Friday, November 09, 2007

Should I be offended by Katt Williams' noose?

Katt Williams got on TV at the BET Hip-Hop Awards wearing a noose around his neck. I know this is old news, but I tend to stay away from television shows that exemplify a high-level of niggerdom. It's the same reason why I never watched the Source Awards or anything with Snoop Dogg in it.

Katt Williams followed that up with an appearance on CNN's "Out in the Open," a show that I was surprised to discover wasn't about the lives of gay people in an increasingly hostile world. Turns out, it's a show where the tough questions are asked, apparently. And during Katt Williams appearance, instead of answering the questions, he preferred to dance around them.

A lot of people were upset by what Katt Williams did, but I wasn't so sure that I should be one of them, so I decided to find out exactly what he said and did. I wanted to know if there was a statement he was making or anything like that, because it's not like I can just start defending or condemning the guy just based on a picture. Katt Williams has never been a source of political commentary before. He has, however, been the last bastion of support in the world of pimpery.

He's not like Nas, who has named his next album "Nigger," and touched off a flurry of hurt feelings and yelling and whatnot from black leaders, but support from people who actually listen to hip-hop. The reason why he's getting that support is because we know where Nas is coming from before we hear the album. If Nas is naming his album "Nigger," I'm sure he's got a reason for it. Nas isn't into shock value, as evidenced by his underwhelming album sales and lack of promotion. And I think it's a safe bet that Nas won't have songs about the joys of slavery or a remix of "I Wish I Was In Dixie."

So, I don't know where Katt Williams was coming from. The controversy surrounding the noose as of late was a clear inspiration, but what's the message he was trying to send? I didn't see his CNN appearance, but I did read the transcript of the show. Other than saying, "We have to get past this," he wasn't really clear about his message. That quote wasn't saying anything. He used the same line on "The Boondocks" when he was trying to convince Tom that "going upside a bitch's head" was the right way to "get the desired result"of obedience.

Should I be mad about what Katt Williams did? I'm still undecided on that. After all, I'm still not any closer to understanding why he did it. I'm not changing my stance on the noose, because after all, it's still a direct link to the days when lynchings were publicly acceptable. I'm not going to go off on Katt Williams, either, because I'm still pretty confused. I do think that the people who were hanging dummies from their houses on Halloween with nooses should be allowed to do that, because let's face it...it's Halloween and I'm pretty sure that the noose had already been invented well before the Klan got a hold to it.

I guess unless he's prepared to make a statement on why he did this, the best thing for Katt Williams to do is to take the noose off, along with his pink suit. The noose notwithstanding, the man ALWAYS looks ridiculous whenever he's in public.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Tony,

Thanks for having courage to speak out on this topic. Your post probes the socio-psychology state of and black entertainers and pop culture.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately my brother, you did not understand his motives for this; which is understandable, he should have been more specific in the CNN interview, but I guess he really didn't know how to explain it in those circles. The reason he wore the noose, as stated in his new feature comedy presentation, is because he wanted to show that african americans are not afraid of the noose, its the hanging that haunts us. We could have been hanged with any other object, but to give a piece of rope the power that it does hold over history is ridiculous. Hence his statement let it go. He very cleverly introduced a simile to appropriate his statement, saying that if a gunman wanted to scare someone in the hood, why would he go and put a bullet on the persons doorstep? we arent afraid of the bullet, we are afraid of the idea of being shot. Hope that clarifies it.