a little racial profiling

Ok. Time to get serious.

I know I've said it time and time again, but really kids--this blog's for YOU.

And I mean that it's for your education. For the next couple entries, let's talk about racial profiling. I know this is touchy, even in Provo, so we'll try to take it slow with a few comical and a few realistic examples.

TRACY JORDAN

What a fantastically charming character we have here. Actor Tracy Morgan, of Saturday Night Live fame, decided some time ago to play the embarrassingly over-the-top role of Tracy Jordan (catch that one?) on NBC's 30 Rock, and personally, he seems to single-handedly carry the show.
Now I'm not an avid watcher--take it easy on me, I'm working on fixing that--but what I have seen has been certainly entertaining in a way that's sillier than The Office.
As for the racial aspect, check out the pilot episode. Morgan brings plenty of stereotypes to the set, which are somewhat countered by Toofer, the character played by Keith Powell. Even Toofer's name reflects significant racial profiling, "with him you get a two-for-one; he's a black guy and a Harvard guy." Representation of African Americans is not the primary subject of the humor of 30 Rock, but the show does rely on a healthy dose of it on a regular basis.

What do you think about it? How does this compare to the expectations of those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s? What about the expectations of those today? How do you think such figures as Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, or other civil rights leaders would respond to the characters of Tracy Jordan and Toofer?