We’re used to conservative speakers being disallowed at college campuses, but young liberals are so easily offended these days that at Columbia University they’re even stifling their own kind. An ex-Saturday Night Live writer, Nimesh Patel, was asked to speak at an event at that campus and when he did, was promptly shut down because the snowflakes there couldn’t handle what he had to say.
Student organizers boot former SNL writer from stage during standup routine for jokes deemed offensive
Saturday Night Live writer and comedian Nimesh Patel was pulled from the stage by event organizers after telling jokes that were criticized as racist and homophobic during his performance at cultureSHOCK: Reclaim, an event held by Columbia Asian American Alliance on Friday night.
Patel, 32, was the first Indian-American writer for SNL, and has since been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing. Patel has previously performed on Late Night with Seth Meyers and opened for comedians such as Chris Rock.
Considering that Patel pals around with the likes of liberal douche bags Seth Meyers and Chris Rock (who donated $40,000 to Obamas 2008 campaign), wrote for the notoriously liberal SNL, and was even invited to speak at Columbia in the fist place, we can confidently paint him as a liberal. So what did he say that so terribly offended the students of that school? Apparently it was this:
During the event, Patel’s performance featured commentary on his experience living in a diverse area of New York City—including a joke about a gay, black man in his neighborhood—which AAA officials deemed inappropriate. Patel joked that being gay cannot be a choice because “no one looks in the mirror and thinks, ‘this black thing is too easy, let me just add another thing to it.’”
That’s it. In summation, it appears all he said was that being black and gay isn’t easy. What’s offensive about that? I mean, isn’t that what a lot of members of both those groups have been expounding for years? But no, that was too much for their pampered ears and they shut him down.
About 30 minutes into Patel’s set, members of AAA interrupted the performance, denounced his jokes about racial identities and sexual orientation, and provided him with a few moments for closing remarks. Compared to his other jokes, ones specifically targeting sexual orientation audibly receive less laughter from the crowd.
Patel pushed back on the officials’ remarks, and said that while he stood in solidarity with Asian American identities, none of his remarks were offensive, and he was exposing the audience to ideas that would be found “in the real world.” Before he could finish, Patel’s microphone was cut from off-stage, and he proceeded to leave.
Oh, poor naive Mr. Patel. What misguided audacity you had thinking that liberal sissies sheltering in the “safe space” of academia could handle being exposed to the “real world.”
cultureSHOCK, an annual charity showcase featuring a fashion show, productions by various student groups and a famous performer, aims to provide a platform for Asian American artistic expression and breakthrough harmful stereotypes.
In an official statement released on Dec. 3, AAA stated that while they acknowledge that discomfort and safety can co-exist, the discomfort Patel caused with his remarks and overall performance opposed AAA and cultureSHOCK’s mission to celebrate, empower, and explore identity in a safe space. They apologized for inviting him to perform at the event.
Patel could not immediately be reached for comment.
And then the avalanche of snowflake whining began.
Adam Warren, CC ‘22, was in the audience Saturday night. Warren said that AAA made the right decision to remove Patel from the stage due to the nature of his jokes, which contradicted the sensitive nature of the event itself.
“The message they were trying to send with the event was opposite to the jokes he was making, and using people’s ethnicity as the crux of his jokes could be funny but still offensive…He definitely wasn’t the most crass comedian I’ve ever heard but for the event it was inappropriate,” Warren said.
However, audience member Elle Ferguson, BC ‘22, said that while comedians can push the boundaries of social culture, she had heard similar jokes before and did not find them offensive.
“While what some of the things that he said might have been a bit provoking to some of the audience, as someone who watches comedy a lot, none of them were jokes that I hadn’t heard before and none of them were jokes that elicited such a response in my experience,” Ferguson said. “[AAA] should have talked to him beforehand especially because comedy is known for being ground-breaking and for pushing boundaries.”
For Sofia Jao, BC ‘22, problems with the performance resided not in the set, but with Patel’s closing remarks.
“I really dislike when people who are older say that our generation needs to be exposed to the real world. Obviously the world is not a safe space but just accepting that it’s not and continuing to perpetuate the un-safeness of it… is saying that it can’t be changed,” said Jao. “When older generations say you need to stop being so sensitive, it’s like undermining what our generation is trying to do in accepting others and making it safer.”
No, the world is far from a safe space, and guess what, dipshit? No matter how hard you try to turn it into one it will never become one. There are always going to be people who are racist. There will always be people who are not going to accept homosexuality. And there will always be people who poke fun at both of those things. You DO need to stop being so sensitive. The guy was telling jokes and that’s all. And if the one presented here was indicative of the rest, they were pretty innocuous jokes. Get the fuck over yourselves.
