10 Most Offensive Things About ‘Freaknik: The Musical’
by Shirea L. Carroll

Many of us, still in disbelief, had to re-watch “Freaknik: The Musical” to make sure that what T-Pain did Sunday night wasn’t imagined. Unfortunately the freak-fest was real, and left all those, with even a smidgen of pride in our culture, scratching our heads. Understand, we aren’t trying to manufacture this into big deal, because all “jokes” aside, “Freaknik” is in fact a big deal. Truth is, if something this damaging can get a pass merely because it’s labeled entertainment, for sure we all fail.

We fail because it shows a lack of appreciation for the sacrifices those who came before us made to even make it possible to be Black and appear on television. We fail because we teach our children that it’s OK to laugh at ignorance, rather than to defend knowledge. We fail because we express we’re content with “entertainment” defining who we are, resulting in slow growth. “Freaknik,” along with shows like it, limit our culture’s thoughts, thus concealing the abundance of possibilities we as a collective group can attain. If we are taking it “way too serious,” or it “isn’t that deep,” then wow, what is?

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