Johannesburg - Politically controversial puppet Chester Missing and his puppeteer Conrad Koch were raked over the coals on social media on Sunday and branded the new “Rachel” for their alleged use of “blackface”.
Rachel Dolezal is the white US civil rights activist who made international headlines last month when it emerged that she spent years pretending she was a black woman.
Tweeter @Riz_Ventura was the first to broach the ongoing issue on Sunday on Twitter after Koch tweeted: “One gratifying thing about doing comedy in NYC last week was finding out how far SA has come in our conversation on race. World leaders.”
The tweeter said: “Can I just troll Chester Missing and reply to each of his tweets with “BLACK FACE!!” or something equally unimaginative but true?”
He also asked: “How many people of colour have to tell you your s**t is flagrant before you go ‘they might have a point’?”
Tweeting from Chester Missing’s account, Koch went on the defensive, citing the fact that he went to court against a “white supremist” and asked: “Dude, do u have any clue how many people of colour support me? Any clue? I am not some ignorant bigot. I am actually listening.”
He added that he only listened to “the sharpest black thinkers” he knows and said “If they tell me, I listen.”
@Riz_Ventura retorted saying: “@chestermissing you’re a white guy, using p**s big words to tell a coloured guy how you speaking with a coloured puppet isn’t racist.”
Koch then said Chester Missing has no race at all.
“He’s not coloured. At all. So now I owe you nothing. The puppet makes no cultural claims on black identity, at all. None. But u still have beef. What must I do now?”
Koch ended his debate by saying: “Ok, being authentic with assholes time is over. Come back when you have an EMMY nom and a court win against a white supremacist.”
The Star