# "Martin Lawrence has done more damage to black people than slavery and apartheid" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319 "2008-02-27T01:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/1 "2008-02-27T01:02:37Z")
This is something my co-worker said earlier, in reference to Lawrence’s latest movie, “College Road Trip.” I kind of have to agree. It’s surprising that in a post-segregation , post-racist america, someone like Lawrence can make a career out of being a wide-eyed caricature. “Black Knight” was literally like an Al Jolson movie, a straight minstrel show - at one point, Lawrence _even gets tarred and feathered_. What the hell is wrong with that guy? No, what’s wrong with the people that support his films? It’s so regressive that it’s unbelievable. Whenever I see him utter that “It a hoooodini pig!” in the commercials for his new movie, I literally feel like I just saw someone in blackface walk on and say “Massah.” ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/2 "2008-02-27T01:09:07Z")
It is as though your mind has been raped? :::d&r::: ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/3 "2008-02-27T01:12:38Z")
I don’t know what he’s done to the cause of civil rights, but I can tell you right now, if someone put a gun to my head and tried to force me to watch one of his movies, I’d take the bullet. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/4 "2008-02-27T01:16:17Z")
[QUOTE=Ghanima] It is as though your mind has been raped? :::d&r::: [/QUOTE] Not quite that level, but I do kind of wonder how people aren’t protesting stuff like _this_ in a Jena 6 world. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/5 "2008-02-27T01:16:49Z")
Just curious, is this one of the same people who didn’t even know _Michael Clayton_ had been released? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/6 "2008-02-27T01:36:10Z")
He’s just a silly comedian acting silly in movies. Are only white people allowed to do that? I would think the fact that anyone can do that and be successful is a step forward. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/7 "2008-02-27T01:42:17Z")
How is it significantly different from _Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood_ , _Frida_ , or _White Chicks_? Marc ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/8 "2008-02-27T01:44:10Z")
Comedians seem to have figured out that you can make a good living by doing really really dumb, but cheap comedies one after the other. Martin Lawrence isn’t the only one, and it’s not just black comedians (though they do seem to be the majority.) I’m not sure who the audience is, but there does seem to be a lot of them, and I’ll bet that they watch it because they like stupid stuff. Poor taste does not equal racism nor does have any likely chance for having any negative impact on race relations. If anything, stupid people cheering for black **heroes** , in stupid or films or not, is almost always going to be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/9 "2008-02-27T01:49:11Z")
Will Ferrell acts like the same dumbass in every lousy comedy he does, all of which have been every bit as horrible as the junk Lawrence is in, but you don’t see people criticizing him for embarassing white people. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/10 "2008-02-27T02:07:02Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Will Ferrell acts like the same dumbass in every lousy comedy he does, all of which have been every bit as horrible as the junk Lawrence is in, but you don’t see people criticizing him for embarassing white people. [/QUOTE] Will Ferrell has done more damage to the white race than Cheez Whiz and disco. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/11 "2008-02-27T02:08:56Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Will Ferrell acts like the same dumbass in every lousy comedy he does, all of which have been every bit as horrible as the junk Lawrence is in, but you don’t see people criticizing him for embarrassing white people. [/QUOTE] Will Ferrell makes me so ashamed to be white I started drawing on myself with a black sharpie, but I’m easily distracted so I got bored with that after a while. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/12 "2008-02-27T02:11:00Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Will Ferrell has done more damage to the white race than Cheez Whiz and disco. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget leisure suits. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/13 "2008-02-27T02:16:39Z")
Martin’s movies have been generally bad (Bad Boys wasn’t so awful, but that’s probably 'cuz Will Smith was in it). But I did love his television show. Just the name “Shenaynay” makes me giggle. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/14 "2008-02-27T02:49:30Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Just curious, is this one of the same people who didn’t even know _Michael Clayton_ had been released? [/QUOTE] Thank God. I was just saying yesterday that Michael Clayton’s imprisonment was unjust… ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/15 "2008-02-27T02:51:01Z")
Y’know, when looking at the stuff about this film (promos, etc.), the thing that first came to my mind wasn’t “another wacky minstrelesque Martin Lawrence vehicle,” but “Disney pimping its child stars again” (Raven-Symoné, Brenda Song, etc.) Ever since the Disney Channel became a basic-cable network, Disney has been on top of the world with Hannah Montana and company producing great grosses for them. Heck, they even stuck Miley Cyrus in the Academy Awards, which ran on ABC. So, I guess the question here is: black stereotypes- are they so Raven? And what actually makes something “so Raven,” anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/16 "2008-02-27T02:56:19Z")
[QUOTE=TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW] This is something my co-worker said earlier, in reference to Lawrence’s latest movie, “College Road Trip.” [/QUOTE] If he said that, he’s worse than Hitler. > [@](#): > > I kind of have to agree. Then you’re worse than Hitler’s co-worker. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/17 "2008-02-27T03:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=MGibson] How is it significantly different from _Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood_ , _Frida_ , or _White Chicks_? Marc [/QUOTE] Frida? The Selma Hayek movie about a painter? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/18 "2008-02-27T03:54:11Z")
And slightly less damage than crack. I don’t compare him to Will Farrell- he could never reach such heights- he’s more like Sandler and Schneider. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/19 "2008-02-27T03:59:40Z")
The only people who would be misled are the ones who think that all black people are the same and therefore believe that if Martin Lawrence acts like an idiot, it means that all black people are idiots. And even then they’ll be okay as long as they’re able to understand the difference between fiction and reality. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319/20 "2008-02-27T04:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] The only people who would be misled are the ones who think that all black people are the same and therefore believe that if Martin Lawrence acts like an idiot, it means that all black people are idiots. And even then they’ll be okay as long as they’re able to understand the difference between fiction and reality. [/QUOTE] Speculative – TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW: What’s up with black people…and reality!?? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/martin-lawrence-has-done-more-damage-to-black-people-than-slavery-and-apartheid/439319.md?page=2)