Comedian Niecy Nash mocks BBQ Beckys and Permit Pattys with new 'hotline for racists'
Niecy Nash is trying to eliminate the BBQ Beckys, Permit Pattys, and Cornerstore Carolines of the world.
While these nicknames for white people who exhibited racist behavior are all rather cutesy, what they’ve done — calling the cops on black people just living their lives — is a real problem and one we’ve seen magnified thanks to social media. So the comedian and actress is having some fun with the topic, while also making very valid points, in a new satirical infomercial she made with the New York Times.
In the bit, the Emmy-winning star and “advocate for not calling 911 on black people for no goddamn reason” announces the launch of the hotline 1-844-WYT-FEAR, which she says is “revolutionizing the way racist white people cope with black people living life near them.” Basically, you call the number instead of the police and she promises it will “save you all the headaches of being filmed and outed as a racist douche.” She describes the hotline as “a real number for real white people who should mind their own damn business.”
Answering the phones at the hotline — a number that really works if you want to give it a whirl — are people who “have been living while black in America their entire lives.” They amusingly address concerns of white callers: I see a black person outside my house. “That is actually your neighbor Michael.” There’s a black person on a boat. “Our records show that is actually his boat. Yeah, I know — black people have boats too now.”
A post shared by Niecy Nash (@niecynash1) on Oct 22, 2018 at 5:19pm PDT
While it’s certainly funny, it’s also shockingly real. One of the people answering the phones is Darren Martin, a former Obama aide, who had the police called on him, claiming a “burglary in process,” as he moved into his new Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan in April. And footage included shows the real Permit Patty and others who called police on black people who weren’t doing anything wrong. The article along with the segment lists 39 known instances, from just this year, “when someone called the police to complain about black people doing everyday activities.”
And Nash points out in the video that considering black people “are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and serve longer sentences” than white people for similar crimes, “calling 911 for non-emergency situations is really just a dick move.”
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