Andrew Yang Defends Chappelle's Visit to Alma Mater

“Successful alum who fundraises for school returns, speaks to students and given everyone a free meal for Thanksgiving. But of course in 2021 an obvious positive gesture is framed negatively in the media.”

-Andrew Yang

#freespeechmatters 04.12.2021

Everybody’s favorite comedian Dave Chappelle visited his alma mater at Duke Ellington School of Arts in Washington DC, where he was met with cheers, laughter, and being called a bigot by a 16-year old student. One student was even brave enough to tell Chappelle that his “comedy kills.” Chappelle responded that black people are killed every day before asking the students if the media was present.

The media destroyed Chappelle’s visit to his alma mater, hyper focusing on the negative reactions by a few students. If you read the circulating articles in their entirety, you may also learn that Chappelle gave each student three tickets to his “Untitled” documentary showing, an event you don’t want to miss, and he also donated 600 meals to students and staff for Thanksgiving. However, the mainstream media thought that the most important part of his visit was the tension and the negative reactions by a few.

Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who recently separated himself from the Democratic’s downfall, defended Chappelle on Twitter noting that he’s a “great guy” who “wants to help people.” I don’t know Chappelle personally and am only able to enjoy him as a celebrity. Whether or not he is a good guy is not a talking point I can confirm, but I do want to point out that not every celebrity returned back to their alma mater’s to make generous donations during these trying holidays. Chappelle doesn’t owe any of those students anything, yet he took time out of his busy schedule to interact with these students, because he cares.

In contrast, President Joe Biden spent Thanksgiving on Nantucket, an island in Massachusetts.

Imagine being so woke that you’re routinely teaching young people to protest a celebrity who goes out of his way to pay it forward. Students from the school were receiving death threats for protesting the comedian’s arrival, which Chappelle denounced during his visit. He’s okay with people protesting his name, and he would prefer they are able to do so without the threat of violence.

Chappelle has always been an advocate for free speech. He understands better than most of us that we are all individuals living amongst other individuals. We are not always going to agree, but our disagreements shouldn’t be powerful enough to destroy relationships. Chappelle is wealthy, but he doesn’t use is platform to silence our voices. In fact, he uses his platform as an opportunity to hear the people out. He knows our concerns and much of what he goes through because he lives in a regular, Ohio community. His ability to relate is partly what makes him the greatest comedian of all time.

These students don’t understand what they’re saying, they’re just repeating what they’ve heard from their superiors. High school students don’t understand the complexity of the ongoing social debates, yet they are taking strong stances on one side or the other. These children could have used his visit as an opportunity to learn about the struggles they may face pursuing a career in art. Instead, they acted as one of the many struggles artists face throughout their careers.

I can’t help but think that Dave Chappelle is going to become the face of the free speech movement. Chappelle, who is rather liberal in his politics, is being championed by conservatives for his fight against cancel culture. While free speech was once an ideal protected by the left, they abandoned the principles in exchange for pseudo government security for groups of people they deem the most vulnerable in society. Chappelle jokes about every group in society, whether they’re protected or not. Because of this, Chappelle has been accused of exercising his “white privilege.”