The brilliant American comedian Reginald D. Hunter has been talking to Hot Press about Gerry Adams' controversial ‘nigger’ tweet at the beginning of this month.
Having apparently just watched Quentin Tarantino’s bloodsoaked movie on May 1, the Sinn Fein leader tweeted, “Watching Django Unchained – A Ballymurphy Nigger!”
Following a storm of media controversy, Adams soon deleted the tweet, but protested that he was actually trying to draw a comparison between the plight of slaves in the United States and that of Irish nationalists in Ballymurphy, an area of Belfast where British soldiers murdered civilians in 1971 – an event known as the Ballymurphy Massacre.
Now black comedian Reginald D. Hunter – who’s set to tour his new show The Aluminum Negro around Ireland next month - has weighed in on the controversy.
Speaking to Hot Press’ Olaf Tyaransen, the Georgia-born comic said, “I thought that was fucking hilarious! If people are upset about the way Gerry Adams used the word ‘nigger’ - and there’s a lot of debate and controversy and talk about it - then it means either you don’t have real problems or you’re being distracted away from your real problems. That’s what I think.”
Hunter – whose previous stand-up shows have had titles including Pride & Prejudice... & Niggas and Trophy Nigga – continued by saying, “I mean, there’s nothing he said that will make one black person be closer to incarceration, or murder, or ineligible for a bank loan. In fact, I’ll be even more honest about it. What makes me angry about situations like that is all the people who get upset about that thing seem to have no understanding, not even any concern about understanding, of context. In fact what he said was - in a roundabout, twisted way - very complimentary.
“I mean, I’ve always been kinda neutral, kinda generic, on Gerry Adams, but that right there for a moment made me like really like that nigger! Like wow! Seems like me and Gerry could smoke together and have a drink and talk real! Also as well there’s lots of people that believe that he was the leader of a terrorist organisation and those same people believe that such a man should not be eligible to say the word ‘nigger’. Which one’s worse?”
The full interview with Reg will be in a forthcoming issue of Hot Press.