Saturday Night Live’s opening segment of the season finale on May 18 was with Keenan Thompson’s caricature of the Reverend Al Sharpton on his MSNBC program Politics Nation. The send up is increasingly offensive because there is little balance in how black men are portrayed on the program. Okay, I know that Jay Pharaoh has tried to channel President Obama since Fred Armisen's inspired portrayal of the "cool," unflappable Obama of a few years ago. Also, we've witnessed the transformation of guest host "Sir" Charles Barkley into a charming and lovable compassionate centrist. But I digress.
In the skit, Thompson did acknowledge that he was just a bit heavier than the real Reverend Sharpton whom he called “super skinny now.” But that did not stop the over-the-top portrayal of Sharpton as a malaprop-proned ignoramus. Yes, it was supposed to be exaggerated and funny, but I could not join in the laughter. The only other skits about African-American men the show seems to generate are negligible, and dominated by the similarly inarticulate principal of the Booker T. Washington High School played by the above—referenced Jay Pharaoh. Both Thompson and Pharaoh are talented performers; the show needs to provide them with better material.
The Opportunity Agenda has created a messaging memo for media and advocates, based on research on improving the media coverage and public perception of African-American men and boys. The organization notes that "This research and experience find persistently distorted media depictions of black males that contribute to negative stereotypes, unfair treatment, and unequal opportunity in areas ranging from employment to education to criminal justice and beyond."
On the Saturday Night Live finale, the Sharpton parody was accompanied by the ubiquitous and always angry Kanye West, who tried to validate his street cred with some faux-menacing behavior. Really, Saturday Night Live, is this the best you can do? The program spectrum in the portrayal of black men between bumbling and menacing is narrow and yes, stereotypical. To the program’s credit, it at least presents a range of gay characters, so that the most outrageous portrayal is balanced. Can Saturday Night Live do the same for black characters? Yes, it can. And, yes, it should.