"Blacks Aren't Crazy" is a track on comedian Chris Rock's first album, Born Suspect. It is a two and a half minute monologue, dealing with the difference between black and white crime.
Chris Rock's first album came out in 1991, years before his breakout success with Roll with the New. At the time, Chris Rock was just one of many Saturday Night Live alumni searching for a place in comedy, something that has historically had mixed results.
The central point of the bit is that black crime is stupid, while white crime is crazy:
Now the old lady kicked down a flight of stairs for a welfare check? Black guy. ... But you watch the news, and the man says 'Then he cut out her eyes, and used them for click-clacks'...that's a white guy!"
Like most observational comedy, it works because it uses
hyperbole to describe something the audience believes, but hasn't been able to express. Rock's style, which is more a natural conversational patter than "jokes", also helps it seem like he is just making a spontaneous observation. And yet, the words were memorable enough that they stuck with me, being an easy and quotable way to phrase a distinction that I felt was important. Black crime is the result of understandable, if banal, motives, while white crime is often the result of isolated, asocial people with no discernible motive.
Like much observational comedy, while it can highlight an important point, it also can be very problematic. While its a funny and interesting observation, when passed around and quoted out of context, it can be harmful when discussing complicated issues such as race and crime to simplify them this much.