The only problem is tat Welven Da Great is mentally challenged. And then, I cared for the popularity of the phrases even less than before.

You know, there was a day when mentally challenged/disabled people were actually those that we just didn’t try to laugh at. I know that plenty of us did behind closed doors. However, many of us steered clear of using their affliction as comedic fodder. In fact, we were told NOT to laugh at them regardless of how funny they may have been. In my day, you had to have respect for people’s conditions.

In the day of microwaveable fame, Instagram success, and Youtube yuppies, certain considerations go out the window.

Welven Da Great and Internet Fame

Nowadays, anybody can become “internet famous”. It seems that many of us are now being entertained by those that can’t help themselves. From Welven Da Great’s inclusion of the tried-and-true “deez nuts” response to Atown’s little man follies, the World Wide Web seems to be tickled. Even The Real Wings has gotten his fair share of love through Youtube and Instagram. If there is proof that 15 minutes of fame can happen to anyone, then these three are sheer proof.

However, I think I may be bothered by this situation. Is it me or is the new hustle dependent upon the ability to pimp someone’s mentally retarded cousin?

Welven Da Great and the Big Issue

Don’t get me wrong on this one: I do respect the hustle. I like that Welven is taking his disability and turning it into a positive. I also like the fact that Atown and The Real Wings are getting money. It is something to transform your life from the “easily avoided” to being part of the “wanted”. Thus, this is not a knock against anyone’s hustle.

Still, I would be remise if I didn’t point out the elephant in the room always eating the boiled peanuts which is reality. On some level, we have to realize that a lot of these situations are exploitive. It is time to be honest: are we laughing with these guys or are we laughing AT them? All money and success aside, are we expecting more people to find their mentally retarded family to pimp them out on social media. I would hope the sum of their lives would account to more than Facebook likes, retweets, favorites, and double taps for hearts.

Welven Da Great and Being Hustled

The saddest part is that these young, disabled men will ride this fame out until it flames out. And why shouldn’t they? For all intents and purposes, they should be getting it while the getting is good. So, you know they will host as many parties, events, and do enough interviews to (at least) stretch out that fifteen minutes of fame a few seconds here or there.

Yet, there are those that are taking advantage of these people with haste. Personally, I never saw the amusement of listening to a mentally challenged young that that reminds me of Sid from Ice Age. Nor do I find it funny to see mentally challenged people used for pranks and gags. Once the fame is gone, are people really going to care? Are these men really going to hold onto a shred of the fame and attention they have attained?

Welven Da Great Epilogue

To be frank, fame is fleeting. I wish no ill will on any of these young men. However, a lot of their situations reek of exploitive measures to cash in with the quickness. All the fame in the world can’t ever make me feel completely assured about these situations. In the end,America is the land of the hustle; even if by “hustle” we mean “put a donut in my retarded friend’s face”.

I am not a person directly affected by the commodification of this word, so I cannot pretend to speak of experiences I have not encountered. Nevertheless the fact that the term finds itself becoming further popularised in mainstream culture through meme’s presents a variety of problems for everyone. Firstly the online commodification of the term brings with it the eventuality that someone somewhere in the opposite side of the world is shouting out the word without any understanding of the term and it’s offensive nature. More importantly that the individual blurting out the term doesn’t fully understand it’s history is a major issue because they are simply furthering societal ignorance in my eyes.

You cannot separate the word from its long history. It would be like trying to separate the events of the second world war from the term WW2, it is ridiculous to even attempt in doing so and you’d just find yourself on Question Time in a matter of days being called every name under the sun!

The term itself is quite fluid and dynamic in the affiliations made with it historically, but it can never be denied that its history is soaked in blood for generations of people from lynching to the inhumane treatment of slaves. Generally speaking the word has previously found its place in popular culture through mainstream rap and hip-hop with middle-upper class non-black listeners, listeners who find it perfectly normal to use it as part of their everyday vocabulary. Now the music industry in my eyes is small potatoes to what the Internet is currently in the process of doing.

Just type the phrase ‘ni**as be like’ on google you will be overwhelmed by the amount of social network accounts titled specifically ‘ni**as be like’. The Facebook page host 2.2 million likes where as the twitter page has 127 thousand followers with various accounts on Instagram hosting a thousand followers. What I feel meme’s are currently in the process of doing through such popular accounts is further endorsing the use of the word, but for new audiences! New non-black audiences who do not fully understand the lengthy and bloody history of the word, I am no history expert either! These new audiences who would otherwise shudder at the thought of being called a racist for using the term are now are able to use ‘ni**’ because it’s plastered all over the net and seen by these new audiences on a daily bases. Ultimately making it normalised.

The ‘likes’, ‘follower’s etc for these accounts show the growing popularity of such pages, however what makes the situation very absurd is the fact that a lot (not all) of the material released by such accounts (although rude) has little to do with black men or black people for that matter.

Any apologist would be joyous at such news stating no direct harm is being done! However the expansion of the word as an umbrella definition for online comedy presents a much bigger issue like I have explained.

My greatest fear is that we may find white/brown/yellow/red (and whatever colour we have been designated) who are aware of the history of the word but willfully ignore the implications of its use for ‘light humour’ or ‘banter’. The more the word becomes accepted and synonymous with present day things in our life the more easier it becomes to erase it’s history, a history already shunted by the British education system.

It is neither my place nor my desire to tell you what to say or do; I am as humanly imperfect as anyone reading this piece. One day soon a black person ignited by the contradictory nature of this situation will do a piece much better then I ever could for I am not at the receiving end of this modern day dilemma. But here I feel we are presented with a scenario where society’s fickle nature becomes ever so visible. Laughter and comedic relief is only human instinct, it is the fundamental part of what makes us who we are. However it seems that when it comes to humour with a racial overtone we all enjoy a laugh…just at the expense of one part of the human family. Moreover I can bet all the coins in my pocket that if tomorrow the phrase was to be altered to ‘crack*rs be like’ then this meme craze would crumble in the matter of days. Ironically it seems the laugh’s on us all for we are furthering ignorance and racism in practice while preaching tolerance and education, enough comedy for you?