Chris Rock is known for causing controversy with his often race-based jokes, but his latest statement about "white people's day" being the 4th of July caused a Twitter storm to erupt.
On July 4th, the comedian tweeted "Happy white peoples independence day the slaves weren't free but I'm sure they enjoyed fireworks."
This statement sparked an explosion of arguments and angry comments. Rock does not constantly update his Twitter account, but his tweets did get the attention of his 800,000 followers and those who saw the retweeted statement.
The Hollywood Reported quoted a tweet by Ben Howe who said "Dear @ChrisRock: Without July 4, 1776, December 6, 1865 wouldn't have happened." The date in 1865 is when the Thirteenth Amendment was adopted, putting an end to slavery.
The Huffington Post quoted Libertarian-conservative blogger Jeff Schreiber who was outraged by Rock's humor. He wrote "Slavery existed for 2000yrs before America. We eradicated it in 100yrs. We now have a black POTUS. #GoF***Yourself."
Another blogger, David Burge came back with his own witty response to Rock's tweet. He wrote "Good one! I bet your Guatemalan house staff got a good chuckle."
Others tried to come to Rock's defense. Actor Don Cheadle retweeted Rock's statement and had to defend his action himself. He later wrote "Chris Rock was making a joke. If you don't think it's funny. ok. But keep it in perspective."
Comedian and activist Elon James White tweeted "I just wanna ask everyone who's mad at @ChrisRock--Is he wrong? IS. HE. WRONG?"
The host of This is Blackness later spoke to the Huffington Post about his support of Rock. "I find this Chris Rock backlash absolutely ridiculous. Really? Someone tells the truth and you mad? I'm American. I never claim otherwise," White told the Huffington Post. "If more people were like Rock and acknowledged the truth maybe we'd be in a better place as a Nation."
Rock is known for getting a rise out of people with his sense of humor. Using race-based humor and stereotypes is a common tactic of comedian's. However Rock's main goal is just to get some laughs.
The comedian didn't respond to the backlash from his holiday tweet.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
