This letter was sent to the famous Second City in Chicago:
Dear Cast of "Between Barack and a hard place" at Second City,
I caught a performace of your show and I must say I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. You are obviously a very talented group of people. It's hard to pinpoint which part of the show was my favorite there were so many. However after watching this show something began to nag at me and I thought it was worth commenting on.
In your skit lampooning the Chief Illiniwick controversy the actor portraying the school official said "Faggot" three times during the sketch. Now I realize the point of that sketch was to show the insensitivity of the school versus the Native Americans offended by the mascot. By renaming the other college groups various offensive things you were making a point.
However the fact that you feel comfortable yelling out "Faggot" onstage began to bother me. It was disturbing to me because although you said you would rename the drama club the "Faggots" you never at any time said you would rename the basketball team the "Niggers". (I'm saying the N-word for a reason - I also despise that word)
If you are daring enough to yell out "Faggot" at your shows then you certainly should be yelling out "Nigger". Part of the reason "Nigger" is offensive is because it has been used against African Americans in violent ways - sometimes even when black people were being lynched. "Faggot" has and is still used when Gay & Lesbian people are beaten with bats and murdered in the street.
Do I think comedy should be politically correct? Absolutely not. I don't think stand up comedians or improv actors should be held to the same standard as elected officials etc. I do however think it's time to remove "Faggot" from the casual conversation of the American males of this county. ('That's so gay' is another topic altogether)
If you're ashamed to say "Nigger" then you should be ashamed to say "Faggot". Period.
Cranky Cub
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