Bernie Mac on "Black Death"

            Holloway conceptualizes “black death” as the particular shared way in which the African American community experiences, views, ritualizes, and memorializes death and dying. According to her, this version of death is distinct; no other group “does” death the same way as black Americans. Within that community, though, certain narratives and practices came to be common as history pulled the African American experience this way and that, leading to a shared understanding of what it means to die. Chapter One, “Who’s Got the Body?” focuses on the way that history shaped the black funeral, for example. Hollow examines the 19^th century experiences of black undertakers especially, and how race came to determine not only who prepared black bodies, but how those bodies would be preserved and presented for the family.

            This clip from Bernie Mac’s “Kings of Comedy” set suggests that there is some validity to Holloway’s argument. He compares black funerals to white funerals, framing his jokes in a way that, at least on a surface level, says he prefers the way that white people do funerals. In this short clip he references some of the same aspects particular to black funerals that Holloway also identified in “Who’s Got the Body?”, such as leaving the body unburied for a relatively long period of time, holding a wake with an open casket, and seeing the funeral as a dramatic “performance.” Holloway explains the historical and cultural importance of these practices while Bernie Mac seemingly complains about them, but the fact that these two completely unrelated texts both pinpoint the same markers of a black funeral suggests that within the African American community there truly is a shared way of ritualizing and memorializing death.

            The element of comedy in Mac’s comments says something about the legitimacy of “black death” as well. One commonly cited, prevailing theory of comedy is that there is an “in group” and an “out group” for every joke (F. Durham, personal communication, January 2017). The “in group” is on the side of the comedian, and together they laugh at the expense of the butt-of-the-joke “out group” who doesn’t get it. The way I see Bernie’s bit, people who have experienced black funerals (African Americans or individuals with African American relatives) are the “in group.” They find humor in Bernie’s statements because they share the unique cultural experience of the black funeral with him. Whether Bernie is really mocking black funeral practices, is actually commenting on the detachment of white people towards death, or is doing a little of both does not matter. The “in group” finds truth and comedy in his take on “black death.”  

*The citation refers to an in-class lecture by Dr. Frank Durham during JMC:3185:002 “Topics in Mass Communication: Satire and Social Change: From Lenny Bruce to Amy Schumer—NC 17” last semester, an absolutely phenomenal class that I highly recommend for any JMC or communications student!