Ari Lennox unexpectedly kicked off one of the year’s hottest cultural debates after she took to social media last month to reflect on the treatment of dark-skinned women in 90’s sitcoms.
Weeks later, the conversation continues thanks to an unexpected entry to the chat: ‘Living Single‘ star Erika Alexander.
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As reported here, Lennox incited backlash for her hot take about the jokes aimed at “Pam” (portrayed by Tichina Arnold) on the hit 90’s series ‘Martin.’
“The thing that pissed me off about Martin was how much he was goin’ in on Pam,” she said at the time. “There are some things where I draw the line. Pam was so f**king beautiful and so fine, and I just feel like growing up as a chocolate girl, I don’t even know if I was able to understand the greatness of Pam because of what I was being fed. Always going in on Pam, that’s all I remember.”
And though many critics felt her retrospective review was exaggerated or disregarded the comic nature of the characters’ exchanges, Ari followed up with unapologetic remarks for their dismissal of her belief that the jokes were rooted in colorism.
“I don’t say any of this with any desire to rewrite history. Those actors and actresses are legends and I meant no harm to them. I don’t need any army of people defending me or agreeing with me. That has always been a rare occurrence for me. But I feel amazing in knowing that I will validate myself and my feelings before I look to you and yours,” she relayed days after her initial statement. “I will continue to speak my mind! And happily piss y’all off in the process. If I had ill intent, I would’ve came on here with a PowerPoint presentation that backs my claim on the types of jokes Martin used on Pam being wildly offensive.”
Conversation around the hot topic had cooled, but was brought back to the forefront this week when Alexander – who served as a guest on the latest episode of Van Lathan‘s ‘Higher Learning’ podcast – tapped in.
“[Ari Lennox’s beliefs] are valid,” Erika started before sharing re-watching ‘Living Single’ years later made her see some of the jokes “a little different.” “We all suffered from [colorism]. I think that we’re rediscovering by even reclaiming our opinion about these things is that, for the most part, so many things can be so ‘normalized’ that you don’t feel it [in real time]. But then you need that distance in order to have hindsight.”
While Alexander admits she didn’t see that type of comedy displayed as much on ‘Living Single,’ she remembers not liking some of the ‘Martin’ jokes about Pam at the time it aired for its colorist insinuations.
“Being dark-skinned is a unique burden in this world, especially for a Black woman. And a lot of the true damage that was done were unfortunately received by other Black people. All I know is we can all do better now,” she relayed to Lathan.
At writing, Lennox has not responded to Erika’s co-sign of her controversial take on 90’s sitcoms.
Click PLAY on the video above to hear Alexander’s full assessment.
Out of all the black tv shows in the 90’s, In Living Color is the only one I can remotely remember crossing the colorism line. From what I remember, colorism jokes weee mostly in movies and stand up comedy shows especially Def Comedy Jam. But we live, we grow, and we do better. The 90’s wasn’t too far removed from the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era so there’s going to be elements of that trauma in the works that were produced back then.