Is DL Hughley Taking Blacks Backwards?

I'm not sure if any of you have catched comedien DL Hughley's late night talk show on CNN titled, "DL Hughley Breaks the News". Since this election inception, I've become a CNN junkie. So I've seen the first two episodes that have aired thus far... and I must say... I'm not too thrilled and neither are several other critics.

It's all too obvious that the network is feeling the pressure to add to it's line up and compete with other networks that have a satirical political/news show, but I think the folks over at CNN are a little off base with this one.

When you watch the show it's like you're sitting their watching one of the most legendary comediens out there dive bomb every single punch line he throws out. His audience is predominately white and it's apparent that they don't understand DL's sense of humor. The other CNN contributors that appear on the show are not funny either. I was really hoping that this show would be good for the network... but in my mind... it's just not working.

Journalist and culture critic Jimi Izrael offered harsh words for both Hughley and CNN for a skit depicting mortgage company Freddie Mac as a black pimp.

“When Hughley brought out Donnell Rawlings (most famous for his many roles on the Chappell Show) to play ‘Freddie Mack [sic], I had to check my watch: never have I seen a program jump the shark so quickly,” Izrael says of the skit. “This is someone’s white hipster doofus’ idea of post-racial humor in the New America: Chappelle Lite. The good folks at CNN think that any black person talking loud must be funny. They are mistaken.” Izrael concluded saying the show “has no place on CNN.”

Paul Porter, co-founder of media watchdog group Industry Ears says that even though America may elect its first African American president this Tuesday, “televison news is still stuck in a ‘Jim Crow’ state of mind. DL's material was immensely stereo typical, but calculated programming that continues to stifle mainstream media perceptions,” Porter states. “CNN's attempt of a Flava Flav style of African American entertainment is an alarming step backward for a respected news organization.”

Dr. Boyce Watkins was also not pleased with what he saw and heard on Hughley’s show. "Nearly every joke on Hughley’s show came back to some generalized stereotype, reminding us that African Americans are seen as relatively trifling “social critters” and not much of anything else. My good friend Roland Martin at CNN has never received the same respect as political caricatures like Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck. So, the most degrading thing CNN can do is to finally give an African American a show after he agrees to turn the stellar Obama presidential campaign into a minstrel show. I am not sure if Flavor Flav or Juan Williams (the educated version of Flavor Flav) could have done a better job.”

And there you have it folks. Not many of us are pleased with the show. I think it's more of five steps backswards for our people... especially right now when we are about to elect our first black president who is highly educated, well spoken, and charismatic... all things most white folks didn't believe us po' black folks had in us!