'Saturday Night Live' adds black women as writers

[EC]

A GOP Briefing Room Exclusive.

EC.

I was just going to post this news story and walk away, but it got my ire up. It happened to combine with something else.

The new story, via AP, celebrates SNL getting another black performer and two black writers, to increase the diversity on the show - and because regulars Kenan Thompson and Jay Pharoah refuse to dress up in drag.

What's color got to do with it? You are funny. Or you are not funny. That's it. Sure - everyone's life experience is different, informs their world view, their sense of humor and the way they react - but why pop color in the damned title? You are just asking for people to sniff, say "affirmative action" and move on.

Then the Guardian put out a tweet:

The Guardian ‏@guardian 1h
Does it matter that there aren't there more women in science?

Leaping to the keyboard, my response was:

@guardian @guardianscience Science is science. It does not require the presence or absence of testicles.

What is this total obsession in the media with using adjectives? If someone is writing zingers, do we care what sex or color they are? No, if they are good, we laugh. Do you carefully consider the race and sex of the writer before picking a book or a movie? Will you limp out of hospital on your shattered leg if the doctor who sees you dares to be none white (or none black) and of the opposite sex?

Of course you bloody well don't!  A peculiarly UK thing - you get a report of a murder,a lottery winner,or some random schmuck - they always put the age. Look - if it is a hundred year old woman marrying a 20 year old man, age might be relevant. Otherwise it's a crock.

Please, media. Just stop doing that? M'kay?

[aligncare]

I remember becoming aware of PC in 1971. I was stationed in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. The black airmen on base we're doing something called "the dap," a social greeting that involved various forms of handshaking and slapping of hand, elbows and whatever. It could take considerable time to perform and greeters would often block the chow line as they greeted each other, but it was NEVER to be interrupted, SO YOU WAITED until the participants were through. It was clearly a form of racist activity and, of course, whites were not included in the ritual.

At that time I met a black airman and we became fast friends. He was different. He rejected the term "black power" which was en vogue at that time and instead spoke of "people" power. He tried to bring black and white airmen together, sadly without much success. It was through this man that I learned that blacks, along with whites, could be racist.

[mountaineer]

Top 10 things you didn’t know about Sasheer Zamata (SNL's new black performer):

1. She’s known for her Beyonce impression.
2. She was one of 12 women invited to audition for “SNL” last month.
3. She was the host of a weekly show, “School Night,” at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade theater
4. She wrote and performed a short film about being flashed. Lena Dunham gave it a Twitter shout-out.
 5. Cosmpolitan magazine named her one of the funniest women to watch for in 2014.
6. She grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana.
7. She wrote a web series for the Cooking Channel. It’s called “Fodder.”
8. Her drama degree is from the University of Virginia — also the alma mater of Tina Fey.
9. You’ve glimpsed her looking lovingly at her iPhone in an Apple ad called “Our Signature.”
10. She’s a member of two NYC improv teams, BUCKY (which performs at UCB) and Doppelganger.

Read more about her at New York Post
Haven't found any info yet about the two new writers, but you're right, EC - if they're funny, they're funny. That the proper hue of their skin was a prerequisite is quite appalling.

[DCPatriot]

Pretty damned pathetic when a black writer being hired for an hour comedy show is 'news'....as my country is disintegrating before our eyes.

[EC]

That the proper hue of their skin was a prerequisite is quite appalling.

You reminded me of an old joke doing the rounds. A couple of city hall workers are doing street surveys and stop a middle age couple. After the usual questions, the interviewer asked how diverse the neighborhood was.

The man thought a bit and said "There are good people and bad people."

His wife gave him a hard nudge and hissed "Fool, we all know the Evans family is devorst."

[flowers]

Pretty damned pathetic when a black writer being hired for an hour comedy show is 'news'....as my country is disintegrating before our eyes.

my first thought.