Betty White is a national treasure.
The comedian and actress has been doing the damn thing since what feels like the dawn of time, and even at 97 years of age she still makes it a point to bless us all with her trademark spunk and sass.
But this shit is funny.
I first saw it on Marc Lamont Hill’s Instagram page on Wednesday and my slow ass stared at my phone for a good five minutes until a light bulb appeared over my head:
Ohhhhhhh! Yeah, that’s funny.
For those of you who aren’t card-carrying members of the Black Delegation, we have this thing where if we hear about a crime or some wild shit in the news, we hope to God the culprit isn’t black. A woman gets busted for peeing on potatoes in Wal-Mart? Her ass better not be black. And about the only time we don’t have that fear is when it’s a mass shooting, because crimes of that nature are almost universally carried out by—wait for it—white guys.
So yes, every time this cycle of death continues with the disturbing news of yet another mass shooting, I automatically assume the coward abusing his 2nd Amendment rights is another Trump-touting “Liam” or “Garrett.”
Betty White, indeed.
Yet despite this rather sound logic, and Chris Rock deciding to use humor to call a thing a thing, there are living, breathing human beings calling this meme racist. No, really. Because Melanin Deficient Instagram (and Twitter) isn’t always there when you call, but it’s always overly sensitive.
“You can’t fight racism with racism,” one user commented. “You’re just contributing to the problem.”
“This is racist,” added another.
“Dont ya love how this is racist but nobody cares because he is black,” another wrote.
And last but not least: “Although it’s comedy, it’s still racist.”
Meanwhile, I stumbled upon one comment that I finally agreed with: “Yo these wypipo in your comments hella pressed.”
Really, though.
Clearly, mass shootings aren’t a laughing matter, but using humor to redirect or anesthetize our pain isn’t exactly a revolutionary act. Betty White has yet to comment on this now-viral meme, but I’m pretty damn sure she’d agree with Rock.
DISCUSSION
This is fucking hilarious and thanks for explaining it, because I was still at the figuring-out stage of saying her name out loud and trying to come up with anagrams.