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From Clayton Bigsby To Stuart Hall: Conceptions Of Blackness And Authenticity In Chappelle’S Show, Andrew O'Connell
From Clayton Bigsby To Stuart Hall: Conceptions Of Blackness And Authenticity In Chappelle’S Show, Andrew O'Connell
American Studies Senior Theses
From the years 2003- 2006, perhaps no one played a bigger a role on the American comedy scene than did Dave Chappelle. From the first episode of his critically acclaimed Chappelle’s Show, in which he depicted Clayton Bigsby, a black, blind white supremacist, to his controversial exit from the show early into season three, Chappelle served as a lightning rod for attention both positive and negative. In this thesis, I argue that in his comedy portrayed on Chappelle’s Show, Dave Chappelle portrays an image of essentialized Blackness through the lens of the “urban Black American experience” as being …