I was over at Racialicious today and came across this post on the antics of an SNL character named Virginiaca played by Keenan Thompson (a fave of mine from All That and Keenan and Kel).
Here's a brief synopsis:
Thompson’s most grave offense toward black women to date, in my opinion, is his portrayal of Virginiaca, a poorly behaved, inappropriately sexual black woman who’s fallen into some money by marrying a wealthy white man. As a reference for those of you who cannot view the Hulu clips, in the typical ”Shopping with Virginiaca” sketch, Virginiaca (Keenan Thompson,clad in an ill-fitting, tacky denim suit) takes her white stepdaughter (who now behaves in the same, stereotype-fulfilling way as Virginiaca, only it’s *reeeaaally funny* because the actress is white and “acting black”) to a retail store where they are both refused service as a result of their loud, outlandish behavior until Virginiaca mentions she is married to Cedrick Earlsworth Hasting, a white aluminum tubing magnate. Post name-dropping, Virginiaca and her daughter receive service, albeit at arm’s length. All of this is the framework for the climax of the mother-daughter pair booty dancing and Virginiaca sexually harassing the white, male store clerk.
*sigh*
You know, there could possibly room for these "parodies" if there were more positive representations of black women on television and in film. Unfortunately, those are few and far between, and these "ghetto bunny" representations are out there in vast numbers.
What is the killer is that Virginiaca is always so sexually charged for these white male clerks, even after they are thoroughly disgusted by her and her actions.
So it reinforces the idea that fat, black women are loud, unattractive, perverse and uncouth. Those are just a few names I could think of off the top of my head.
There are quite a few skits with Virginiaca, and I am amazed at how long it has been allowed to go on. What's even more difficult to watch is the white characters pretending to be their idea of black people. I can understand using certain vernacular, slang terms or what have you. But this is borderline offensive, if not fully offensive...
Again, they have all the time in the world to have writers cook this shit up, but we can't get a decent minority sitcom? Sphere: Related Content
