Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Professor P
ENGL 101
15 November 2018
Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle is one of the most famous comedians to ever live and has used his
spotlight for positive growth. He used his comedic talents to highlight numerous differences
between an African American’s life and a Caucasian's life, depicting obstacles African
Americans have to deal with. Chappelle tells stories that include impersonations that focus on
African American’s while allowing a moment for himself to display the more significant
meaning behind his bits. During the early 20th century, a practice of redlining was implemented
which impacted many minorities lives in a negative way. During the special “Killin Them
Softly”, Chappelle describes many extraordinary stories and the hardships in an African
Americans daily life that represent how the redlining crisis heightened the disenfranchisement of
African Americans.
The effects of redlining are still in play to this very day; however, it has been overlooked
because now people have jobs that are helping to increase the standard of living across the world.
Redlining is a term that simplifies the wrongdoings of the government and countless banks that
sanctioned off areas for African Americans to live in. These areas tended to be the houses or
apartments with the most basic living essentials possible and were not up to code. The reason it
is called redlining is because on maps where minorities, specifically African Americans, lived
would be outlined in red. This showed where the more ‘dangerous’ areas were located. It started
in the 1930’s and continued to take place because of federal organizations such as The Home
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Owners Loan Corporation, and the Federal Housing Authority. These organizations rejected
African Americans to acquire loans which destroyed their ability to expand their company or
better themselves for a new home or apartment. It was stated by Martha Mahoney in the chapter
Residential Segregation and White Privilege “These programs refused to lend money to blacks.”
and further added, “the HOLC and the FHA actually refused to lend money or underwrite loans
for whites if whites moved to areas where people of color lived” (MAHONEY 273-275). The
refusal to lend money to a specified race is completely unethical and immoral. However, during
this time, the federal organizations found a way to implement a social separation between the
races. The threats to stop giving out loans to white people for living in a neighborhood
containing African Americans was ultimately a discreet way of implementing segregation. This
threat from banks created a massive movement of white families to only buy in neighborhoods of
whites and to turn away from communities that may have a couple of African American families.
The real estate companies did their very best to convince white families to sell their homes and
This redlining tactic was effective in creating segregation amongst African Americans
and whites in residential housing. Adding to the outrageous acts of malpractice, it was written in
the journal How Banks Color Community Development “these decisions were often based on
objective reality. Stable working-class families, for example, were denied for home improvement
loans, despite their ability to pay. Small businesses were unable to obtain loans to start or expand
their operation despite evidence of consumer demand for their products and services” (DREIER,
PETER). No person or group should have the power to deprive an entire race of self-
improvement by not being able to receive investments for housing or career benefits. The applied
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tag to these African American communities of being dangerous or risky was not factual
statements but a strategy from banks to get more business from whites when they would move in
and out of communities. It also allowed the banks to control where African Americans would be
living because of their power to dish out loans whenever they would like. Another outcome of
redlining was a high concentration of African Americans moving into overloaded apartment
buildings in big cities. These apartments generally were rundown and unsuitable to live but the
federal organizations still decided to pack as many families as they could in. The apartments
were in locations that had a high unemployment rate which placed the families living in there
The last main negative outcome of redlining came from the increased patrol from police
officers around places of concentrated African Americans. Even though African Americans did
not choose to be in a segregated community, they were considered aggressive’ by the public and
were intensely monitored by the police. As the public view of these communities was false, the
police were not put in place to protect and serve the residents of the apartments but to enforce the
law on the African American race on a microscopic level. This brutal enforcement of the law by
the government instilled fear of the police force that many African Americans still see as true
today. African Americans have created a fear of police based on many cases of false accusations
or police brutality and that has stemmed from the creation of redlining and dangerous African
American neighborhoods.
increased number police officers in the areas with high volumes of Black people. Due to the
coercive nature of redlining, tension increased between the Black citizens and the police officers,
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and the situation further perpetuated stereotypes on both sides. Chappelle’s special addresses
these issues and how contemporary police brutality exists today. Although Chapelle doesn’t
specifically mention redlining, his special focuses on issue that stem from that, since the impact
In the special “Killin Them Softly”, Chappelle has been a positive impact on the growth
of African American rights. He is a valuable activist by being able to put forth support for the
equality of African Americans on display not only in his free time but during his time at work,
up on stage. A comedian will generally not take too much time to explain a joke or even be
serious for a moment, but Chappelle is able to pause and drive home the more significant
message. For example, he states, “So black people are very afraid of the police, that is a big part
of our culture, it don’t matter how rich you are, how old you are... we’re just afraid of them. We
got every reason to be afraid of them” (3:40-3:55). Chappelle is describing how all African
Americans hold this belief, no matter who they are within the African American community, and
he continues to tell the story of an officer pulling up to his left at a stop light. He says “It may not
be a big deal for you but I ******* fall apart, Oh! Don’t look over there, nuh uh” (4:55-5:07).
Chappelle portrays how his fear increases as an officer drove up near him, creating a panic for an
African American but to a white person that would be nothing out of the ordinary. Chappelle
expands on his statement about how it is only African Americans who obtain this cultural trait of
being afraid of the police. However, Chappelle never knew this until he reflected on personal
stories about him and his white friend Chip from New York City who is extremely nonchalant
especially when around the presence of an officer. The first story about Chip and Dave, they
were smoking a joint in New York City and got lost. Chip decides it is a great idea to poke a cop
a bunch of times to find out directions, and even showing his arrogance by confessing to
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smoking reefer. After Chip found out directions and walked away like no big deal, Dave being
an African American, demonstrated his fear on stage by saying “Now, I know that is not amazing
to some of you, but if you ask one of these black fellows, that shit is fucking incredible isn’t it
(6:54-7:05). Chappelle is mind blown about the idea of talking to the cops when high, but
because Chip is white he is able to get away with it, even in front of the cops. Another quick
story about Chip to show the inequality of law enforcement is when Chip decided to drive while
drunk and then decided to race a car who pulled up next to them. They were eventually pulled
over by an officer and the best excuse Chip could have come up with was “Sorry Officer, I didn’t
know I couldn't do that” (9:40-10:02). This is the perfect representation of how African
Americans and whites are viewed and treated differently amongst police officers. Chip is given
the benefit of the doubt because he is white, whereas a Black person may feel far more
From the beginning of redlining, it has affected each and every African American
member of the community whether they were actually placed into lousy residence areas or not.
The negative effects of redlining are still all around the United States, mainly in the lack of
protection law enforcement provides African Americans. It has been hard for African Americans
to improve equality for all, but for too long, redlining has brought a burden that white people do
not understand because they did not go through the pain rather than give it out. Dave Chappelle
has done an outstanding job in his stand up, “Killin Them Softly” by joking about critical topics
that happen in daily African American’s lives in order to bring public attention to problems we
DREIER, PETER. “Redlining Cities: How Banks Color Community Development.” Challenge,
vol. 34, no. 6, 1991, pp. 15–23. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40721297.