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Karla V. Perez

Prof. Atherton

English 372

September 25, 2013

Why Are You Laughing: African American Humor During the Civil Rights Era

Comedy is a social way to connect with the community and bring forth the truths of

suppression and social injustice in an entertaining and fashionable manner. As stated in “The

Comic Spirit: Trivial, But Dangerous," comedy dealt with controversial and serious matters by

“exposing to examination and ridicule the social, psychological, and spiritual obstacles

frustrating our desire and efforts to live fully.” African American humor functions as the perfect

example for understanding the practices for comedy and how the comedians used their tools to

emphasize social issues. In the documentary Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black

Comedy, directed by Robert Townsend, Walter E. Fauntroy portrays African American humor as

“the tools of the spirit, by which … we cut our path through the wilderness of our despair.” The

tools of the spirit refers to the different types of humor African Americans used and the

wilderness refers to the struggles faced during a particular time in history. In Mel Watkin’s

chronicle, African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy From Slavery to Today, African

American humor is divided in different eras to show that comedy is a reflection of time. Through

the use of satire, and standup comedy, African Americans were able to endure the wilderness of

segregation laws and social inequality during the 1960s.

The tools used during the 1960s were specifically used to unite the community, express

politics, and educate the audience. Dick Gregory was able to present racial and social

commentary in African American comedy (Watkins 361). Dick Gregory used satire, irony,

sarcasm, and quips to motivate people to fight for equality. For instance, in “Black Rioters,”

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Gregory uses the Declaration of Independence to defend the riots occurring on the streets, “that

all men are created equal and endowed by the creator with certain inalienable rights. That when

these rights are destroyed over long periods of time it is your duty to destroy or abolish that

government” (Watkins 251-252). Gregory was able to unite the community, educate his

audience, and appealed to political action and responsibility in a sophisticated way. In Gregory’s

Nigger: An Autobiography, he writes about a particular event that occurred at a restaurant in the

South. When the waitress stated that colored people were not welcomed and that they “don’t

serve colored people,” Gregory responded with “That’s all right, I don’t eat colored people.

Bring me a whole fried chicken” (Watkins 217-218). Gregory’s quips and literal translations

allowed him to fight a peaceful battle against racism, turn the issue back to the offender, and

make people laugh in the process.

African American comedy had the ability to show the anger of the community in a

laughable manner. An example that demonstrate Gregory’s anger at social injustice is through a

joke about capitalistic America; “This is the only country in the world where a man can grow up

in the ghetto,…be forced to go to the worst schools, … then get paid $5000 a week to tell about

it” (Watkins 213). Gregory was the representation of the African American community and thus

his anger mirrored that of his community. Gregory was able to educate white audiences about the

“grievances of a black populace which was suddenly demanding equality” (Watkins xxii).The

ability to laugh at Gregory’s comedy allowed African Americans to remain united and maintain

the strength to fight for equality and the dream of freedom.

Regardless of the fact that comedy is relative to time, the spirit of comedy remains

constant. According to Robert Townsend’s documentary, “we heal through laughter” and “we

laugh to keep from crying.” Humor manifests cultural and personal beliefs into a living vessel

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that can communicate to an audience. The same spirit can be seen during different eras,

especially during slavery. During slavery, a few comedic tools were animal stories, rhymes, and

jokes. An important collection of the first examples of black humor is Uncle Remus, His Songs

and His Sayings, assembled by Joel Chandler Harris. Uncle Remus is full of stories that depict

the slave as mischievous and cunning while the master is gullible and villainous. Humor during

slavery was ironic and bitter and confined to slaves only; slave humor served the purpose to

amuse and entertain at the expense of the cruel master and to maintain a respectable self-identity

(Watkins 2). Laughing at the dimwitted Massa allowed them to push through the struggle and

live a life with less sorrow. Slaves believed that “A master, unless he was utterly humorless,

could not overwork or brutally treat a jolly fellow, one who could make him laugh” (Watkins 1).

Despite the fact that during slavery comedy was kept within slave quarters and the purpose for

the humor differed, the spirit remained the same as in the 1960s.

Due to Dick Grerory’s success in white clubs, comedians such as Bill Cosby and Richard

Pryor were able to take the stage. By the turn of the Millennium, “multiethnic nature was more

accepted,” which gave rise to unrestricted performances (Watkins 214). African American

humor became extremely diverse, socially open, and bold. Due to the immense progress of

standup comedy, Chris Rock was able to express social issues with freedom. For example, on

Rock’s ROCK THIS!, Rock writes that new ethnic groups in the United States are often

welcomed with prejudices and turmoil, just like a freshman in high school. The fact that Rock

was able to talk about a white boxer and other ethnic groups so openly and unrestricted is a result

of the struggles African Americans have confronted throughout history. The tools used by

comedians to cut through the wilderness of their time were the key to cutting through social

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injustice. Laughing at social issues proved to be far more effective than opposing it with violence

due to the fact that comedy allowed for logical thought versus instinctive brute strength.