has the humility to know this. Or does he really feel "special" and unique as if it couldn't have happened to him too?

[LeftLeanWing]

Mr. T for President - The I Pity the Fool Campaign 2016

[Pinky2]

That's an interesting point; one I haven't heard before nor thought of myself. Maybe that's why he has such otherworldly calm in face of the sh*t the McCain campaign is throwing at him.

I do imagine that being darker skinned than most Kansans, he had his share of prejudice and discrimination thrown at him in his lifetime. It doesn't really matter that he doesn't have that ancestry - he has the pigmentation.

[dbarberdem1]

I feel that you underestimate the intuition and intelligence of Barack's mother. There is a physical difference that he has in that the "world" views him by his "cover". I sense that his mother, although infusing him with the confidence that he could do anything he set out to do, also spoke to him about the realities of the world....that people would view him different from even his own family. If you have not read his first book, you should do so. It would give you greater insight as to the struggles that he encountered externally and inwardly.

[ObamaGyrl]

I'm the descendant of slaves and I wasn't told those things either yet I still not only understand and empathize with the "black experience" I claim it. I grew up poor & in the ghetto, does that mean I have to be angry about it? I happen to disbelieve that there are "a lot of Black people who live in America" who "have that hidden anger and distrust". If you've read any of his books, you'll see he gets it and has been through a lot as a "black man" and while he may not be the "angry black man" that SOME in White America are threatened by, as far as they're concerned, he's black and that's enough to threaten them and I believe they are a small group of people, but maybe I'm naive.

BTW I found this funny and I don't particularly care for David.

[philosopherkingtomas]

Chapelle !

[huffyISaHottie]

i always thought david alan grier to be the second most talented on the In living Color crew...next to jim carey....gier just makes me laugh...always has

[LeftLeanWing]

what about JLo ? she got her start from that show too as a FlyGirl