What has made Dave Chappelle loved by millions and a pioneer in the comedy industry is his ability to tackle anti-black racism in a real way. Comedy is perhaps the most unifying force in a society — as evidenced by Chappelle’s multicultural crowds.
These days, he is being criticized for some of his spots about transgender people in his Netflix special The Closer. Netflix made the calculation to support Chappelle, but the woke cancel culture mob decided to target him and attempt to ruin his career by protesting Netflix.
The Post Millennial reports that the main organizer behind the Netflix walkouts is a black transgender woman named Ashlee Marie Preston. On Instagram, she is a “Host/Media Personality & Social Entrepreneur,” and she spoke at and helped organize the walkout. Harper’s Bazaar and Forbes have given her a platform, and she claims to be dedicated to “work elevating minorities, pointing out discrimination, and LGBTQ+ issues.”
Now, one would think that effective activism starts at home. Instead, her own social media includes such gems as “Asian hoes act like they wont get karate chopped in they muthaf**n throat. What is this hoe staring at? Mind ya beeswax #B****” and “Latino and Asian businesses need 2 stop bein ride & f**n disrespectful, & I kno its A LOT to ask in CA but speak f**n English 2* #yahisaidit.”
And my personal favorite: “I don’t do Mexican Asian or samoan,” showing that the voices loudest about mandating some sort of equality down to dating choices are the most discriminatory. Preston even slurred her own transgender community, calling a Latina woman a “transvestite.” The Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign came under fire for associating with Preston, and Business Insider reported in 2019 that her tweets, for which she has since apologized, were “racist, homophobic, and misogynistic in nature.” Have we forgotten about #StopAsianHate already?
While Preston can be the clown she wants all day long, her latest comments scream hypocrisy. While throwing out vague accusations that transgender employees are not protected, she promotes “transformative justice and healing harm through dialogue” and advocates for “cross-cultural solidarity.” Meanwhile, her barrage of tweets seems to have exacerbated the harm.
Let’s be real here: Woke activists are not concerned about Preston’s Twitter history. Their goal is disruption and to destroy anyone they’re throwing a tantrum against at any given moment.
Speaking of an open dialogue, Chappelle rebuts his detractors well: “You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. Well, it seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore.”
“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience,” he continued. “But you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands.” Bravo, Dave. “This has nothing to do with [the LGBT community]. It’s about corporate interests and what I can say and what I cannot say.” Yes, it’s a freedom of speech issue.
Chappelle, whose latest special has a 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, has proven himself. His critics, on the other hand, mistake intersectionality for a personality. Really, they are just obsessed with negativity and victimhood. Who wants to be around that?
Marc Ang ([email protected]) is a community organizer in Southern California and the founder of Asian Industry B2B. He specializes in race relations and the minority conservative experience. His book Minority Retort will be released in late 2021.
