The old saying goes that every good joke has a little bit of truth to it and no comedian seems to embody that quite as much as Chris Rock did in his latest comedic rifts.
Rock used those unfortunate truths to discuss racism, Black History Month and even have some fun with the Brian Williams controversy.
In a new video for Essence, Rock presents his own theory about why Black History Month is in February.
“Black History Month is in February, the shortest month of the year,” Rock says, “and the coldest, just in case we want to have a parade.”
Of course the shortest, coldest month being deemed Black History Month puts no limitations on how often Rock celebrates his heritage.
“I’m Black so it’s always Black History Month,” he said. “It just is. It’s not like, ‘Hey! I know we been ignoring Black people for the last 11 months, but this month? We’re gonna Black it up!’ “
On a more serious note, Rock talked about racism in the 1960’s in South Carolina, where he was born (though his family moved to Brooklyn when he was very young).
He said Black babies were not “mixed up with white babies” and that Black people weren’t even allowed to try on shoes or clothes in the store.
“White people didn’t want to know that Black skin had touched anything,” he said.
He even added that Black people couldn’t go to the dentist. They had to go to the vet instead.
Perhaps the best part of the clip is when Rock reveals how many schools are white washing history and leaving Black figures out of important discussions.
When he discovered his daughter was learning about the American Revolution he asked if she had learned about Crispus Attucks, the Black man who became the first casualty of the American Revolution.
He was disappointed to discover the answer was a clear “No.”
He then had some more comedic fun at the expense of historic baseball star Babe Ruth.
“Someone taught her that Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player of all time,” Rock added before gesturing that he wasn’t too sure about that. “Babe Ruth didn’t play against Black guys, okay. So he was the greatest white guy that played against nothing but white guys of all time.”
On Wednesday night, however, he took a break from tackling racism and moved on to the scandal surrounding NBC’s Brian Williams.
Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson
The news anchor has been getting heavily criticized for lying about being on board an aircraft that fell under enemy fire while he was covering the Iraq War.
When he took the stage at the amfAR New York Gala at Cipriani Downtown he joked that he was late because of yet another lie Williams told.
“I’m a little late, I went to the other Cipriani,” Rock joked. “I was uptown. Brian Williams told me it was there. Lying bastard.”
His comedic rant then focused on his clear obsession with his friend, actress Rosario Dawson.
In the midst of praising her philanthropic efforts, Rock also took a little time to admire her breasts.
“She won our hearts with her….megasmile, her down-to-earth compassion, and the greatest tits in the business,” he said as the crowd laughed.
Dawson later took the stage to return the playful banter by correcting Rocks’ mispronunciation of her charity’s name and “Vagina Monologues” playwright Eve Ensler.
“You know, I do literacy programs too,” she quipped. “Just saying.”
