10.07.2006
camera pans to token minority to legitimise joke about minority
at a one hour taping of 'comedy central presents' white comedian Tad Artimus referenced the stereotype of african-american obstreperosity when he made the joke "my girlfriend and i were talking so much at the movies the black girl behind us went 'shhhhhhhhhhhh!!!'". at that instant virtuoso cameraman Steve Jones, whose uncanny ability to spot minorities in the studio audience made him a legend in the world of comedy taping, immediately panned and focused in on an "octoroon, perhaps quadroon even" young man. the move was at first questionable as for 1/5 of a second the fractionally african-american youngster Jamaal Whitehead cogitated upon the uproarious laughter of the majority around him thinking "but i've never done that, and none of my partially black family has even done that..." before settling on the idea that it would be safer for him to condone the reaction of the majority. he then let out an unshackled "cyah cyah cyah cyah", while frenetically nodding his head in affirmation, much to the appreciation of Jones, who smiled at the thought of the audience at home who could now laugh without consequence. later on in the show when a joke was made referencing white americans' tendency to get away scott free in the judicial system, Jones zoomed out on the entire crowd, failing to catch the resigned sigh of Jose Rovedas, the studio janitor peering in from the periphery of the back stage, as he remembered the police beating he once got for having a marijuana cigarette on him.
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