Oil?...Oil?...Bitch You Cookin’?
Justin Becco
WRTG 3020
Dave Chappelle is a genius. On the surface his comedy may seem vulgar, repulsive, and
racist but after analyzing the notorious skit from Chappelle’s Show, Black Bush, one will learn to
appreciate the beauty of his work. In this episode he uses multiple rhetorical strategies to
create a satire that exploits both political and racial issues present in our society today. Multiple
facets of logos, various stereotypes, and unspoken values are all utilized by Chappelle in
different ways to conduct a satirical illustration of something the American public is very much
familiar with. At former president George W. Bush’s expense, Chappelle shows us the darker
side of the story in the only way he knows how, through satire.
Black Bush, a skit premiering in 2004 (?) on the first (?) season of Chappelle’s Show, was
aired not long after former president George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq. The threat of
Sadaam Hussein and his possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD’s) were very much
real in Bush’s eyes at that time. With the help of Tony Blair, the former prime minister of the
UK, Bush decided to act upon his gut feeling and invade Iraq without very much evidence to
support his decision. Dave Chappelle should kiss the ground where Bush walks after this
decision was made, because it allowed Dave access to the proverbial gold mine that is American
television. And thus Black Bush was born. As Chappelle’s satirical portrayal of former president
Bush, Black Bush explains why he made the decision to invade Iraq via various “press
conferences” from a stereotypical black man’s point of view. During this 7 minute skit,
Chappelle uses a multitude of rhetorical strategies in an attempt to mock the former
president’s decision to invade Iraq without possessing any significant evidence that supported
his decision. In the process, Black Bush takes multiple policies the former president actually
passed and puts his own black, stereotypical spin on them resulting in a hilarious comedic
satire.
The audience Chappelle is attempting to target during this obnoxious portrayal is
obvious: conservative, pro-Bush supporters. At the time this show was created, the Republican
constituency stubbornly stuck by President Bush’s side after invading Iraq and finding no
WMD’s in Hussein’s possession. Chappelle noticed this and ran with it, as Black Bush makes
illogical references one after the other when asked simple, straightforward questions regarding
the invasion. The true reason for invasion, according to Black Bush and anyone else capable of
producing a thought for that matter was OIL! With the audience holding otherwise, Chappelle
attempts to humor them by making up outrageous, yet seemingly true answers as to why the
invasion occurs. As any other, satire these claims are blown entirely out of proportion, yet the
humor resulting from the dialogue is irreproducible.
After going into severe depth with this comedic masterpiece, it is easy to see that
rhetorical strategies are at work throughout the skit. The first example has to do with the
rhetorical appeal logos and the logical fallacy of a Hasty Generalization (Logos). By definition
this fallacy occurs when someone jumps to conclusions without having enough evidence from
which to draw that conclusion. With the U.N. finding nothing that resembles evidence of
WMD’s in Iraq, Black Bush counters with this, “The nigga bought aluminum tubes!!! Do I need
to tell you what the fuck you can do with an aluminum tube?!” When the press seems
dissatisfied with his answer, Black Bush continues, “That don’t scare you? Fine. I didn’t even
wanna say this one…the mothafucka bought some yellow cake. Okay? In Africa! He went to
Africa and bought yellow cake!” (Chappelle 1) Automatically assuming that aluminum tubes and
yellow cake (a play off of yellow cake uranium) mean Hussein has weapons of mass destruction.
Soon after this claim, the “Black Head of the CIA” comes out to support Black Bush by holding a
napkin full of actual yellow cake. This satirical portrayal of former President Bush finding
“yellow cake uranium” and deeming that sufficient for invasion ends up being spot on.
Chappelle is able to target his audience’s stupidity by deliberately showing them there’s no
such thing as yellow cake uranium in Hussein’s possession, only yellow cake.
Dave Chappelle’s rhetorical genius again arises from that same rhetorical appeal later on
in the skit, with a different fallacy at work. Also among the logos appeal, the Red Herring logical
fallacy is used throughout the Black Bush skit in an utmost hilarious manner. By definition it is a
diversionary tactic for leading listeners away from the real issue at hand. Two examples of this
logical fallacy become blatant after only a few minutes into the skit. This first involves Black
Bush at another press conference after a reporter inquires about his thoughts on people saying
he is only interested in the Middle East, more specifically Iraq, for the abundance of oil. Black
Bush, apparently surprised by the question, responds with, “What? Huh, Oil? Who said
something bout oil bitch?! You cookin’!?,” as he ensues to intentionally spill a pitcher full of
water and run out of the press conference (Chappelle 2). Black Bush knew he was caught with
his true intentions on why he wanted to invade Iraq, and instead of answering the question
truthfully he threw a red herring at the reporter and ran out of the room. Chappelle is mocking
President Bush by behaving in such a way after being questioned of his intentions of invasion.
In Dave Chappelle’s mind, the main reason President Bush decided to invade Iraq was the
abundance of oil present under the country. He attempts to sway his audience’s opinion on
such beliefs by throwing them a priceless red herring which anyone would laugh at, regardless
of their political ideology.
Another red herring thrown by Black Bush occurs when he is asked soon after the Iraqi
invasion is completed, “Mr. President when do you think they’ll hold general elections in Iraq?”
Black Bush responds with, “Damn I knew I shouldn’t have called on this nigga. You always tryin’
to distract mothafuckas with things like the war, and scurryin’ all the real issues! Gay people are
getting married folks! Yes. Nasty! Imagine that, two men, at a barbeque, ‘I like you,’ ‘I like you
too dog, let’s get married man.’ It’s crazy! That shit is gross!” Although the vulgarity in this
scene is a little too much to handle, there is a method to its madness. Chappelle is ripping on
President Bush and his constituency, yet again, for being against gay marriage. This is Black
Bush saying these things; Chappelle is channeling his inner-president Bush with these
outrageous claims regarding same-sex marriage. Again, this tactic used by Chappelle works
brilliantly. Chappelle insults his conservative audience in a way that does not seem to be
insulting to them. The response towards gay marriage is so extreme and repulsive that it
becomes funny; so funny that it is insulting the audience’s intelligence in the process.
Although racial stereotypes are exploited over and again in the Black Bush skit, one
instance towards the conclusion of the sketch displays this perfectly. Right after the gay
marriage red herring is thrown, Black Bush is asked a question by the only black reporter in the
room. He is blacker than Black Bush himself, but is dressed in a very peculiar manner. As soon
as this reporter is called upon by Black Bush, he inquires with, “Mr. President? Mr. President,
sir, how do you explain the continual upheaval in Iraq, even after the capture of Sadaam
Hussein?” in the most extreme old white male voice possible. With Black Bush disgusted, he is
forced to respond, “Why you doin’ this man? I thought you was my black brother why you
askin’ me questions like that?” This is Chappelle’s attempt at ripping on his own African
American stereotype. An educated black man, who has a seemingly good living for himself,
asks an honest question that makes complete sense given the timeliness of the whole situation,
yet he gets grilled by Black Bush for not being black enough to ask his fellow “brother” an easier
question. Dave’s audience in this particular case is the average black male. He is essentially
slighting his own race for thinking they all have to stick together no matter what, solely because
they share the same heritage. Black Bush does an excellent job of avoiding his audience
acknowledging the slight by throwing yet another red herring that involves a NASA mission to
Mars (weird sentence, plan on fixing it).
(Paragraph about Unspoken Values and Chappelle depicting all black people would act
this way if they were in charge of the American government)
Masking the message to his audience through hilarity, Dave Chappelle does an excellent
job of swaying his viewer’s opinions without them ever finding out about it. Through the
rhetorical strategies of hasty generalizations, red herrings, unspoken values, and stereotypes
Chappelle produces some of the funniest programming in the history of cable television. Sure,
vulgarity and racism are present throughout Black Bush, but they are used as disguises so the
audience doesn’t catch on to the message Chappelle is trying to send. What makes it so
special is that he does this without compromising the entertainment value of the program. (I
need a better closing sentence, but can’t think of one at the moment.)
Works Cited