Brigham Young University isn't exactly known for its diverse student population. In fact, just 176 out of the Utah school's 30,000 students are African American, or 0.59%.
Comedian Dave Ackerman decided to quiz the unsuspecting BYU student populace about Black History Month in a video posted on YouTube. The students' answers are, predictably, disturbing.
Equally troubling, however, is the fact that Ackerman gets a make-up artist to paint his skin "black." Viewers are thus left with the doubly uncomfortable prospect of watching a comedian in black face interview white students about African-American culture.
The video begins with a series of students demonstrating that they don't know what month Black History Month is actually celebrated. It then features students claiming Malcolm X "was a part of the movement to get blacks into the schools" and citing "Will Smith" as a famous black historical figure. One white student tells Ackerman he celebrates Black History Month with "fried chicken and grape juice."
When he asks about dating, another white student tells Ackerman he knows people who have "jungle fever."
The video concludes with several white students -- encouraged by Ackerman -- doing stereotypical impressions of how they believe black people talk and gesticulate, which leads to a truly unfortunate sequence of white students essentially doing cliched impersonations of African Americans.
Ackerman preemptively defends his actions in the video itself, noting he is "fighting ignorance with ignorance."
But Matt Stopera over at Buzzfeed put it this way: "There is SO much wrong with this video. I can't even believe this exists."