Ed. Note—Two Black Discuss This Month in Racism is a recurring feature about race. The opinions expressed during this conversation do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Complex Media. This month, Lauretta Charlton and Julian Kimble discuss the infamous Daquan memes, Zoe Saldana's comments about the notion of all black people looking alike, and Eric Garner's tragic death after being choked by an NYPD officer in Staten Island.
[A recent Medium essay explored the Daquan phenomenon—a flurry of tweets and memes featuring stock photographs of white families accented with jokes about teenage girls pledging their love for "Daquan," an unseen African-American male presence. To some, he's a force. To others, a menace.]
Lauretta: Let's talk about Daquan first. I laughed my ass off.
Julian: At the article, or at the memes?
Lauretta: At the memes. But there is something to be said about the images that got more likes and retweets than others. The article is interesting in that it takes a more sophisticated look at a phenomenon that seems idiotic and exposed the underlying racial connotations that played out.
Daquan is the universal black man operating in a white patriarchal system. He's uneducated, he has a big black dick, and he is ready to steal your children away from their comfortable home.
Julian: True.
Lauretta: Like, why is it funny to laugh at the idea of a white girl having sex with Daquan, but not funny to laugh about a white man losing his white girlfriend to her?
Julian: Or any black man, for that matter.
Lauretta: Right, that's the point.
Julian: Or a black kid hiding under a white girl's bed in fear.
Lauretta: Daquan is the universal black man operating in a white patriarchal system. He's uneducated, he has a big black dick, and he is ready to steal your children away from their comfortable suburban home.
"You will respect me as your dad in my house Sara" "Shut up steve Daquan is my daddy now" pic.twitter.com/sowLbXk6Hn
— Daquan (@DaquanMemes) July 7, 2014
Julian: And all of the Beckys love him for it.
Lauretta: Yes, Becky loves the trap. She loves his mixtape. She loves to move that dope. It's funny until you start to think about what this means outside of the child/parent context and we introduce the wife/husband dynamic. That's what I thought was so interesting about this essay—when it stops being funny and why.
Julian: Right, when Laurie pines for Daquan because Todd couldn't satisfy her.
" I SHOULD HAVE CALLED DAQUAN " pic.twitter.com/xMFzvgYno5
— DAQUAN (@ItsDaquann) July 8, 2014
Lauretta: Correct. That's not so funny.
Julian: It's the Black Buck stereotype, only the black male presence is simply implied.
Lauretta: The emasculation of white men by black men is not funny to white America.
Julian: Right, which goes back to the Paul Mooney quote. He told me the exact same thing when I interviewed him a couple of years ago: Whites invented racial jokes. They love them until the joke is on them.
Lauretta: The other thing I thought was very interesting about his essay is the idea of acting out racial stereotypes online and how identity is often tied up in corporeal givens, but the Internet allows us to use tools of deception. In doing so, we have to be careful—especially as black people—about accepting the Daquan phenomenon as our own, hence the title of the essay: Daquan is probably a white girl. Do you think "Daquan" is white? I have no idea, but the very idea that "Daquan" isn't black is something worth talking about. Because then there's so much to say about stereotypes, perception and what we're laughing at.
Julian: I also have no idea. Regardless, there are clear reasons for why it both is and isn't funny. I liked how the writer mentioned Black Twitter, though I think the sheer notion of it is absurd. It's wild corny to me.
Lauretta: Oh dear, Black Twitter. That's a different conversation.
Julian: A totally different one, but I suppose Black Twitter played a role in the spread of Daquan memes.
Lauretta: Sure. But the difference is Black Twitter miraculously seems to operate as a self-contained entity. That's part of the appeal. It's a community; Daquan was ubiquitous. Memes are funny that way. I suspect Black Twitter has relinquished the right to claim Daquan as its own invention at this point. It has a life of its own.
Julian: I think it's old news at this point. Most things on Twitter have a 24 to 48-hour lifespan before they aren't funny anymore. After the first 48, it's a wrap. To me, it was just a thing that people were laughing at to replace the flood of Kermit the Frog memes. RIP Daquan, you had a good run.
Lauretta: LOL. Let's talk about Zoe now.
[In last week's Hollywood Reporter cover story, actress Zoe Saldana said she understood why she's occasionally mistaken for other black actresses: "I've gotten Kerry Washington and Jada Pinkett, too, but mainly Thandie [Newton]. People ask me if I'm offended that I'm confused with every other black actress out there. 'Doesn't it bother you that people think you're all the same person?' No. Because one time I entered a restaurant and there were all these beautiful blond girls around a table, probably all from Orange County. It felt like it might have been a high school reunion or something. There were like 20 beautiful girls, but they were all the same. I couldn't tell any of them apart." Her comments were met with a healthy amount of scrutiny.]
Julian: I'm still hurt about her pregnancy, but allow me to compose myself. [Ed. note: pauses briefly.] It was supposed to be my baby, but alright, let's go.
Lauretta: OK, so the saying goes, all black people look the same. Well, that's what racist people say. Zoe, who is a black Latina, understands why people say this. It's because, all white blond people look the same, too! Phew. Problem solved. I'm so happy she was in Star Trek. 
Julian: That, Colombiana...I paid American dollars to see The Losers when I was hung the fuck over because of her...but yeah, the thing is, she does kind of resemble Thandie Newton in the face a little bit, but I think some people were miffed at her comments because all black people obviously don't look alike. For example, she looks nothing like Nina Simone, whom she played in the Nina Simone biopic. Have you seen the pictures? Also, I think some people were bothered about her discussing race—specifically being a minority—because she apparently has a strict no minority track record when it comes to dating.
Lauretta: Do you know that for a fact, or are you assuming that's the case?
Julian: I can only go back as long as she's been famous. She dated Bradley Cooper, and then she was with this other dude for like 11 years before they broke off their engagement prior to that. I don't know her full resumé, but I do know she grew up in Queens and the Dominican Republic, so yeah. But this is the type of shit I've heard people say, "Why is she talking about race? She doesn't want to be black anyway."
Lauretta: I'm going come out and say that those people are idiots.
Julian: As many people are.
Lauretta: Just because she doesn't date black people means she can't talk about race? False.
Julian: She's still who she is.
Lauretta: I will say that her comments underscore a larger issue that I think happens in Hollywood.
Julian: Which is?
Lauretta: Where people live in a bubble and tend to forget REALITY which is very annoying but, I don't hate you, Zoe. You just don't know what you're talking about. Because when white people say all black people look the same, they are saying black people lack agency. They lack individuality. They lack nuance.
Julian: They lack differentiating features.
Lauretta: We black people come in all different shapes, sizes, and shades. Zoe, of all people, should know that. I'm sure she does.
Julian: She could've just said, "Yeah, I kind of look like Thandie Newton in the face. A little bit."
Lauretta: But again, she's probably surrounded by very liberal, socially conscious actors and actresses who aren't faced with REAL racism every day. It's like when Oprah got dissed while shopping in Switzerland.
When white people say all black people look the same, they are saying black people lack agency. They lack individuality. They lack nuance.
Julian: Or it's something they haven't dealt with it in years.
Lauretta: Exactly. She hadn't dealt with that in years, then it happened and it was like, "OH YES, I AM BLACK." The same thing will happen to Zoe and she will have her moment. Perhaps the media's response in the aftermath of her comments is that moment for her. I'm sure she'll think twice about giving people a pass for thinking all black people look the same again.
Julian: She could've phrased her answer better, assuming she cares.
Lauretta: Let's talk about something all black people definitely care about.
Julian: Eric Garner.
[On July 17, Eric Garner, 43, lost consciousness and died after an NYPD officer applied a chokehold and several others piled on top of him in an effort to subdue him. During the horrifying video, Garner, who suffered from asthma, among other ailments, can be heard saying "I can't breathe" repeatedly until he expires. The video has sparked outrage, and led to a continuous stream of videos or images showing members of the NYPD using the same illegal move.]
Lauretta: I hate to admit this, but I still haven't watched the video because I'm a coward and I feel like I will breakdown and start crying. I know I need to watch it, but it's painful to even think about.
Julian: I watched it, of course.
Lauretta: I'm sure you did.
Julian: I've watched it many times and it just makes me think of how mob mentality has become police procedure. It never needed to escalate to that, and to hear him wheezing "I can't breathe" multiple times while the cops refuse to relent is just a reminder of the gap between community and police relations. Then, of course, there's the matter of his death coming through the use of a move prohibited by the NYPD 21 years ago.
Lauretta: Right, the chokehold. One of the more interesting articles I read in the aftermath of the incident was about how these things happen and no one tries to fix the problem. Bloomberg spent millions in court fighting cases where police were accused of using excessive force, and now we have a true liberal in office and he doesn't seem to know how to address the real issue either.
Julian: I don't think people on either side do.
Lauretta: He's willing to settle, pay money, which, by the way, is OUR money, but he's not saying, "Oh shit, this is happening in the black community. What's really going on here."
Julian: "Here's your money back, sorry."
Lauretta: Yeah, right? And this is why your husband died that day.
Julian: It's something de Blasio has to be aware of because his son is black.
Lauretta: Paying money does not amount to accountability. You can't put a price on your son's life, or your husband's life.
Julian: Or anyone's.
Lauretta: Correct.
Julian: Anything civil is just settlement money.
Lauretta: I'm sure Garner's family will be paid handsomely, but is it worth it? It's worth it until it happens again, then we are stuck asking the same questions. Look, I don't hate police. I wish police were more a part of the community, and it's true that we don't read about the officer who saves a life as much as we hear about the one who takes one. However, there are good cops out there.
Eric Garner was just big, black, and tired of being fucked with. That's all he was guilty of, and he's dead because of it.
Julian: They'd probably be less prone to this type of incident if they had a deeper connection to the community.
Lauretta: To me, this tragedy means we need to look at those stop-and-frisk numbers again. Bloomberg swore that they effectively prevented crime, even though the procedures unfairly targeted black and Latino men. How did that reality play out the day Eric Garner died?
Julian: The folks in City Hall care less about the people than they do statistics. We forget that these are people doing a job.
Lauretta: That's a good point. Bloomberg did keep crime down. If it goes up at all during de Blasio's term, the right will be on his ass like white on rice.
Julian: The brass strives for low crime stats. They aren't getting granular with the numbers.
Lauretta: Just a side bar to point out that he was put in a chokehold for illegally selling cigarettes. THAT IS INSANE. Well, resisting arrest. But the point being he was not a violent offender. He wasn't threatening the community with violence. It's fucking bullshit.
Julian: Allegedly selling cigarettes illegally. So the question becomes why is a non-violent person being met with force by a swarm of police? It's obviously because of his size. This speaks to the fear present on both sides of the law. I can remember getting pulled over in college for California-rolling through two stop signs, and the cops telling me and my friends, "We're more afraid of you than you are of us." I was like, "The fuck you are. We don't have guns." When you're a male and a minority, every police encounter is a gamble.
Lauretta: So fucking true and so fucking scary.
Julian: It's all about what kind of cop you're dealing with and in what type of situation. You have to take extra steps to make sure you don't do or say anything that will cost you your life. Eric Garner was just big, black, and tired of being fucked with. That's all he was guilty of, and he's dead because of it.
Lauretta: It's a symptom of a greater problem, and he's another victim. It needs to stop.
Julian: Anyone who says, "He'd still be alive if he didn't resist arrest," has never met an overzealous cop or watched their friends get their asses kicked by the police.
Lauretta: Or they're just not black or Latino.
Julian: Basically. If they are, they're just in denial. You know, the Shelby Steeles and such.
Lauretta: Haha. Yes, I do! Alright, do you have anything else you want to add?
Julian: The Daquan situation reminds me of a storyline from Ray Donovan, and some action needs to be taken regarding the NYPD, race, and police brutality. It's just that no one knows what, exactly. And to Zoe Saldana, you owe me a baby.
