Last night a video that appeared on the All Def Digital Youtube Channel depicting Harriet Tubman in a "sex tape," caused quite the controversy throughout "Black Twitter" and the NAACP in particular.
Russell Simmons has removed the clip and released an apology for the oversight.
“In the whole history of Def Comedy Jam, I’ve never taken down a controversial comedian,” he wrote. “When my buddies from the NAACP called and asked me to take down the Harriet Tubman video from the All Def Digital YouTube channel and apologize, I agreed.
“I’m a very liberal person with thick skin and it’s hard to offend me. My first impression of the Harriet Tubman piece was that it was about what one of actors said in the video, that 162 years later, there’s still tremendous injustice. And Harriet Tubman outwitting the slave master, I thought it was politically correct. Silly me.”
There's just no place for disrespecting the heroes of yesterday in this way. But a lot of this is about perception as well. As Simmons mentions, he thought the idea of Tubman seducing the slave master and then brushing him off after he confesses his love for her was cool. Have to be careful with that kind of stuff.
