In his comedy album “Waiting for 2042,” Hari Kondabolu pokes fun at the shifting demographics in the United States, where minorities are expected to outnumber whites by 2042. But there’s no need to “freak out,” the Indian-American comic advises whites. “You were the minority when you came to this country,” he said. “Things seem to have worked out for you.”
Smart social statements like that — about the sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious ways that race plays out in America today — are the subject of “Off Color,” a video series featuring artists of color.
Racial humor can often play directly into racial and ethnic stereotypes, which interested me as the Times’s national race and ethnicity reporter. What the various humorists had in common was that their take was edgy, sophisticated and nuanced.
We wanted to have diversity of artists — not just stand-up comedians — to show the range of work being done today. Among those highlighted in the series are the Chinese-American performance artist and writer Kristina Wong, the Mexican-American political cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz, the African-American web video producer Issa Rae and Mr. Kondabolu.
Video Series
Off Color Comedy
Off Color, a new video series, highlights artists of color who use humor to make smart social statements about the sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious ways that race plays out in America today.
A favorite subject of Mr. Kondabolu’s is not often used as a punchline: colonialism. During a set this summer in Brooklyn, he performed in front of a crowd that was mostly young and diverse, using a math equation to determine who should win the World Cup based on various factors, including the number of years a nation had been colonized.
For Ms. Wong, the way Asian-Americans are stereotyped, including the emasculating of Asian men, the fetishization of Asian women and the cultural silence around depression and mental illness inspires much of her work. Mr. Alcaraz points his pen at anti-immigrant hostility, racism and conservatism in the United States. And Ms. Rae has used digital video to promote diversity in front of the camera with content that goes beyond “slave movies and slave shows.” Behind the camera, she seeks out writers, producers and directors who are women and minorities.
“Off Color” was conceived and produced by myself and Channon Hodge, an associate video journalist. Taige Jensen, a video editor, whittled down hours of footage to find the best clips and selected the music that accompanied each video. Bill Horn, a deputy video editor, supervised the project.
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