Jon Stewart took on the Rachel Dolezal controversy during Monday’s “Daily Show” in a new segment he called “Whaaaaaaaaat!?”
He began by playing a news clip in which Dolezal’s parents identify her true heritage as Czech, Swedish, and German. “Czech, Swedish, and German?” Stewart said. “That’s really f—ing white.”
He then showed the now viral clip of a TV reporter asking Dolezal if she is African-American, to which she replied, “I don’t understand the question.”
“So her mouth says, ‘I don’t understand the question,’” Stewart said. “But her eyes say, ‘F–k. I’m busted.’” Stewart didn’t stop there, however, as he tore into Fox News pundits for their coverage of the Dolezal case and their claim that is representative of a larger liberal “transrace moment” in America and that racism cannot be as widespread as people believe if a white woman wants to be black.
“Yes, a white person,” Stewart said. “Why would a, singular, white person. You might also ask, perhaps more appropriately, ‘If being black is such a sweet deal, why are millions of white people ignoring this once in a lifetime opportunity?’”
Stewart then tried to turn things over to “The Daily Show’s” senior black correspondent, only to be greeted by the very white Jordan Klepper. Luckily, Jessica Williams came out to set the record straight on this controversy.
“You can’t just appropriate persecution just because it’s ‘cool,’” Williams said. “We don’t need oppression cosplay. We need allies, not replacements.”