Larry Wilmore Offers Humorous Views on Race
Writer Mixes Insight and Comedy in "I'd Rather We Got Casinos"
Feb 17, 2009
The late author Ralph Wiley once wrote that one consequence of racial integration in the United States was that some Black people began to assume that the terms "upper class," "middle class," and "lower class" referred to them. His insinuation was that no simplistic typology could accurately describe the key elements of the Black experience.
As an embodiment of that idea, enter Larry Wilmore, who has worked as a comedy writer for over three decades.. After contributing behind the scenes to In Living Color, The Bernie Mac Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Office -- his performance in the "Diversity Day" episode is not to be missed -- he has gained additional notoriety in front of the camera as the "senior black correspondent" on Comedy Central's The Daily Show.
Wilmore's First Book
His latest venture, I'd Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts (Hyperion Press, 2009, ISBN-10: 1401309550) is a book that deftly uses humor to illustrate some of the multiple perspectives that comprise the African American experience in general and the author's worldview in particular. (The title refers to the author's response to the idea of Black History Month.) His observations run the gamut from the common to the absurd (as evidenced by a two-chapter rumination on whether and why black people ever see UFOs). Along the way, Wilmore occasionally tips sacred cows of the black community. (Consider, for instance, his modernized "Text Messages from a Birmingham Jail.")
Taboo Topics
One taboo topic Wilmore presents to readers is the dreaded n-word. Rather than fall in line with the leaders who advocated the symbolic eulogizing of the epithet, Wilmore complicates matters by acknowledging the funeral in one chapter and exhuming it for a "Fair Trial" in another. The content and verdict of the trial are sure to ruffle some feathers, but Wilmore requires readers to consider the complexity of the matter -- and to laugh a little, whether they want to or not.
In "Bring Back the Shetland Negro," Wilmore pines for the generation of diminutive Black child actors (e.g., Emmanuel Lewis, Gary Coleman) whose presence in popular culture made the notion of race less threatening to white people. Likewise, in a series of chapters framed as letters to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), he advocates that the group join him in his efforts to change the descriptor "African American" to "chocolate," a more concise, less threatening label. As a bonus, he notes, the NAACP could retain its acronym.
Wilmore On Racism
Wilmore attempts to differentiate racism from other negative reactions in "It's Okay to Hate Black People Who Work at McDonald's at the Airport (It Doesn't Make You Racist)." And in the book's final chapter, he ponders whether "The End of Racism" might have some negative consequences.
In response to the question of what Wilmore expects from America, he offers two essays: one on reparations ("Give Us the Superdome") and another on an official apology for slavery ("If Not an Apology, At Least a 'My Bad.'")
Professor Arrington's Grade
The book has its shortcomings. "In Search of Black Jesus" is the latest unoriginal attempt at humor about why Jesus must have been (or must not have been) black. However, that essay is an exception, not the rule. I'd Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts is a clever, well-written collection of musings that will elicit laughter and generate conversation. Consequently, Wilmore's book earns an A-.
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