‘Negrotown’ — ‘Key And Peele’ Video About A City Full Of Black People Gets 225,000 Views [Video]
Leave it to Key and Peele to find a way to use humor to talk about sensitive racial subjects and topics like police brutality. The last time the comedy duo made big buzz was when President Obama used their “anger translator,” Luther, at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, as reported by the Inquisitr. Well, now the duo is back and going viral with their “Negrotown” video, one that imagines a utopia-like world where only blacks exist in a colorfully-dressed world full of singing, dancing, and NSFW language.
The video opens with Keegan-Michael Key walking down an alley as Jordan Haworth Peele begs him for spare change as a homeless man. Key gets harassed by a cop, who bangs his head on the squad car, sending him off to the delusional Negrotown, a place where crime, racism, and diseases like sickle cell anemia don’t exist.
“Negrotown? What, like Atlanta?”
The ‘Negrotown‘ sketch — called a dream come true for black people by The Root — is certainly getting its share of comments on YouTube and getting shared on Twitter. Some commentators are calling foul on the humorous video, claiming that such a place couldn’t exist — either with all whites or all black people — that doesn’t experience elements of crime. Others are using the video as a frank and honest jumping off point to talk about black and white issues, asking if blacks really have their hair touched by others, and the like.
“There’s always a cab when you need to get around, and they always stop in Negrotown.”
Key & Peele’s Negrotown looks like a fun vacation spot, says USA Today, but in actuality, with the comedy duo speaking in real life about their multi-racial heritage, both having white mothers, the skit seems only a tongue in cheek way to address the way certain elements of the public might feel about all black towns.
“You won’t get followed when you shop. And you can wear your hoodie and you won’t get shot.”
Key & Peele Skewer Police Violence in “Negrotown” Musical Short (Video) http://t.co/s49CYg3mFw pic.twitter.com/cr29hOjXvO
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 6, 2015
“This sounds too good to be true.”
NegroTown would get 1.5 stars in Yelp. people would complain about the noise and “the kind of people who hang out there.” Also: “sketchy.”
— Gene Demby (@GeeDee215) May 6, 2015
“Hanging out in a group doesn’t make it a gang.”
The black paradise of Negrotown is a place where…black people are treated as if they’re ordinary people and citizens deserving of dignity.
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) May 6, 2015
[Image via Comedy Central “Negrotown” video]