“My hot, *** work-wife Jasmyne Cannick has gained quite the reputation as a rabble-rouser in the last couple of years. Sometimes, she's mounted worthwhile fights; other times, I wasn't so sure. It got to the point where I wondered aloud if she, Al Sharpton and Gina McCauley shouldn't just buy a talking dog and a van to cross the country foiling capers, Scooby Doo-stylee. Maybe Snoop could tag along as the politically-incorrect hipster with the munchies (Zoinks!). I don't always agree with her missions, but I admire her moxie, and support her as a sister in the struggle, such that it is."

Her latest fracas pits her against Charles Knipp again, a drag queen whose stock in trade happens to be minstrelsy. That's right.  Knipp, as Shirley Q. Liquor, puts on black make-up, big red-lipstick and an Afro wig and stands in front of crowds with an exaggerated black affect. I've not seen Knipp's show but it is described as a full-on minstrel show. Jasmyne has made it her business to try and shut down Knipp, on the grounds that he's demeaning black women and propping up popular stereotypes about black people. Well, I don't know how many drag shows Jazzi's been to, but I've been to a few and I can tell you: while the intention may be to celebrate the diva or act out a fantasy, once you've seen Cher lip-synced by a 280-pound black guy with a moustache, you get a sense that gay men and the art of drag in general doesn't do any favors for woman-kind. I don't know that black women take a harder hit. But her point about the blackface is complex for me.

I'm not bothered at all by Charles Knipp: viva la blackface, I say.  I don't want to live in a world where we append the arts according to community standards or mores'. Michel Martin and I got into a conversation about blackface on The Barbershop, and what I said was that I'm most concerned about intentions of the blackface in question.  Knipp mainly performs for white gays, and that raises the question if his intent is to purely entertain or to stoke negrophobia among a subset of society where it is still acceptable to be prejudice against blacks. I sincerely believe he is ignorant to the fact that he may be widening the gap between blacks and whites, straights and gays at a time when sexuality has become an issue used to cleave the black vote.

Knipp's an artist, not a politician, so he probably doesn't feel any obligation to examine how his art is received, a-la Dave Chappelle. He should. I think we need to take a closer look at a community that finds that kind of thing entertaining and ask why. We should ask if his work builds constructive bridges and starts important, necessary conversation, or does it vilify blackfolks and degrade black women.

Me? I think if Eddie Murphy can dress up in drag and make fun of black women, so can Charles Knipp.

What do you think?