Stand-up comedian Louis Black has a bit where he discusses the stupidest thing he has ever heard. If you haven’t heard the bit I’d definitely advise you to check it out, it is frequently on Comedy Central and it is hilarious.
The reason I brought that particular bit up is because yesterday I heard the stupidest thing I have ever heard before, and I cannot seem to get it out of my head. I was flipping through channels yesterday during lunch when I came across the end of an interview between Jules Asner and Halle Berry. Obviously I halted my channel surfing for a few moments, blinded by the hotness of the two women on the television screen.
During those brief few moments Jules Asner told Halle Berry that she was going to repeat a few things that Halle had said during her career and she wanted Halle to comment on whether or not she still found them true. The first statement I heard is still driving me insane: “Being black has not been my biggest obstacle.”
Think about that for a moment. Why would a person’s race be there biggest obstacle in life? You don’t over come the color of your skin. You can shatter racial preconceptions, but in this day and age there really aren’t that many typical racial preconceptions, at least not any that can be shattered.
As much as that statement bothered me and still bothers me it wasn’t the dumbest thing I had ever heard. After all, in the context of the question at the time that statement was made it could have been relevant…I guess. Halle Berry answered the question with a polite “no” and the Jules Asner asked the stupidest question I had ever heard: “Then what is?”
What is indeed? What could be more challenging then overcoming your blackness? Perhaps growing up impoverished, or perhaps being born in a third world country, maybe being mauled by a Grizzly Bear, or maybe even trying to open a stuck jar of jam...those are all obstacles, your skin is not; it is an attribute.
