TO THE EDITOR:
Antoine Dodson’s immortal words of caution have become the pop-cultural hallmark of this summer. But it is important to engage the larger social significance of this video.
Some argue Dodson’s unkempt appearance, exaggerated gestures and southern, colloquial vernacular produce mere comedy; but this cannot singularly be so. One must analyze what it is they are laughing at, why they are laughing, and what the implications of this mockery are.
For many, Dodson exists as a distant caricature whose setting in the projects and crude speech are indicative of a place and people far removed from the reality of their own existence. Because of the perceived distance between Dodson’s world and their own, the humor is deemed acceptable.
However, the condescendingly dismissive manner in which many mindlessly consume this video is destructive because it refuses to acknowledge and understand his humanity and the reality of his situation — one common among many others.
This type of irresponsible absorption is made more problematic when disguised as innocent and innocuous humor. But if we cannot make real-world connections between the lived reality of people like Dodson and the caricatured media images, then we honestly have no right to laugh. We must be deliberate in acknowledging the contexts and respecting the reality of their lived experience — despite the humor.
Kristen J. Maye
Junior
History and African-American Studies
