Chris Rock July 4th Tweet Sparks Controversy

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July 6, 2012

By Carol Hartsell, the Huffington Post

Chris Rock seems to have tweeted up a bit of controversy over the July 4th holiday.

The comedian ruffled more than a few feathers after sending out this message to his followers: “Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren’t free but I’m sure they enjoyed fireworks.”

Rock has always mined comedy as a means for poking at sensitive topics, in some cases encouraging as much outrage as applause. But the comedian also sparks quite a lot of conversation, which is perhaps the goal (along with laughs).

While some quickly came to Rock’s defense, including actors Don Cheadle and Zach Braff who seemed to see the humor in the joke, others took the gag as unpatriotic and fired back. Libertarian-conservative blogger Jeff Schreiber went so far as to attempt giving Rock a quick history lesson: “Slavery existed for 2000yrs before America. We eradicated it in 100yrs. We now have a black POTUS. #GoFuckYourself.” And blogger David Burge had a more humorous contradictory take: “Good one! I bet your Guatemalan house staff got a good chuckle.”

Read more of the story here

Learn more about Juneteenth, which celebrates freedom from slavery.

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