Revolution Televised.pdf

Conclusion 191
split screen of famous markers that identify the streets as Harlem:
the subway stop that is marked as Uptown and 125th Street, the
sign at the corner of Lennox Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard, the
marquee advertising Chris Rock, and the African American audience
waiting in line for the performance.
Beginning with comments about the Columbine tragedy, Rock
shows that he is not afraid to tackle the controversial and at the same
time provides a release from this seemingly untouchable topic. 30
I got on the elevator—and these two high school white boys tried
to get on with me, and I just dove off. Y’all ain’t killing me! I am
scared of young white boys. If you white and under twenty-one, I
am running for the hills. What the hell is wrong with these white
kids? Shooting up the school! They don’t even wait till three o’clock
either.
In addressing this issue, he also challenges the assaults on the media
that have resulted from the country’s desire to reach a solution over
the tragedy.
Everybody want to know what the kids was listening to, what kind
of music was they listening to, what kind of movies was they watching.
Who give a fuck what they was watching? Whatever happened
to crazy? You can’t be crazy no more? Did we eliminate crazy from
the dictionary? Fuck the record, fuck the movie—Crazy! The world
is coming to an end. You’re going to have little white kids saying, “I
want to go to a black school where it’s safe.”
He then brings this around to the issue of gun control. Rock says
he loves guns, and instead of recommending the control of them, he
proposes another solution that seemingly targets the problem: “We
don’t need gun control. We need bullet control. If every bullet cost
five thousand dollars, there’d be no more innocent bystanders.”
Rock is concerned with three particular issues in this comedy
special: race, politics, and black gender and family relationships.
He addresses race through varied topics, such as the persecution of
Bill Clinton, taxes, the Macy’s parade, the police, and the media attention
given to the white backlash against racial advancement. 31
Who’s the maddest people? White people. White people pissed off.
The white man thinks he’s losing the country. If you watch the news,
“We’re losing everything, we’re fucking losing. Affirmative action
and illegal aliens, and we’re fucking losing the country.” Losing?