Earlier this year Issa Rae caught flack for a passage in her 2015 book The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. Now some Insecure viewers think she poked fun at the controversy during Sunday night’s episode.
In her comedic memoir, named after the web series that launched her into stardom, Rae suggests educated Black women and Asian men “join forces in love, marriage, and procreation” since both groups have a hard time finding partners elsewhere. After one user posted the paragraph on Twitter, it soon made its rounds online, was taken out of context, and was criticized and defended by people across the racial and gender spectrum.
During a scene in the latest episode on Insecure, Issa and Daniel are getting served by a waiter who puts a particular emphasis on the word "Asian" when giving Issa an Asian pear salad. Issa tells Daniel, “You notice the heavy emphasis he put on the word Asian? That was rude. I don't know why."
This sly line was caught by fans online.
Earlier this month, Rae responded to the backlash during an interview with The Breakfast Club. “I wrote that in 2010, and that was the context of… all these news things like, ‘black women have no hope,’ ‘educated black woman, there’s no chance for you,’ ‘black men [don’t want you],” she explained. “So, sarcastically, I noticed that there was an abundance [of Asian men]. So there’s your solution black women!”
“Of course it was a joke, but I was like, ‘this is what I’m getting dragged for?’” she continued. “And I’ve never even dated outside my race, I was like, ‘I stayed loyal to these ashy n*****s all my life!’”
Insecure airs every Sunday night on HBO.
