I'm really hoping you didn't mean what I think you meant by this. If you did, I don't think you're qualified to speak on questions of how to not come across as a bigot...

Moving on, my issue with the criticism of Chappelle has absolutely nothing to do with the color of his skin. In fact, I could easily criticise parts of the show myself. Dave clearly isn't especially well educated on these issues and it would have been much better, and perhaps funnier, if he were.

That said, and while I'm a fan of Contrapoints, every comedian doesn't do the same "chick has a dick" joke. This show contained a huge number of jokes most of which had nothing to do with trans people. And, in fact, the one point where he does make a "chick has a dick joke" is the part where he's arguing against North Carolina's anti-trans bathroom bill. When an audience member "whoops" as he mentions North Carolina's bathroom bill, he stops them. He says no. He says that it's a bad law and then explains why. I've not seen a single article that mentions this.

You're making the mistake of trying to speak for the trans community when you say that trans people don't find the jokes funny. Daphne Dorman did for example and I've seen a number of other trans people speak in defence of the special. But that aside, some black people find his use of the n-word offensive. Some women find his use of the b*tch offensive. We're all allowed to be offended. We're all allowed not to like Dave Chappelle and his comedy.

But the standard for "this is hate speech and will get people killed and should be removed from the airwaves," isn't " I didnt find it funny," or even "I was offended by some of it." Because whether you like it or not, Dave Chappelle's understanding of trans issues is actually far better than most people's. You can't pretend that some of the more simplistic points of view don't exist just because you don't like them. You can't just call everybody who doesn't agree with you a transphobe. Well, you can, but it's a surefire way to actually create transphobes.

I'd be all for actual, substantive criticism of his special. As I say, I could critique parts of it myself. But instead, it's been pretty much wall-to-wall bad-faith attacks, outright lies, and hyperbole about how everybody who enjoyed the special "wants trans people to not be alive". This isn't criticism. It's hysteria. And it undermines the valid criticisms and clarifications that could be made.