When Tracy Morgan accepted the best comedy award for the NBC series 30 Rock at the Golden Globes in January, the black Saturday Night Live star was apparently still thinking about the presidential election.
'Tina Fey [one of his co-stars] and I had an agreement that if Barack Obama won, I would speak for the show from now on,' said Morgan. 'Welcome to post-racial America. I am the face of post-racial America. Deal with it, Cate Blanchett.'
Morgan's comment soon became a hot topic on the internet. On the popular Yahoo! Answers website, correspondents questioned why the joke was funny and why Australian actress Blanchett, who seems to have nothing to do with America's racial issues, was dragged in.
'She's white, she must be the enemy. Yeah, you're really 'post-racial', Tracy. I will never watch 30 Rock again,' one mocked.
'I now know for sure that ignorance and racism are alive and well in the USA. He was making a joke and was looking to get some ink/discussion, which he has achieved. It is nothing more than that,' another defended Morgan, who has still not explained the remark.
The controversy may well have set the tone for comedy in the Obama era. Almost nine months into the president's first year, it is clear that an ideal 'post-racial America' remains a chimera - witness the brouhaha over the arrest of black academic Henry Louis Gates in his own home in July, the increasingly vitriolic attacks from right-wing media commentators such as Glenn Beck and the lengths to which Obama had to go to assure the public that racism was not behind the yell of 'You lie' by Republican politician Joe Wilson that interrupted his speech to a joint session of Congress.
In comedy clubs and television studios, the election of a black president by voters who were full of hope has made the topic of race more sensitive than ever. Comedy, especially, might be one of the best mirrors of the issue in the US.
