Every Saturday night, millions of people tune in to Saturday Night Live, which is more commonly known as SNL. The show entails hilarious skits done by very talented comedians who parody current events in politics and pop culture. A recent article from The New York Times reported on the so called "color controversy" that sparked as a result of cast member Keenan Thompson's statement that black women aren't "ready" to be on SNL. This sparked reactions from bloggers, actors and actresses, and fans all over the media. This also shed light on the fact that SNL does not feature many black women on the show, or any women of color for that matter. In SNL's history, beginning from its premiere in 1975, only 3 black women have been cast members on the show. This lack of women of color leaves a deficiency for SNL when portraying certain characters such as Michelle Obama or Beyonce because they either use a black man to dress up as a woman or leave out the character as a whole. It is true that comedy historically has always been a sort of "boys club" as with other areas such as CEOs and in Academia, but with so many great comedians who happen to be women of color there should be no excuse as to why there aren't more featured on the show. Surely, the show IS "ready" for more black women and Thompson's remark is as absurd as can be.
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