To the editors:
I am writing in response to the article reporting the Black Students Association protest of “Shirley Q. Liquor” (News, “BSA Protests Boston Blackface Show,” Oct. 9), a very popular act in the South that is not playing well in New York and Boston. Running a spectrum from “Amos and Andy” to Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled,” the black faced performer is a mime that may reflect social irony as well as racism. I believe that Knipp is an interesting character, and his act is tinged with a little of both, as is modern society. Overall, his homage to the black urban woman is one of comic respect. The protests seems heavy handed and somewhat mean-spirited, and I am sure that this performer would be willing to enter into a dialogue about the nature of his act. An honest mediation may help Boston to look a little less stereotypically Southern itself.
Alan L Wells
Houston, Texas
Oct. 26, 2002
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Understanding the Price of a Free Pulpit
