A few years ago I saw a video tape of Richard Pryor doing stand-up. I don’t recall which tape it was. He talked about his trip to Africa. He remarked, for example, on how amusing it was to see the look on the sole white person realizing what a complete minority he was.
He also remarked, I’m attempting to quote him from memory, “While I was there it dawned on me that I was seeing all sorts of black people; but I didn’t see any niggers.” The largely black audience erupted in cheers of approval. Since then, I’ve occassionally reflected on that remark and, assuming that I’m remembering it correctly, I’ve thought that it sounds pretty profound. Yet, I’m also not so sure that I have the cultural background to really appreciate what it means without some guidance. I imagine that it could have multiple meanings, many of which would never occur to me. Can anybody help me out and explain what he said and what the audience heard.
I was reading a book on a bike trip through Africa by Neil Peart last year and he was spooked that people constantly referred to him as ‘white man’ (understandable, I suppose) and constantly deferred to him. He suspected that white dominance was ingrained in the culture (Cameroon, IIRC) that a white was assumed to deserve privilige under any circumstances.
This wasn’t just the deference that one could expect as a wealthy person travelling in a poor country, either. This was people insisting he take their seat on a bus and suchlike.
I don’t think Richard Pryor had Neil Peart’s experience: that is, I don’t think this is what he took away from his trip to Africa.
Pryor, previously in his stand-up comedy, had used the forbidden word ‘nigger’ quite a bit. He threw this word in everyone’s face long before rappers such as N.W.A.
Then he took his trip to Africa. (1979? '80?) As I understand it, Pryor was “enlightened,” he appreciated the “timeless” land and its “majestic” people. (From his book, Pryor Convictions.)
While I think that DMark is correct in his assessment that Pryor’s transformation came about from his being in a place where he was not the minority, I also think that Pryor’s decision was a change of heart as well as a change of mind. He was not a ‘nigger’ in America any more than he was a ‘nigger’ in Africa.
He renounced the word, would never again use it in his work.
I don’t know if the above makes any sense. I do know that Richard Pryor was/is a comic genius, a groundbreaker who really could tell it like it is.
Comedian Chris Rock does a routine about Blacks Versus Niggers. To baldly paraphrase him, Blacks have jobs and are law abiding citizens. Niggers don’t have jobs and are criminals.
Me? I think assholes and jerks come in all colors. So do good people too.
I remember the event you describe, js_africanus. I believe it was a comedy special for HBO. I also remember thinking at the time that maybe mr. pryor had not heard the word on his trip to Africa and was able to make some very good decisions not to use some offensive terms on his return to the USA. My basis for thinking this was that in many parts of Africa, the term “kaffir” is a much more evil name to call someone.
I know nothing of this myself, but I had an Ethiopian guy in a college class who said that American and to a lesser extent, European blacks are not accepted as “Africans” in Africa at all–they get treated more like whites than they get treated like Africans. The common local assumption is that any blacks that have moved to Africa are relatively educated and wealthy and so are spared most of the typical day-to-day problems the locals have, and don’t know anything about and tend not to respect traditional African social customs. -Much like white people.
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Don’t know if this is pertinent, but I have a black friend, Audrey, who went to Africa for the first time a couple of years ago. When she came back she told me, “It was nothing like I thought it would be–what a horrible country! I stood there looking out at the ocean and thinking, ‘Slavery was a horrible thing, but it sure worked out well for me, because I’d much rather be an American than live in this awful place!’”
She said she felt guilty for saying that. But I know what she means–I feel the same way about the pogroms in Eastern Europe.
I agree litost my mother (who claims she’s not racist, but is) uses that statement a lot. She is claims that blacks should thank us for bringing them over here, that they are much better than they would be in Africa.
Peart wrote it as a completely seperate project from the band. It’s a travel diary of a bike trip through west Africa with a few other people. He only mentions being a musician once when he’s approached by a young man who wants to be a drummer.
Other than that it’s impressions and experiences of travelling through. He did a better job of it than I thought he would. While I really enjoy the music and lyrics of the band sometimes his prose has given me the willies.
But this is a fairly straightforward look at travelling through Africa and the impact it has on him.