Navigate Left
  • Left Fielder Troy Kent taking a swing in the 5th inning. Taken by Aaron Draper on Thursday.

    Sports

    Chico State baseball walks it off to split series against Monterey Bay

  • Prom Royalty winners Patrick Jay and Mae Haggard shared their first dance in front of the crowd. Taken by Nadia Hill on April 18.

    Arts & Entertainment

    Chico State gets all dolled up for Queer Prom

  • A girl and her dog enjoy the blue cloudy skies and fresh air on a walk in Cannonville, Utah, appreciating the beauty of nature and calming energy it brings. Taken by Ava Aragon on July 29, 2023.

    Opinion

    10 ways to celebrate Earth Day

  • Photo of Katie Callahan, who ran the event. An art history major in her senior year, she is the single student employed by Wellcat Safe Place. Taken on April 18th, 2024

    News

    Affirmative consent: What is it?

  • 2023-24 Chico State men’s golf team in front of Kendall Hall. Courtesy: Jason Haley/Chico State photographer

    Sports

    Chico State men’s golf prepares for upcoming conference championship

Navigate Right
Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

W. Kamau Bell delightful with serious tone

IMG_7554_print.jpg
W. Kamau Bell performing his standup comedy act at Laxon Auditorium on Wednesday night. Photo credit: Kiana Alvarez

On Wednesday, Chico reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Nobody seemed to have told W. Kamau Bell though because he brought the heat to Laxson Auditorium with his show, “Ending Racism in About an Hour.”

Bell started out telling funny anecdotes about his wife and daughters before moving into political commentary, describing watching the 2016 presidential candidates as “pulling up Netflix and being like, ‘I’ve seen it all before.’”

He also mentioned seeing President Obama singing “Amazing Grace” was like getting hit in his “black G-spot.”

At one point in the show, Bell gave member of the predominantly white audience simple rules to follow about asking an African-American person about touching their hair:

1) Never

2) Fucking Never

3) Only if you were born with a black face

Later, Bell did a picture compare-and-contrast of Jeremy Lin and Stephen Colbert’s respective Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavors. He mentions the fact that Lin’s ice cream was made with fortune cookies while Colbert’s was made with fudge and pieces of waffle cone.

“Colbert is from South Carolina” said Bell, “But they don’t make his ice cream with crackers.”

That joke nearly killed the audience.

The night struck a serious chord when Bell talked about the “Black Lives Matter” movement. He shattered the “White Lives Matter” concept by pointing out that white people did not came out in defense of Subway’s Jared Fogle when he was busted for child pornography.

“Race isn’t a real thing,” Bell said. “it’s a social construction to keep people separate.”

He backed up his thesis by showing the different categories of race in the 2010 census and explaining how ridiculous they are, like an old outdated racial slur still being something people can check off.

“We could all fuck up the census by writing in Klingon,” Bell said.

In all the jokes told throughout night, there was similarly deep poignancy working successfully under Bell’s mask of humor.

Asking if W. Kamau Bell ended racism in about an hour would be an asinine endeavor. Of course nobody can end racism all by themself, but he did hopefully change some perspectives about race and inspire others to help him in his mission to end racism once and for all.

George Johnston can be reached at [email protected] or @gjohnston786 on Twitter.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
George Johnston
George Johnston, Breaking News Editor

Comments (0)

All The Orion Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *