Dave Chappelle Isn’t Joking About Disabled Community, He’s Mocking Us

In his new special “The Dreamer,” Dave Chappelle jokes that he’s moving on from his ongoing fight with the transgender community to do “handicapped jokes,” because “I love punching down.” Seems weird that a comedy legend doesn’t know the difference between “punching down” and making actual jokes, but here we are.

We’ve spent a lot of time discussing how offensive and hurtful Chappelle’s never-ending anti-trans attacks are, but now that he’s turned his attention to the disabled community, we need to have another conversation about the difference between making fun jokes and “punching down.” Make now mistake, what Dave is doing is the latter.

He did a whole bit about meeting former U.S. congressman Madison Cawthorn, where he mocked him for being a paraplegic. Look, there’s a lot of reasons to make fun of Cawthorn, but him being disabled isn’t one of them.

Since the special’s premiere on Sunday, a lot of the response has been variations of “they’re just jokes, no is immune from them.” However, if you’re really listening to his words and tone, he’s doing the opposite of including everyone in the humor. He’s putting a spotlight on disabled people, so he can mock them. It may be a cliche, but it’s not wrong: You’re laughing at me, not with me.

It wasn’t just that his jokes were inappropriate, they weren’t especially clever or funny. As someone with disabilities, I can tell you there are plenty of situations disabled people deal with that are hilarious. If he found the humor in navigating the supermarket, restroom, theaters or theme parks, that would be fresh and funny. However, he resorted to the same mockery that you read on social media and hear on playgrounds.

If you think Chappelle’s jokes are funny, that’s your business. However, when you’re constantly othered, the raucous laughter hits a little differently. And just in case, you’re ready to fire up your “anti-woke” commentary, this has nothing to do with that. It’s a simple observation that maybe the comedic voice of a generation, who now lives an extremely privileged life, can be more thoughtful with his humor. We know he can, because that’s why we became fans in the first place.

Considering how brilliantly he’s handled race in the past, he could mine endless humor from being a Black disabled person. You deal with all the same nonsense, but people also like to stare, loudly offer help and ask personal questions. Honestly, the bullshit is never-ending, and sometimes hilarious. But, why do the work when you can just go for the easy laugh?

His take on the disabled community is the same as his so-called “jokes” about trans people. He lazily found low-hanging fruit about a marginalized group that probably has more important things to worry about than his latest Netflix special and had a grand old time poking fun at living in a wheelchair, sexual relationships and even sitting in the back of the theater (because that’s where disabled seating usually is).

Perhaps if Dave took one hour and talked to an actual disabled person about their life, he would discover some smart, original material. But since his default setting nowadays is angry, defensive uncle who doesn’t care that he’s not supposed to use certain words and make certain jokes anymore, I doubt he would be open to this.