Sherri Shepherd Gives Barbara Walters a Lesson on Racism

Jorge Rivas

Sherri Shepherd Gives Barbara Walters a Lesson on Racism

The View is daytime TV’s most popular TV show. The daily show opens each day with “Hot Topics,” in which the co-hosts provide commentary on the day’s headlines. Yesterday one of their hot topics was the New York Post’s racist cartoon that depicts police officers who have just shot a mad ape. One of the officers says, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

At one point during the hot topics segment Whoopi Goldberg says, “A lot of people want the Post to apologize,” and a confused Barbara Walters interjects and asks, “Because its a black monkey?” and Sherri jumps in and gives Ms. Walters a little lesson with “That it’s a monkey, period.”

Barbara was still confused and continued, “The reason that it’s racist is it’s not just a monkey. I mean the reason people think that is because the monkey is black.” Babs, whatever color monkey it is, comparing our Black president to a primate is inappropriate and racist.

Props to Sherri for doing her part to turn this into a teachable moment for Barbara Walters. The View is the second most watched show by women 18-49.

Jay Smooth over at Ill Doctrine also has a response.

Posted at 11:56 AM, Feb 20, 2009 in Pop Culture | Permalink | View Comments

Comments

I can't believe someone of Barbara Walters' caliber (and, frankly, age) doesn't get the horribly racist tone of this cartoon and the connection between equating black people with monkeys. Where has she been living all these years? Just serves to remind me -- once again -- how (white) media people live in a bubble and have too little real knowledge of the actual world that people of color (and white antiracist people) live in. Shame, Babs! How about doing a little research on systemic, institutional racism and getting in touch with your Internalized Racist Superiority. It's a struggle for us (I'm white, too) to see, but we can't change the system if we can't see how it's working -- to our benefit as well as to the detriment of people of color.