In a comedy set at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix on Tuesday night, comedian George Lopez attempted to address the issue of prejudice between blacks and Latinos saying, “There’s still two rules in the f**king Latino family. Don’t marry somebody black, and don’t park in front of our house.” When an African-American audience member took offense to the joke, things went from zero to one hundred real quick when the Mexican-American actor blasted the fan, saying “Sit your f**king a** down. I’m talking b***h. Sit your f**king a** down.” In live footage obtained by TMZ, Lopez went off when the audience member stood and gave the comedian the middle finger. “You paid to see a show. Sit your a** down,” Lopez said. “You can’t take a joke, you’re in the wrong motherf**king place.”

In a tweet sent out late Tuesday night, Lopez showed no signs of remorse.

You have 2 choices , have a good day or get the fuck out #gacho

— George Lopez (@georgelopez) February 7, 2017

Twitter had mixed reactions to the comedians racial joke and subsequent rant. Some saw it as racist.

I'm not surprised by #GeorgeLopez and his racist rant. Most, not all, but most, Hispanic-Americans hold the same anti-black beliefs.

— Chaquevia Dumas (@theelazynatural) February 7, 2017

Others disavowed him.

.@georgelopez DOESN'T reflect my people. POC have to stick together in these trying times and he just created more divide. #georgelopez

— ciega sordomuda (@lalatinamerican) February 8, 2017

Still, others took no issue with the joke.

It's not even that serious….it's a joke. #GeorgeLopez pic.twitter.com/AEKhaxemGW

— Fold A Nigga Uzamaki (@cheifkeith_24) February 8, 2017

Is Lopez being held to a double standard?

Hispanics have been the punch line to many black comedian jokes #GeorgeLopez #Sensitive #AtLeastHeIsNotWhiteTellingJokes

— Tommy (@TOMMYGUNZ956) February 8, 2017

Some called BS on the PC backlash.

Omg get over it, what #GeorgeLopez did was a JOKE! Y have we become a country of sensitive babies?! #Learntotakeajoke #Stopwhining

— Roe (@Chicana_Muneca) February 8, 2017

But for real, can ya'll put some respeck on Black History Month?

#GeorgeLopez needs to apologize #BlackHistoryMonth

— AtlPartyCrasher (@AtlPartyCrasher) February 8, 2017

Opinions are abundant. Everyone's entitled to one, but in this case their seem to be two issues at play:

1. George Lopez's racial joke

2. His response to the audience member who took offense to it.

At the end of the day, George Lopez had the right to tell the joke and the fan had every right to be offended. Clearly, Lopez was out of line for popping off at the fan the way he did but, when it comes to the joke itself, if the role of comedy is to address tough societal realities in a way that forces us to confront and digest them, was Lopez really wrong for exposing the prejudices that exist between the black and Latino community?

As we are all facing a new era of bold, blatant, unapologetic discrimination, we need to have some tough conversations around the very real, long-held prejudices between and within minority groups if we are ever to come to a point of true intersectionality. The fact is that America is poised to become a majority minority country over the next couple of decades, and even as minority groups continue to challenge the structural racism that impedes our equality, it is no secret that we are simultaneously grappling with the internal isms that exist within our own individual and collective minority groups.

Was George Lopez wrong for broaching the subject? What do you think?

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