SNL comedian and writer Leslie Jones has responded to critics outraged about a skit where she called herself “the number one slave draft pick.” On Saturday night’s skit while discussing Lupita Nyong’o’s People Magazine cover, Jones said the way the world views black beauty has changed.
As part of her Weekend Update appearance, Jones commented that if she was a dark skinned strong black female slave she would be a prized possession on the plantation, popping out babies every nine months for the plantation’s master. In 2014, she shares, she can’t even get a man to take her out on a cheap date for a beef bowl.
The skit can be seen below:
In a flurry of tweets, Jones unapologetically defended her decision to write the skit as a comic whose job is to take painful moments and make them funny.
Ok I wasn’t gonna say any thing because I know that dumb people know how to use the computer too, but now this is so ridiculous.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
Where is the rape idiots. I said nothing about rape you fucking morons. I was talking about being match to another strong brother.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
Not being rape by white man. What part of this joke that wasn’t true? I would have been used for breeding straight up. That’s my reality.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
And it saddens me that BLACK PEOPLE bitch and moan about the most stupid shit. I’m a comic it is my job to take things and make them funny
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
to make you think. Especially the painful things. Why are y’all so mad. This joke was written from the pain that one night I realized that
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
black men don’t really fuck with me and why am I single. And that in slave days I would have always had a man cause of breeding. If anybody
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
If anybody should be offended is white folks cause it’s what they did. Y’all so busy trying to be self righteous you miss what the joke
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
really is. Very sad I have to defend myself to black people. Now I’m betting if Chris Rock or Dave Chappelje did that joke or
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
or jay z or Kanye put in a rap they would be called brilliant. Cause they all do this type of material. Just cause it came from a strong
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
black woman who ain’t afraid to be real y’all mad. So here is my announcement black folks, you won’t stop me and Im gonna go even harder
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
and deeper now. Cause it’s a shame that we kill each other instead of support each other. This exactly why black people are where we are now
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
cause we too fucking sensitive and instead of make lemonade out of lemons we just suck the sour juice from the lemons. Wake up.
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
I wouldn’t be able to do a joke like that if I didn’t know my history or proud of where I came from and who I am. My dad is the biggest
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
militant in the world and he would have loved that joke. My grandmother went to jail for whooping two white men asses for attacking her she
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
she also was 6’2 and strong. And she laughed her ass off. Get over yourself and you might as well get use to it cause I’m good at what I do
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
and I ain’t going NOWHERE!!! #bouttowakemfsup
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 4, 2014
sorry had a moment, can’t when over the haters i am not the jackass whisperer. that is all…
— Leslie Jones (@Lesdoggg) May 5, 2014
The skit obviously references Nyong’o's star-making role in 12 Years A Slave, and dissects the realities of slave breeding during the slave trade. Black women were often raped by their slave masters to build a larger slave force. The female slaves were forced to continue working throughout pregnancy, sometimes until childbirth. Afterward, they reared their children in the fields producing that plantation’s cotton, sugar cane, and tobacco cash crops.
There was no guarantee that children would not be sold to another plantation. Often slave masters never acknowledged that they had fathered a child with their slave.
Yes, some slaves learned that pregnancy could earn them a “favorable” position or even days off from hard labor. Slavery is a painful reminder for many in the Black community who still experience the after effects of one of America’s worst historical moments. While comedy has helped people heal through laughter, slavery remains an open wound for some that humor will seemingly never heal.